Frank McGuire Foundation to Honor Five New York Metro-area Coaches

The Frank McGuire Foundation, a group founded by New York City business people and dedicated to honoring high school coaches, has named its five honorees for 2009.  The coaches will be feted at a banquet on November 18th at the famed New York Athletic Club in the city.

This year's class of inductees include Coach Victor Paternostro (Pope John XXIII - Football), Coach Michael Epstein (McMahon High School - Lacrosse), Coach Beth Powell (Northern Valley Regional High School - Girls Volleyball), Coach Robert Kent (St. Francis Prep - Baseball), Coach Dino Garr (Rye High School - Football).

The following brief bios were obtained from the McGuire Foundation website:

Coach Victor Paternostro has scored 354 wins, 63 losses and 5 ties. He is a member of the Sussex County Hall of Fame, Admiral Farragut Hall of Fame, and the Queen of Peace Hall of Fame. In ‘93 he was named Coach of the Year by the NJ Coaches Association, the NJ Herald, The Record, and the Star Ledger. In ’04, he was the recipient of the John Bateman Winners for Life award. Paternostro has coached 20 State championship teams and has been to the State finals 9 times and won 19 Sussex County Interscholastic League Championships. Elected to the NJSIAA NJ Coaches Hall of Fame in ’07, he is also an inductee to the NJ Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Coach Mike Epstein began his lacrosse career at Norwalk HS in ’91 and also coached field hockey and girl’s volleyball. For the last 14 years, at McMahon, Coach developed one of the most competitive programs in Connecticut. The Senators were State Div. II Champs in ‘00 and Div. I State Runner-up in ‘05. Mike was awarded the Post Coach of the Year in ‘00 &‘06, FCIAC Coach of the Year in ‘07, Ct. HS Coaches Assoc. Coach of the Year in ‘05 and Ct. Lacrosse Coaches Assoc. Coach of the Year in ‘97 & ‘00. Mike serves as the FICAC Chair and sits on the State and All-American Committees.

Coach Beth Powell took one of the worst volleyball programs in North Jersey and turned it into a perennial state power. Her coaching record is 391-104, having lost 8 games and winning 123 in the past 5 years. The Star Ledger selected her team 4 of the past 5 years as the top volleyball team in NJ. Her teams have won 7 League Championships, 9 County, 6 State, 3 State Tournament of Champs and the Star Ledger #1 Team in the State 6 times. For 15 years, Beth has served with the NJ State Coaches Association, the NJSCA Volleyball Coaches Clinic, co-chaired the NJ State All-Star game and was coordinator for the BCWCA Volleyball Tournament. She received Bergen County Coach of the Year in ’96, ’00 & ’01, the Star Ledger Coach of the Year ’96, NFCA Volleyball Coach of the Year ’99, and NJSIAA Sports Award-Volleyball ‘99.

Brother Robert Kent has taught at St. Francis Prep for the last 42 years. He began as a history teacher and served as the Prep’s Athletic Director for 29 years, playing a significant role in continuing the school’s successful athletic tradition. On the varsity baseball level, he notched a record of 536-238, reaching the Finals 5 times and winning the City Championship 3 times. Brother Robert has been named Coach of the Year 5 times by The New York Daily News, 4 times by The Tablet, twice by Newsday, and twice by The New York Post. He was also named New York State Coach of the Year in ’95 and received induction into the CHSAA Hall of Fame in ’03. He will always say without hesitation, “Any of my success is due to the players and many coaches who have assisted me through these years.” More than 130 of his former athletes went on to play collegiate ball and 10 have played professionally.

Coach Dino Garr's impressive record includes 3 NYS Class B Championships, 6 NYS Final, 6 NYS East Regional and 7 NYS Southeast Regional Championships, 14 Section One and 17 Section One League Championships, 25 Section One Bowl Games and 4 undefeated, untied Season. He earned 5 Section One Coach of the Year awards, the ’05 Journal News Coach of the Year award, the ’05 NY Football Giants Coach of the Week award and received induction into the Westchester Sports Hall of Fame ’08.

Congratulations to the McGuire Foundation Coach of the Year honorees!

Michigan Soccer: Coach Batchelor to Step Aside

Coach Scott Batchelor has been the boys and girls soccer coach at Petoskey High School since 1983.  Coach Batchelor has led the his teams to nineteen district and six regional titles, and a pair of state championships including last season with the boys program.

