Dom Mingione, who has spent the past 25 years as the head golf coach at Pascack Valley, is set to retire from the position. PV math teacher Brian Koch will take over for him for the upcoming season. Mingione, a former PV history teacher, was named Bergen County Coach of the Year twice and won two state sectional titles with the Indians.

Koch is also an assistant coach for the PV boys basketball team, a role that will not be affected by his new position with the golf team. While he has no previous coaching experience in golf, he often plays casually with friends.

“The inspiration was more about meeting a new group of kids that I don’t normally get to work with within the school,” Koch said. “That’s really what it’s about, the kids, not so much the sport for me.”

Koch and Mingione haven’t talked since Koch was named head coach, but Mingione noted that he’d be open to giving advice if Koch reached out.

“Some of the schools we go up against have a lot of boys and girls who have grown up playing golf at country clubs,” Mingione said. “We generally don’t get those kinds of golfers, so you have to be patient and allow them to learn the game and gradually get better over the course of their career.”

Koch’s goals for this season go hand in hand with Mingione’s advice.

“Our goal is to assess where we’re at in the beginning and get better by the end of the year by working on our craft,” Koch said. “It’s all about improvement.”