It may be just semantics, but more to the point, those of us from New England usually refer to the designation "the NE" as referring to much more than New England and parts of NY.
The Northeast (NE), at least as I refer to it, and even as the U.S. Census Bureau defines it, includes nine U.S. states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Some broader definitions also include Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C., and on rare occasions (not mine), West Virginia, and Virginia.
Personally, I don't believe any states or districts below the Mason-Dixon line (starting with VA, WVA, DC) can legitimately called part of the NE. But, I can see how Ohio might be.
So, saying we possibly have the best football HC in the NE, to me, includes HCs of some pretty good P5 football schools, and even some highly respected G5 schools, so I agree with the statement "we possibly have the best football HC in the NE".
BTW, NJ is not "east of the Hudson River" as anyone familiar with US geography knows.