Coach Batchelor will step aside from his head coaching duties after this season.  He will enter his last regular season game this Thursday with 379 career victories. 

According to Steve Foley of the Petoskey News-Review, Batchelor’s teams "have been a model of consistency throughout the years as a result of his easygoing, levelheaded and respectful coaching style."

Southern California football coach to be Hall of Fame inductee

Former Los Altos High School football coach Dwayne DeSpain will be inducted into the CIF Hall of Fame later this month.

Coach DeSpain came to Los Altos (Hacienda Heights, CA) as an assistant in 1963, just six years after graduating from Lynwood High and two after leaving Pepperdine. By 1967, DeSpain was Los Altos's head coach at age 28. An educator for over thirty-years, Coach DeSpain retired from Los Altos in 1997. 

He recorded an amazing record of accomplishments including more than 200 coaching wins, nineteen consecutive winning seasons, ten league titles and a record-tying seven CIF-Southern Section football titles.

Arizona coaching giants clash Friday

When Amphitheater and Santa Rita of Tuscon, AZ meet on Friday, October 16th, their coaches will have already combined for nearly 600 career wins.

Amphi Coach, Vern Friedli is shooting for win # 315, and Coach Jeff Scurran of St. Rita for # 265.

Victories are not their only legacy to south Arizona high school football.  In a recent online interview, Coach Scurran, 62, talked with pride about his team of assistant coaches.  It would seem that for aspiring young coaches, being mentored by Coach Scurran can help lead to career success.  Among the Arizona high school football coaches at least five got their starts working with Coach Scurran, including:

• Jay Campos at Sabino 
• Neimer Hassey at Cienega,
• Gary Minor at Ironwood Ridge
• Tom Webb at Cholla
• Scott McKie at Pueblo

Amphitheater's Coach Friedli, 73, has coached high school ball for 41 years, his last 34 at "Amphi". During his tenure, Amphi Football has made 26 play-off appeances and he has been named the Arizona Daily Star's Coach of the Year five times. He was also once named, in 1973, by the Arizona Coaches Association as its Baseball Coach of the Year.

Coach Friedi's Panthers are 5-1 on the season (2-1 in league play) need a win to claw back into contention with the Santa Rita Eagles and Palo Verde Titans, both 3-0 in Gila League play.

California Football: The Mira Loma (Sacramento, CA) Connection

It has been a big year for a pair of Mira Loma (Sacramento, CA) alums - Coach Mike Mike Alberghini led the Grant Pacers to the California Open Division Championship and Coach Randy Blankenship, currently at Madera High, notched his 200th career win.

Alberghini and Blankenship along with perennial winners Dave Humphers of Nevada Union and Kevin Rooney of Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, CA) each share key traits - long-term coaching success and getting their football starts at Mira Loma High School.

Other current high school head coaches hailing from Mira Loma are Terry Stark, Inderkum (Sacramento, CA) and Mike Dimino, Del Campo (Fair Oaks, CA).

According to Mira Loma grad, Jeff Grenz, each of these coaches got their starts "during the tenure of Don Brown and Gerry Kundert, a pair of coaches who had a couple of undefeated years and a long winning streak in the late 60s and early 70s."

Brown and Kundert were known for directing an option running game and Wing-T offense and doing much with undersized players. But given the coaching family they spawned, Brown and Kundert must have taught these guys more than just the Wing-T play book. Perhaps, Coach Brown and Coach Kundert's most lasting legacy are the young men they inspired to coach others. That, in my mind, is real coaching success.

Do you know another coach who is part of Coach Brown and Coach Kundert's coaching family? If so, let me know by e-mailing andy@maxpreps.com.

Coaching Family Tree Project

Part of the my mission with this blog is to honor the career achievements of high school coaches.  In my mind, career wins are an important measure of coaching success.  But, I also believe that coaches who mentor and inspire others to coach may be an even more important measure of success.  For some time, I have wanted to create a coaches "family tree" project and my early efforts with this blog have helped me solidify my vision.  To begin with, I intend to share stories that come my way, or that I find, in the MaxPreps Coaches Honor Roll blog. If you are aware of any notable coaches family trees, please let me know by commenting here, or by e-mailing andy@maxpreps.com.

Pennsylvania Football Coach Jim Roth earns 300 career win

Southern Columbia Coach Jim Roth picked up his 300th victory as his Tigers rolled past Warrior Run, 42-6 on October 2, 2009.  Coach Roth became just the eighth coach in Pennsylvania football coaching history to reach 300 career victorys.