Palmieri Steps Down as MHS Baseball Coach

Millburn High School's baseball coach won't be back next season, and he cited the constant parental criticism as the reason he resigned from his post.

Daryl Palmieri officially resigned as the Millers' baseball coach on July 26, citing constant and overwhelming criticism from some parents as the reason why.

"Millburn can be a very, very tough town on coaches," Palmieri said. "I took some criticism, but the extent of the negativity and the extent of the criticism was really beyond belief."

Palmieri completed his second season as head coach in the spring, finishing with a 13-16 record this year and a 23-27 mark overall. He served as the freshmen baseball coach for Millers during the 2007 and 2008 campaigns before taking over as varsity coach.

"I walk away feeling good about myself. I don't have any hard feelings," he said. "The whole climate surrounding the program really made it difficult to do the most important thing, which is coaching the kids... The circumstances that surrounded the program really made it tough for me and my assistants to focus on coaching the team."

Palmieri met with his now former players before the decision was officially announced.

"For the most part they were upset, especially the kids who I've coached for a couple of years," he said of the players' reactions. "The one regret I have is that I won't get to see those kids through, especially the seniors... kids I could've said I coached for four years."

Palmieri did not get into specifics about what exactly was said or by whom, but said that the scrutiny, negativity and criticism from certain parents, but not all of them, got to be on a daily basis.

The season before he took over as head coach, the Millers reached the Greater Newark Tournament final, won a state sectional championship and finished with an all-time best 27-5 record. Perhaps following such success put Palmieri in a tough position.

"That didn't help anything because the last taste in everyone's mind was winning," he said.

"There's no question that he came into a situation that was tough to beat," said Chris Swanson, father of varsity senior Tim Swanson. "The parents want to win, which sometimes gets in the way of building a program, which is what he was trying to do."

The Millers qualified for the state playoffs in both of Palmieri's seasons at the helm, advanced to the second round this year and won a county tournament game each season.

"It's unfortunate that Daryl decided to resign at this time," said Millburn Athletics Director Ted D'Alessio. "I thought he maintained our level of competitiveness very well."

"We actually were huge supporters of Daryl," Swanson said of his wife and son. "There were some parents who I swear if it had been Tommy Lasorda they would've still complained."

Attempts to reach other parents of varsity baseball players were unsuccessful.

Palmieri still serves as the assistant varsity basketball coach for the Millers in the fall and also is a teacher at MHS. He said assistant baseball coaches Steve Buesser and Mike Cowen also likely will leave the baseball team. Palmieri added he was in no way finished with his coaching career.

"My coaching days are definitely not done, whether it's in baseball or basketball... I think I still have a lot to give," he said. "I'm really leaving with my head up. I'm proud of what I've done."