Bridgeton's Dom Williams returns home as football coach; Kyle Klein finds new home at Buena

Two Cape-Atlantic League football programs hired new bosses last week.

Bridgeton High School welcomes Dom Williams back to lead the Bulldogs, while Buena tabbed Kyle Klein as its new head football coach.

Williams, 33, is no stranger to Bridgeton football.

He was one of the area’s top running backs during his career with the Bulldogs, rushing for 1,465 yards and 13 touchdowns in his senior season.

“It means the world to me,” Williams said about his new job. “I want to be the guy who opens the door for these kids. I want to be a coach who will expose them to life outside of football and outside of Cumberland County. I want to show them what they can achieve with just a little bit of hard work.”

Williams is ready to use that same work ethic that helped him develop a successful career at the collegiate and professional levels.

Williams didn’t stop running at Wagner College, where he produced 4,435 rushing yards and 276 points – both totals rank third in program history – and his 1,338 rushing yards in 2011 ranks seventh. He was three-time All-Northeast Conference selection and named to the 2012 College Sports Journal All-America Team.

His professional career began as an undrafted free agent when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings, where he played for two seasons. He also saw time with the New York Jets for a season and two more with the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League before his professional career ended due to a knee injury in 2018.

But Williams says everything began in Bridgeton, a town he believed in and where he wanted to stay.

“I remember sitting down with my parents when I was in middle school and they asked me where I wanted to go to high school,” Williams said. “I could have gone to the Hun School, St. Augustine, St. Joseph and some other schools. I even had a couple of high schools in Florida I could have gone to because I had relatives down there, but I chose to stay.

“I’m glad my parents gave me that opportunity to make that decision.”

Williams takes over for Steve Lane, who went 12-40 in his six seasons at the helm. The Bulldogs went 0-17 over the last two seasons combined and haven’t hit the win column since a 20-0 triumph over Vineland on Nov. 13, 2021.

Getting the Bulldogs back on track will take a “combination of things” according to Williams, but it starts with “really getting to know the kids and their parents and connecting the kids with their community.”

Williams began his coaching career at his alma mater, returning to Bridgeton as the defensive coordinator in 2018. The last two seasons he coached the running backs at Rowan University where he worked alongside his former high school coach Dave Ellen.

Kyle Klein takes the helm at Buena

Klein, 30, takes over for Greg Gruver, who went 5-23 over the last three seasons at Buena. The Chiefs went 0-8 last fall.

Klein was an assistant coach with Cedar Creek during the Pirates’ sectional title run in 2019 and offensive coordinator at Oakcrest in 2021-22. He was hired as the Pleasantville head coach in February 2020, but resigned six months later before ever coaching a game. Last season, Klein stepped away from the game to spend time with his family.

“This is what I was meant to do,” Klein, a 2012 Atlantic City High grad, said about coaching. “It was hard to be away, but I knew I was going to be back.”

Klein arrives in Buena as the program welcomes the future with new amenities including a new turf field and weight room.

“Football is the billboard for the school,” Klein said. “It’s a small town, a hard-nosed, blue-collar town and we want to create a football team to represent those qualities.”

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Bridgeton's Dom Williams, Buena's Kyle Klein named head football coach