Central Islip coach named New York Jets coach of the week

Central Islip head football coach Sean Christie has been named this week’s New York Jets High School Coach of the Week.

The honor comes with a $1,000 donation to benefit the school’s football program, as well as an automatic bid for Central Islip to compete in the 2026 New York Jets 11-ON Tournament.

Christie — a 2014 Patchogue-Medford graduate — will be recognized during on-field announcement at MetLife Stadium during the Jets’ Dec. 7 game against the Miami Dolphins.

The Jets High School Coach of the Week award, now in its 30th year, recognizes coaches in the tri-state area who demonstrate a commitment to teaching football fundamentals, motivating young players, and promoting youth football through dedication to their community, school and student-athletes.

Central Islip football is off to its first 2-0 start since 2001, defeating Bay Shore, 26-7, and Riverhead, 13-12.  The victories mark the first two of Christie’s head coaching career with the Musketeers.

At Pat-Med, Christie played offensive tackle and on the defensive line for three seasons. He did not allow a single sack during his senior year and earned the Zellner Award, presented to the best offensive lineman in Suffolk County by the Suffolk County Football Coaches Association.

Christie was also a second-team selection on the New York State Sportswriters Association Class AA All-State team, a first-team Newsday All-Long Island pick, and named all-county and all-league. Rated a three-star prospect by ESPN and ranked the 14th-best prospect in New York by 247Sports, he was also tabbed as a two-star recruit by Rivals and Scout.

Christie was coached in high school by former Buffalo Bills quarterback Gary Marangi.

As a redshirt senior in 2019, he helped lead a rushing attack that was one of only two Big Ten teams with three players surpassing 100 yards rushing in a game and contributed to three games where the offense scored over 45 points.

Christie protected quarterback Josh Jackson, who had the most touchdown passes by a Maryland quarterback in a first half since 1977, and blocked for the second-most points in program history in a single game (79 in a win over Howard).

During his senior season in 2018, Christie started each of the team’s 12 games and helped the Terrapins rank 17th nationally in rushing offense, with four different running backs recording 100-yard games — the most in program history. He was instrumental in freshman Anthony McFarland setting multiple freshman rushing records and helped Maryland rush for 444 yards at Bowling Green, the most since 1999.

As a junior in 2017, Christie helped the running game eclipse 160 yards per game for the third consecutive season. He protected four different starting quarterbacks, who threw just eight interceptions, the fewest for the program since 2003, and paved the way for standout rushers Ty Johnson and others in multiple games.

_{Top photo: Courtesy image.}