Former Floyd football coach Paul Longo will return to coaching, narrows down search to a few schools
Former Floyd HS football coach Paul Longo will return to coaching and is looking for the right fit for his next job. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Paul Longo will return to coaching high school football. The only question is where.
Longo, the longtime William Floyd High School coach who stepped down in December after 31 years, said he has narrowed down the search for his next job to a few schools. Longo declined to discuss which schools are in the running.
“While I had been up in the air about a return to coaching, I want to say thank you to all the school administrators that spent the time with me to discuss my future,” Longo said. “The interest and conversations that followed really motivated a comeback. The challenge is to find the right fit, meet the challenge with a great plan, and have an impact in that community with the football program.”
Longo, 68, said as many as six schools reached out to him after Newsday reported he would be stepping down at Floyd, where he had a career record of 253-67 and a .791 winning percentage. No Suffolk coach has won more games. He led the Colonials to 15 Suffolk Division I titles, the most in playoff history, and five Long Island Class I championships.
At public high schools, coaches are appointed on a year-to-year basis by the athletic director and then must be approved by the school's board.
Longo's alma mater, St. John the Baptist High School in West Islip, told Newsday it would love to have Longo on its staff.
“He’s just a first-class guy,” said Ralph Dalton, the director of boys athletics at St. John the Baptist. “We’re going to honor him in the home opener as a St. John’s alum for all his accomplishments on and off the field. He’s come back here for years to watch our games and support the program.”
Dalton said he met with Longo, St. John’s head football coach Phil Alba, and Vincent Albrecht, the school principal to offer him a job. Alba joined from Florida and made a Zoom presentation that blew Longo away.
“It was incredible,” Longo said. “It was very well thought-out and organized. It made me feel wanted in a warm way to go back and coach at my old high school.”
“Coach Alba gave him all the different options they could try as associate head coaches,” Dalton said. “We really wanted him in the program. He’s an amazing man of character and an educator.”
Longo, who played football and graduated from St. John the Baptist in 1976, was flattered by the offer but said his first preference is to be a head coach, adding, "Coach Alba is doing a great job there and it would be an honor to work with him."
“Coach Alba was excited about the potential to bring Longo here,” Dalton said. “That’s how much Phil cares about our kids and program. He wanted to work with a Hall of Famer. Not many coaches would share those responsibilities.”
Longo coached Floyd from 1995 to 2025 and led the Colonials to 26 playoff appearances in his 31 years. He guided the Colonials on a Suffolk County record 42-game winning streak from 2005-2008. They earned the Rutgers Trophy presented to Suffolk’s most outstanding team three times. He coached three Hansen Award winners in Brock Jackolski (2007), Stacey Bedell (2011) and Ja’Quan Thomas (2025). The Hansen is presented to Suffolk’s most outstanding player.
Added Dalton, “Who wouldn’t want Paul Longo leading their football program?”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
