High school football: New Hope-Solebury names Neshaminy assistant Bell its new head coach
The timing was right for New Hope-Solebury and Ian Bell.
The Lions were in search of a new head football coach and believe they have found the right fit in Bell.
And Bell, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Neshaminy, was looking to be a head coach.
"In bringing in Ian Bell to take over the football program, we feel like he's going to be a great fit," New Hope-Solebury athletic director P.J. Scarpello said.
"Our goal as a committee was to bring in a coach that will make this job his own. We want to build this program up and believe that Ian will be able to do that."
Bensalem grad taking over at New Hope-Solebury
Bell, a Bensalem graduate who teaches at Conwell-Egan, takes over from Brandon Garrett, who led the Lions for two seasons before accepting the head coaching position at Council Rock North in February.
The Lions were 4-6 last season and 6-14 overall under Garrett.
Bell, who played his college football at Ursinus, takes over a Class 2A Lions program that has the fifth-smallest enrollment in District One.
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"During our interviews, we talked about our feeder program and how we want to keep our kids here, not transferring to a private school," Scarpello said.
"We know we need to build our numbers and Ian is well aware of that. The people we talked to that have coached with him all said it's his time now to become a head coach and we couldn't be happier. He's a true football guy."
New Hope-Solebury to stay independent in football
In addition to the hiring of Bell, Scarpello also said the Lions will continue to play an independent football schedule.
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New Hope-Solebury was scheduled to join the Suburban One League American Conference this coming season, but safety issues, due to a lack of numbers, changed those plans.
"I spoke to the football staff and as much as we want to be part of the SOL, realistically, we can't compete," Scarpello said.
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"We just don't have the numbers and have a declining enrollment, so we're going to be fully independent with no plan on returning to the SOL. We have 90 percent of our schedule set up for this season and I have no doubt that we'll find a 10th game."
Drew Markol covers local sports for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: New Hope-Solebury tabs Neshaminy assistant Bell as new football coach
