Chatter about a possible retirement from coaching is bound to be there. Afterall, anyone still going at it now in his 35th year at the helm has been at it for some time in terms of measuring what is certainly a lengthy career.
It was September of 1991 when the former Bengals standout player (Class of 1979) made his debut as Bloomfield’s head coach after three years as a lead assistant on Chet Parlavecchio’staff, and a young Mike Carter went out and earned a season-opening win against local rival Montclair in what was also the first game at the helm for Len Rivers who would wind up having a rather ill-fated 2-year stint with the Mounties before he headed for new horizons.
Carter, meanwhile, has marched on for three-and-a-half decades as the guiding force for the Bengals football program, and along with the inevitable ups and downs along the way, is the fact that he has helped mold the futures for hundreds and really thousands of student-athletes in both football and baseball since he was also the school’s head diamond coach for 11 seasons, with a Greater Newark Tournament title and two state sectional crowns.
When asked if this season could possibly be his last, the personable veteran Bengals gridiron mentor responded, ‘To tell you the truth I haven’t really thought about it. I’m just trying to work with my coaching staff in preparing our team for the next game, which comes up a little quicker this week (Thursday night), and against a quality opponent (Livingston).”
Always regarded as one of the real nice guys in the coaching business Carter just hit a personal milestone when he recorded victory No. 150 with last Friday night’s 38-7 road win vs. Paterson Kennedy.
He is one of 17 active coaches in the state with 150 or more victories, and at this time he’s only interested in continuing to try and guide his team to victory No. 151, which when it happens would be victory No. 6 this season in what has been a solid campaign to date for the Bengals (5-2) who are preparing to host a dangerous Livingston squad (4-3) at 6 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 16) at Foley Field.
“Coach Mike Carter joined just 17 other active New Jersey football coaches with 150 career wins or more with the Bengals 38-7 rout of JFK-Paterson,” said Bloomfield Athletic Director Steve Jenkins. “We encourage everyone to attend our home game vs Livingston this Thursday at 6 pm as we recognize this tremendous achievement in a pregame ceremony.”
Carter simply loves being around the players and coaches on his team and all the students he comes into contact with on a daily basis inside Bloomfield High School where he has spent a large chunk of the past 50-plus years.
“Coach Carter looks out for everyone and cares so much about our team,” said senior captain and standout quarterback Jeremy Tejada. “He’ll try and help with any problem you might have on or off the field and that means a lot to all of us.”
Carter’s best team was his 9-3 squad in 2012 which was led by his son Mike, Jr., a standout QB, who suffered an injury that prevented him from playing the position in the team’s North 1, Group 5 playoff final vs. Montclair at MetLife Stadium.
Even without the team’s best offensive player able to play the most important position on the field, the Bengals came so close to knocking off the heavily-favored Mounties, only falling in the second overtime, 16-13.
Mike Carter, Jr., who went on to a superb college baseball career at Rutgers, is a veteran assistant coach on his dad’s staff as are other former Bengals players such as Jermain Johnson and Lee Shead.
