Top 10 recent SEPA HS Head Coaches
- Thread starter Salvucci
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Not surprising response my CYO friend, but fair and well educated opinion. Last time the 2 HC's met Wood had the game in hand, but a late costly fumble, questionable wood play calls, and well executed crossing connections by Kyle and Jimmy led to a solid comeback, (great game, SRO at WTHS) after that game 4 straight Wood wins , 3 easily after DG left. DG has been truly missed.
Nice list. Coach Ortega has turned the lights back on in Coatesville since his arrival in 2009, going 97-25 with no losing seasons, a 38-5 W/L the last 3, 5 double digit winning seasons, Ches Mont titles, district crowns and to the status of a state power. No small feat in D1. Don’t know where that should rank him but he’s certainly done great things on the field that have sluffed over to the community.
HC at CEC, Conwell Egan Catholic.
http://www.buckslocalnews.com/yardl...cle_138ac100-3150-54f0-bfa6-dadb60a99ea9.html
Nobody does more with less than Ricci. I’m certainly impartial to District 1 (I just follow it closer), but I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone better than him. So, I’d have him over Beck. I know that may be blasphemy (and probably splitting hairs), but I generally think Beck has much more talent on a year to year basis.
What about guys that aren't at big schools but have done a great job? Lennox from Interboro, Pennypacker from Pottsgrove, Clark from Unionville. All have done tremendous jobs.
You could also say the Ricci does more with more. They routinely have the largest roster in District 1, top notch facilities, top of the line weight room, unlimited financial resources from both the school and booster their se4rviceprogram. Not too mention a top D1 lineman seemingly year in year out. Dont let their service academy offense fool you-they have a ton of talent from youth ball through high school.
1. Gabe Infante
2. Steve Devlin
3. Dick Beck
4. Drew Gordon
5. Matt Ortega
6. Mike Ricci
7. Mike Matta
8. Brett Stover
9. Brian Fluck
10. Pennypacker
11. Jack Techmann
12. Steinmetz
Top 4 I think are etched in stone. All 4 have won state titles I believe. After that, maybe there are discussions on the next tier. Ortega has 3 district titles and 4 appearances, Stover has 2. Matta has none but seems to always be in the Final 4. Maybe he should be jumped, but no way should Milano be ahead of Matta. Matta has won the head to head battles of the Brandywine and he also makes the playoffs and routinely goes further than West. Has Ricci even won a District yet? No way should he even be mentioned in the same sentence as Beck. I like Ricci. I think he has done a great job. I think they will actually win the District next year. However, more with less? They have 100 kids on the team every year. Offense practices offense for 12 hours. Defense the same. Most special teams players are simply that, special teams players. Most coaches would kill for a roster like that. Their offense, which is what they choose to run and run it extremely well, is the reason they are sometimes labeled one dimensional. Army and Navy are awesome at running that offense as well. Also labeled one dimensional. Being able to run that type of offense well and being able to pass are extremely difficult. If Garnet Valley could do that, Ricci would sky rocket on the list.
2. Steve Devlin
3. Dick Beck
4. Drew Gordon
5. Matt Ortega
6. Mike Ricci
7. Mike Matta
8. Brett Stover
9. Brian Fluck
10. Pennypacker
11. Jack Techmann
12. Steinmetz
Top 4 I think are etched in stone. All 4 have won state titles I believe. After that, maybe there are discussions on the next tier. Ortega has 3 district titles and 4 appearances, Stover has 2. Matta has none but seems to always be in the Final 4. Maybe he should be jumped, but no way should Milano be ahead of Matta. Matta has won the head to head battles of the Brandywine and he also makes the playoffs and routinely goes further than West. Has Ricci even won a District yet? No way should he even be mentioned in the same sentence as Beck. I like Ricci. I think he has done a great job. I think they will actually win the District next year. However, more with less? They have 100 kids on the team every year. Offense practices offense for 12 hours. Defense the same. Most special teams players are simply that, special teams players. Most coaches would kill for a roster like that. Their offense, which is what they choose to run and run it extremely well, is the reason they are sometimes labeled one dimensional. Army and Navy are awesome at running that offense as well. Also labeled one dimensional. Being able to run that type of offense well and being able to pass are extremely difficult. If Garnet Valley could do that, Ricci would sky rocket on the list.
Why do they have the largest roster in the state? They don’t have anywhere near the largest enrollment. They only have 631 boys in the school, yet he gets 100+ to come out for the team every year. To me, that’s a testament to the Head Coach. I’m not sure why that would be used as an indictment against him. He built it from a small 3A school. Unless there’s something magical in the water over there?
I define coaching as who does the most relative to the talent they have. I don’t feel GV is abundantly talented each year, yet they are always there in the end. I think NP has been more talented than them every year, including when GV beat them with their third string sophomore QB last year. Ah like I said, we’re splitting hairs; both do a great job and should be commended.
I define coaching as who does the most relative to the talent they have. I don’t feel GV is abundantly talented each year, yet they are always there in the end. I think NP has been more talented than them every year, including when GV beat them with their third string sophomore QB last year. Ah like I said, we’re splitting hairs; both do a great job and should be commended.
I’m not necessarily holding it against him. Nick Sabin gets 20-25 top recruits every year , great facilities, great backing from the school. But he is still a great coach. I’m just saying GV has a lot more talent than people think.
Pure coaching I would put Stover, Ricci and Infante at the top. Stover uses more personnel packages in for his offense than just about any other high school coach I've seen and Ricci gets the most out of his entire team, man per man than any. He's molded many of his most obscure players to be very good special team guys. Stover is the best play caller I've seen every year with the group he has to work with. Infante probably ranks above anyone else especially when it comes to breaking down film and being most prepared. I'm convinced he would do well with teams who have much less talent.
If you put in another category for transfers obviously Devlin would be at the top but I still give him credit for being a very good coach.
If you put in an additional category for "Tough Love" coaches, Schmidt and Pettine go to the top there. As much as Schmidt and Beck get hammered on this site both are still ranked high in my view for pure coaching.
My number 1's
Offense/Play calling: Stover and Bret Gordon/Joe Wade
Defense: Infante
Special Teams: Ricci (and whoever is his coordinator)
If you put in another category for transfers obviously Devlin would be at the top but I still give him credit for being a very good coach.
If you put in an additional category for "Tough Love" coaches, Schmidt and Pettine go to the top there. As much as Schmidt and Beck get hammered on this site both are still ranked high in my view for pure coaching.
My number 1's
Offense/Play calling: Stover and Bret Gordon/Joe Wade
Defense: Infante
Special Teams: Ricci (and whoever is his coordinator)
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