00:00Fred, how long have you been coaching football for?
00:0255 years.
00:04Basically, I started at St. Lawrence University.
00:08I was a graduate assistant for one year.
00:11Then I got the job at Hofstra.
00:13My first two years at Hofstra, I was the head freshman coach.
00:17Then my final two years, I was the varsity offensive line coach.
00:22I was at Hofstra for four years, and then I took the head coaching job
00:25at Sachem High School, and I was at Sachem for 34 years.
00:30When I retired in 2004, one of my former players was the head coach
00:36at John Glenn High School, so I went to work for him.
00:39I thought it was going to be a two or three years spent.
00:41I was with him for 19 years.
00:43He retired from coaching in 2024, and I had always wanted to come back
00:51to Huntington because this is where I started.
00:53So he retired, so I came over to Huntington last year.
00:57That's basically my career.
00:58What is it you love most about what you do?
01:01Truthfully, I like working with kids.
01:03That's the bottom line.
01:05I like working with kids.
01:06The camaraderie you develop with kids is where it's at.
01:10And that to me is probably the most important thing when you're coaching.
01:14Developing a rapport and a camaraderie with kids.
01:17How many of your athletes played in college?
01:20I would venture to say at least 150.
01:23At least that.
01:24John Elliott was a pro with the Giants.
01:27I had another boy who was with the Kansas City Chiefs.
01:31Another boy who was with the Chicago Bears.
01:36Another kid who was with the Atlanta Falcons.
01:39How many of your former players are now coaching on Long Island themselves?
01:43Wow.
01:44Kind of taking after what you've taught them.
01:46I would say a minimum of 50.
01:49A minimum of 50.
01:51What does that mean, the lasting impact that you've had?
01:55Well, you like to think that you're doing something right.
02:01You know, that's the whole thing.
02:02When kids choose to become teachers and coaches that you have coached,
02:09you think that you had some kind of impact on them.
02:12If they wanted to do the same thing that I did when I was coming out of high school,
02:18I admired my head coach and that was one of the reasons I became a coach.
02:22That was it.
02:22I've been blessed.
02:24I've been truly blessed to have coached a lot of great kids.
02:29A lot of great kids and I've had a lot of great assistant coaches.
02:35Because you can't do it by yourself.
02:37You just can't.
02:42I've been getting through this journey.
02:42My father says if you are a coach of friends,
02:42but what I prefer to hear about him.
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