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New Jersey football lost a great one with the passing of Gerry Gallagher on July 24. He was one of 'The 3 Amigos' among veteran coaches teaching the Wing T along with, from left, in top photo, Ed Sadloch and Don Smolyn. In addition to his work as a head coach at both the high school and college levels, Gallagher was also the special teams coordinator at Delbarton. In fourth photo he is seen with Sadloch at the Phil Simms N.J. North-South All-Star Classic in June. (SC photos and courtesy of Ed Sadloch and Delbarton football)

New Jersey Football Loses A Great One
With Passing Of Tireless Gerry Gallagher

By Steve Tober
For sidelinechatter.com

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.”

Gallagher graduated Morris Catholic in 1969 and then played for the first college football team at William Paterson. After serving as an assistant coach from 1973-76 at Morris Catholic he became the Crusaders’ head coach from 1977-83.

His first college coaching position came as the offensive coordinator where he taught Wing T concepts at Edinboro (Pa.) University from 1984-85 before he became a head college coach at both St. Francis (Pa.) from 1986-88 and then back at his alma mater ‘Willy P’ from 1989-96.

He guided the Pioneers to an NCAA Division III playoff berth in 1993 and had three straight 8-win seasons while twice being named a New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1991 and ‘93.

He returned to high school coaching when he took over the reins at Montville where he was the successor to longtime Mustangs head man John Gallucci and directed the Morris County school gridiron squad from 1997-2010, including leading the team to a berth in the 2006 North 2, Group 2 state sectional playoff final where West Essex edged the Mustangs, 8-7, at Giants Stadium.

Beyond his continued work on teaching Wing-T concepts, or in his years overseeing an entire high school or college football program, Gallahger also gained much knowledge as a special teams coach and spoke at clinics around the Northeast, including at Monmouth University.

“Gerry was one of the great special-teams minds in the country,” said Smolyn. “He was as good as anyone out there!

“Just take a look at how many blocked punts there were when he was at Delbarton, which is something novices watching the games may not have noticed.

“He was just so knowledgeable in so many areas of the sport, and there are very few people like him out there, that’s for sure!

Always one to stay very involved in the game whether it was helping his son Bryan’s teams at both Boonton and Morris Knolls, where he spent time volunteering on the sidelines this past fall for a very successful Golden Eagles team, Gallagher also had much success in a different sort of role in the sport he loved when he worked on the coaching staff at Delbarton from 2015-2023, where he certainly continued to leave his indelible mark.

“Here was a man who had been a terrific college and high school head coach for more than 40 years when he came to us in 2015 and said he wanted to help out as one of our assistant coaches,” said Delbarton head coach Brian Bowers. “He had a great passion for coaching special teams and I can’t tell you how many blocked punts and great returns we had when he was here because there were a lot of them.

“I can remember our kids going over and hugging him on the sidelines after a great play on a return or punt block because they wanted the validation while also showing their love for him in recognizing what a big role he had in our success.

“He would also work at our flag football camp at Delbarton running the Pre-K and kindergarten division and would have a ball working with those young kids, and it would be both hilarious and very touching how amazing a time they all had together.

“Kids of all ages just radiated to Gerry, whether it was those very young kids in flag football or our Delbarton players. He was just tremendous working with all of them and it didn’t matter if someone was a first-, second- or third-teamer, he treated every player the same and - being the great coach he was - he challenged each kid to be the best he could be.

“He had the unique ability to connect with all people and that is truly special!

“The word ‘legend’ is sometimes thrown around, but Gerry was indeed a legendary figure and simply one of a kind!”
     
 Editor's Note: Obit information below is courtesy of Norman Dean Home For Services  

 
Follow Steve Tober on 'X' @Chattermeister  
 

 

 
 


       


 



 



 

 

 

 

Gerry Gallagher, Ed Sadloch and Don Smolyn all worked at Delaware coach Tubby Raymond's Wing-T camp in the 1970s. (photo courtesy of Univ. of Delaware football)

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