Nielsen to remember Pascack Valley job fondly

Football coach opens up about his time at helm of Indians

Jake Aferiat, Sports Writer|June 8, 2016

Jake Aferiat

Craig Nielsen after PV’s win against Hackensack to open the season. He announced his retirement as a coach and teacher in March.

On Wednesday March 16, 2016, Pascack Valley’s longtime football coach Craig Nielsen made an announcement that shook many of his players to the core—that he was retiring both as a coach and as a physical education teacher.

But, Nielsen recalls his decision could have been made much earlier.

“What really had me thinking about retirement was our loss to Roxbury [in the 2012 North 1, Group 4 title game],” he said. “That was one of our best teams and we didn’t get the job done. I seriously thought that might’ve been our last chance.”

After the game Nielsen shared a private moment with one of his longtime assistants, Doc Lehman, who gave Nielsen some words of wisdom.

“[Lehman] said ‘You’ll win one when you least expect it,’ ” remembers Nielsen. “But I had been doing some serious thinking, and I wasn’t sure. After all we had made the finals three times, but had come up short three times.”

Nielsen ultimately took the advice of Lehman and remained at the helm of the Indians for another three seasons, winning two state sectional titles in that span, solidifying PV as a football powerhouse in Bergen County.

He was a presence on the sidelines, easily identifiable by his signature mullet, grizzly voice and the passion and enthusiasm he exuded while coaching.

His passion was often manifested by emphatic gestures on the sidelines. Whether it was an embrace with an assistant coach after a win, yelling at someone on the sideline, reacting to a flag either being thrown or not, or calling plays, he was loud, animated, and couldn’t be missed.

That is until recently. Nielsen battled cancer, making it harder for him to do his job and at times, he would be left with little to no voice as a result.

“I used to be able to coach from 100 yards away,” Nielsen said. “Now, I can’t coach my way, and it’s frustrating.”

In terms of what drove Nielsen to retirement, there were any numbers of factors, with his health being one, but not the deciding one.

“Was my health a factor? Sure,” he said. “But I also got told that you’ll know when it’s time, and that time has come.”

Nielsen’s coaching career at PV began in 2001, but he’s a football lifer. He attended Bergenfield High School, where he was a standout running back, and the anchor on the 1974 state sectional championship team. He furthered his playing career at Rutgers University. He then held head coaching jobs at Elmwood Park, Park Ridge, and Tenafly before ultimately settling in at Pascack Valley.

Nielsen enjoyed success as a player, but he feels it’s what he didn’t do that molded him as a coach and a person.

“I might’ve had a gift but I wasted it because of stupid decisions,” he said.”I don’t want my players to make the same mistakes I did, and that’s why I’m so hard on them”

Nielsen was known at PV as a no nonsense, old school coach that excelled in the art of motivation, and getting the most out of his players.

He demanded the best and expected nothing less from his players. He became PV’s 10th coach all-time in 2001, after talking to assistant athletic director Bill Shaw.

“Bill and I were close. He approached me and said, ‘I don’t know if you want to take the job, but you should seriously look at it,’ ” Nielsen said.

“Realistically, PV wasn’t very good when I was looking at it as my next destination,” Nielsen said. “But, honestly, I’d rather take over a job that was struggling and work on rebuilding a good program,” he said. “I knew PV had potential because the school had good athletic programs, so I figured, why not football?”

A big picture guy, Nielsen’s emphasis was on turning PV into a successful program, not just a good team. 

He’s done that and more.

Under Nielsen, PV made the state sectional finals five times, winning twice, and the Indians made the playoffs every season from 2004 to 2015. Also memorable was PV beating Montclair to snap the Mounties’ 24 game winning streak.

However, the success was not instant for Nielsen, who didn’t post his first winning season until 2004. However, from 2004 on, PV was a force to be reckoned with in North Jersey football, and a perennial title contender.

Maybe it was how successful he was in his career, or maybe it’s just the fact that no one enjoys losing, but Craig Nielsen has particular disdain for the subject, and he was blunt in sharing his opinion.

“I never accept losing,” he said. “But some are easier to take than others.”

Nielsen finds no consolation in playing competitive games and losing, nor is he pleased when PV wins while playing a bad game.

“If we go out there and hold our own and lose a close game, the only result is that it fuels us to go out there and work harder next time out,” he said.

Conversely, if the Indians win a game where they were undisciplined or just generally not playing well, Nielsen wouldn’t be satisfied.

“If it’s a game where we aren’t playing well and we win, the reality is, we probably deserved to lose, but we were just better on that given night,” he said.

Depending on the opponent, Nielsen’s message to his players would vary. But it stemmed from his affinity for winning.

“If we were playing a good team the message was: ‘They can be better 364 days out of the year. We’ve gotta be better than them on that day,’ ” he would say.

“If we were playing a team we should beat then the message was: ‘Don’t let them be better than us today,’ ” he said.

Nielsen knew that the wins would not always be easy to come by, though and often told this to his players, “If you want something you’ve never had before, [then] you better be willing to do something you’ve never done before.”

Craig Nielsen’s legacy as a winning coach is undeniable. But if he had it his way, people would forget about the wins and remember Craig Nielsen the man.

“I want people to say I cared about my players, that’s what is most important to me,” he said. “I couldn’t do this job by myself. I’ve had great assistants and great players. I’ve had great relationships with all of my players and coaches. My goal is that we act like a family, and I can confidently say that has happened.”

Since Nielsen stepped down, that meant a successor had to be named. 

Nielsen’s successor is indeed one of his top choices—Len Cusumano, who is eager to get started.

Though he’s hanging up the headset and clipboard, Nielsen’s love of coaching and of the game of football is still there. He hinted that he may return and that we haven’t seen the last of Craig Nielsen.

“I’m never gonna say never about being a head coach again,” he said. “But I’m also not in a rush. I’d love to coach again in some capacity, but I’d like to take some time off and enjoy my retirement first.”

Nielsen indeed will make a return to the sideline according to Darren Cooper of The Bergen Record who reported that Nielsen took a job as an assistant coach at Clifton High School.