Plenty Of Rich History To Recall
From The Verducci Era At SHP

Joe Walsh was like a sponge while soaking up the chatter inside the coaches’ room at Seton Hall Prep as head man Tony Verducci and assistant coach Sam Fortunato would impart their wisdom about football including the defensive side of the ball, which was a staple of strength during the Verducci reign.

And, the that defensive formula certainly worked, especially in the 1977 season, which came in the midst of a memorable 32-0-1 unbeaten streak for the Pirates when only a late SHP fumble deep in its own territory allowed Bergen Catholic to score – taking four downs to do so – for the only touchdown allowed all season by a 10-0-1 Pirates team which spun a state-record 10 shutouts including in a 0-0 tie with Paterson Kennedy, which was the only result that was not a victory over the course of 3-plus seasons.

During the period from 1976-78 SHP allowed just 72 points, which comes out to a paltry 2.2 ppg allowed during that amazing run of defensive prowess that encompassed much of the impressive 32-0-1 run.

“Those were the days before they called anyone ‘defensive’ or ‘offensive’ coordinator,” recalled Walsh, who was a ‘30ish’ young assistant at the time, and someone who both played and coached with the legendary Verducci. “Sam really knew defense, but that was also Tony’s best area as well, and he would usually call the plays for the offense and make any defensive adjustment as well.

“Sam would certainly make suggestions and Tony would listen, but Tony, who was a head coach through and through, would make the final decisions.”

Great defensive players such as linebacker Chet Parlavecchio (SHP Class of ’78), who would go on to star at Penn State and then be a successful high school coach at a number of schools in North Jersey, were part of that memorable SHP unbeaten skein, one that began with the 1976 season-opening 19-14 win vs. Bloomfield and ended in 1979 with a narrow week 6 loss (7-0) to Bergen Catholic as the overall streak concluded at 37-0-1.

Verducci directed the Pirates for 33 seasons (1955-1987) before his death in 1988. SHP would play Bergen Catholic on a regular basis during the Verducci reign; however, the matchups were more sporadic with more familiar parochial powers of today such as Don Bosco Prep and St. Joseph of Montvale. More familiar Catholic school foes included Essex Catholic and St. Benedict’s before it dropped football in 1972.

Otherwise, it was a plethora of various public and private school programs thrown into the mix when it came to scheduling, with opponents such as the Paterson schools, Kennedy and Eastside, Belleville, Bloomfield and Newark East Side.

SHP played a number of teams from Union County during the Verducci era, including coach Howie Anderson’s fine Summit team (1979), Scotch Plains (1978) Elizabeth (1978, ’79 and ’80), Plainfield (1980) and even legendary coach Frank Bottone’s small-school juggernaut New Providence (1981).

“It seemed as if we were always scrambling to find teams to fill out the schedule,” said Walsh, who served as SHP’s director of athletics from 1978-2014 when he retired from full-time duties at The Prep. “We played teams from a number of different counties in the state, but - for whatever reasons, and I think it was only because our schedules never matched up enough to do it – when it came to Union County, we could never match up dates with Union.

“I think it would have been great in the late 70s or early 80s to have played against Lou Rettino’s really good Union teams. He was highly-regarded, and rightly so; and was definitely one of the greatest coaches we’ve had in the state!”

Verducci was 213-76-16 (.725) and his teams averaged 18.5 points while allowing just 8.1 ppg. His renowned defense posted 104 shutouts.

The Pirates won 11 NJSIAA Parochial A state championships (1955, ’61, ’62, ’64, ’69, ’74, ’76, ’77, ’78, ’81 and ’85).

SHP, which had played an independent schedule for many years, won Iron Hills Conference-Iron Division titles in both 1984 and ’85.

Verducci, who had four sons who played for him at The Prep, including Frank, who was a longtime assistant coach on the major college scene and Tom, who has become one of America’s top major league baseball TV analysts.

Back on May 9, 2024 Frank announced on Twitter that the family was celebrating dad Tony’s 100th birthday which would have been the case if the beloved SHP coach was still alive.

For those who played and coached with the elder Verducci, the experience remains a memorable one.

“Tony was an ‘old-school’ coach, but even when he got tough with you, you always knew that he was trying to motivate you and that he always cared,” said Walsh, who was a 1965 teammate of Jim Reynolds, an outstanding Pirates running back and 3-sport standout who would go on to play football at Harvard. “I was one of those who was fortunate to both play and coach with him, and I can still smile today because while we always worked as hard as we could to try and win the next game, we also had a lot of fun as well!” 

NOTES- SHP which opened in 1856 is the oldest Catholic school in the state…The Pirates’ first season of football without ‘PG’s’ (post-graduates) on the team was 1946…Tony Woods, another superb defensive player during the Verducci reign, was a 1983 graduate of SHP and went on to play both at the University of Pittsburgh and in the NFL…The late Sam Fortunato, whose daughter Toni was an all-state pitcher at Whippany Park, became the principal at Union High School after his time at SHP…Tony’s son, Anthony, who was a center at SHP and then attended the U.S. Naval Academy, had a long career in the Navy and also coached high school football in the Washington, D.C. area…former Cedar Grove defensive coordinator Al Calcago, who played at SHP, also coached on Verducci’s staff in the 1970s along with his dad, Pete Calcagno, who was a valuable line coach for the Pirates…Tom Reynolds, a late, former youth football coach with the Caldwell Colts, was also a former Verducci assistant, and helped head the ‘Dad’s Club during the 1970s at SHP.