Dover goes with Cumba

By rbrown
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Updated: May 10, 2019

NOTE: This story has been updated with comments from Eric Cumba.

There are two varsity football head coaching jobs in Dover, and Eric Cumba has filled both of them.

Cumba, who spent six seasons as the head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas, was hired as Dover High School’s head coach earlier this week. He spent the previous two seasons as an assistant at Dover under Ken Osbon — his father-in-law — who resigned last month after serving as the program’s head coach for 27 seasons.

“We ran my offense last year,” Cumba said. “The kids are used to my voice.

Cumba, 33, said he was offered the varsity job on Tuesday and met with his players on Thursday.

“It happened a lot faster than I thought it would,” he said. “The hard part was keeping it quiet until I could tell the whole team at the same time.

“I think right now the program is in a really good spot. We’ll have a small senior class this year, but I think we’re on the upswing numbers-wise.”

Cumba was an offensive lineman at Don Bosco High School and then at the University of New Hampshire from 2005 to 2008. He guided St. Thomas to the Division V championship in 2011 and the Division II title in 2015.

Dover hasn’t qualified for the playoffs since 2011.

“My plan is to keep the entire coaching staff assuming they want to stay,” Cumba said. “Now the work begins.”