The ‘Three Amigos’ when it comes to New Jersey’s most ardent Wing-T devotees have to include a highly-regarded trio that have made it a point to promote concepts of the time-honored offense since their days together now a half century ago at the University of Delaware working at Wing T guru Tubby Raymond’s summer camp.
Don Smolyn, Ed Sadloch and Gerry Gallagher have combined to coach more than 150 years while working with players of different generations including perhaps the grandsons of those they had coached back in the day.
But, one of the trio’s vital members, and a beloved figure revered by coaches and players of all ages, has now departed for that blue football field in the big sky above, and we’re not talking about Boise State’s blue turf.
Gerry Gallagher, who began his more-than-50-year coaching career back in 1973 as a young assistant at his alma mater Morris Catholic, passed away Thursday, July 24, at the age of 73.
(See obit information at bottom of this page)
“I told someone that Gerry has already found Tubby up there and they’re probably talking Wing T football,” said Sadloch, the legendary, former Cedar Grove coach, who has worked alongside Gallagher and Smolyn conducting popular Wing-T camps the past few years, including two recent sessions at Smolyn’s former school Lenape Valley in Stanhope. “He was such a huge part of this game that we love and this one really hurts!
“His arms reached out to a lot of people through the years. The three of us just had a Wing T camp at Lenape Valley and – as usual – Gerry brought his amazing energy which rubs off on all the kids who had a great time.
“For us, Gerry was part of our inner circle, and there aren’t that many of us left anymore.
“To put it simply, he’s irreplaceable, and a man like that doesn’t come along very often in this life.”
Whether it was helping with handing out plaques for the Bateman Award at the recent Phil Simms N.J. North-South All-Star Classic at Kean, making sure the plaques for the 2025 Super 100 Awards Dinner had reached all the players, or ensuring that all ran smoothly at the Morris County Football Coaches Association gatherings, Gerry Gallagher was the man in 2025, and in so many past years as well.
And, then there were the young coaches he helped when they called asking questions about the Wing T offense, or anything else about football.
“I was talking to Bill Tracy, who coached at Livingston, Ridge and now at St. Joe’s of Metuchen, and he told me about when he was a young coach and how Gerry spent two hours on the phone helping him with even the littlest things about the Wing-T,” said Smolyn. “So many guys in the profession today don’t share, but If someone needed help with any questions about football or simply in the approach to coaching kids, Gerry was always there, and he was anxious to share what he knew.”
And, that relentless attention to detail and always doing whatever he could to try and ensure that everyone enjoyed the complete experience was ever present even in the day before he passed away.
“I had just gotten back from vacation and Gerry was at my house Wednesday morning (July 23) dropping off shirts so that every kid who had been at our June camp who didn’t get one because we had run short, not only got a shirt now, but also got the right size they needed,” continued Smolyn. “This is such a tough loss for everyone because Gerry did so much work behind the scenes that some people would never realize, and that didn’t matter to him.
“He was humble and giving, loved his family so much and would always share stories about them with us, plus he had the energy of a 20-year-old in doing his part - and more - to make sure any clinic or camp he was involved with would run smoothly.
“It all started for us at Tubby’s Wing T camp at Delaware back in the ‘70s, and our pilgrimage together along with Ed has continued to this day including the winter coaches’ clinics we’ve had the last few years at Bloomfield, and we added one in South Jersey at Clearview High School this year where we had a great turnout.
“And, when it comes to the two Wing-T summer camps we just had in June at Lenape Valley, the three of us were out there again doing what we love to do in trying to share our knowledge about the sport, and you could always tell that Gerry just loved being there each and every day while helping every youngster he could spend time with.”
