Rocky Hill’s Founding Fathers of Football are Retiring

Before Larry Fritz and Dave Coyne came to town, only soccer balls and tumbleweeds could be found on the fields of Rocky Hill. Now those same fields are filled with a football foundation which rivals that of any school in the state. 
 
The year was 1998 and Fritz was amongst a group of parents that were in the midst of lobbying the town of Rocky Hill to allow the institution of a football program into the high school. Fritz and several other Rocky Hill parents had children that were playing youth football in Cromwell and they were hoping to provide those kids a chance to continue competing at a high school level.
 
At the time, Rocky Hill had traditionally been a soccer town and many in the community did not think that American football could coexist with soccer in a small high school.  Those people were wrong, and fifteen years later the town of Rocky Hill has morphed into a football powerhouse.
 
“We had a lot of people that thought that {a football program} would never happen, because of the cost and because it was a soccer town,” Fritz, who was a two sport athlete at Temple University, said, “There were some people that thought football may take away some of the soccer talent, but that never really happened.  Soccer is soccer, and football is football.”
 
Once the town and school approved the program, they needed someone that could lead the upstart team.  Coyne, who was one of those lobbying for the team, was the perfect fit.  He had coaching experience, having been the head football coach at Central Catholic High School in Norwalk for twelve seasons, and he had the right philosophy.
 
“The great thing about football is that you don’t necessarily need to be a great athlete to play. You need to work hard,” Coyne, who has also organized youth football clinics in Rocky Hill throughout the years, said, “Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had great athletes that have played here, but the program has allowed a lot of kids, that wouldn’t normally play a sport, a chance to compete.”
 
The first year of the football program was 1999 and the team played at a junior varsity level.  The following season, the program moved up to the varsity level and the rest is history. Over the years, Rocky Hill transformed from a soccer town with a football team into a soccer and football town, but the transition didn’t happen overnight.
 
“In the beginning we snuck our way onto the field to practice,” Coyne said, “Then we got the scoreboard, then they put the bleacher with the press box, then the turf field. It grew from there and football was the impetus behind it.”
 
Coyne has seen a lot of people come and go throughout his tenure at Rocky Hill, but the one constant has been Fritz.  He has been on Coyne’s staff for all fifteen seasons and his son, Eric, was one of Rocky Hill’s first quarterbacks.
 
“Larry has been with me from the start.” Coyne said, “We’ve had a lot of great years together.”
 
Not only have their years together been great, but they have also been tremendously successful.   The fourteen varsity seasons have produced 80 victories, five playoff appearances, and the schools’ first playoff victory this past season.
 
This season, the team fell just short of the Class S title game and had a remarkable group of seniors that the coaches groomed over the past four years. The 2013 squad was the most successful football team in school history, but the coaches have been grateful for all the kids that have come through the program.       
 
 “We’ve been fortunate, we’ve had some very good teams and a great bunch of kids go through the program over the years,” Fritz said, “This was a good senior class, and quite honestly, we’ve had a few really good senior classes. They’ve been good kids and talented football players.”
 
The two modest coaches are quick to give credit to the players that have come through the program and they both stressed how much support they’ve received from parents and the community over the years, including those who helped launch the football program. 
 
“It was a group of people that helped get this thing going,” Fritz said about the implementation of the football program, “Jim McKinnon, Doug Elliot, Dennis Campanello, John Palazzo, Chuck Lucas, John Tabshey, and a number other gentlemen.  Without them, it would have never happened.”
 
Now, after fifteen years of building a firm football foundation, the two local legends will retire together and turn the coaching reigns over to someone else. 
 
“I wanted to retire from both teaching and coaching, so I could do more fishing and golfing” Coyne, who is an avid fly fisherman, said.
 
“Isn’t that what everyone wants to do more of?” Coyne jokingly asked.
 
Next fall, it will be an odd sight for the community of Rocky Hill to watch someone else manning the sidelines at McVicar Field, but it will also be an adjustment for Fritz and Coyne.
 
“It will be really strange next year once the football season starts,” Fritz said, “Not being out there for practice every day, and then especially strange once the games start.”
 
“I will definitely come back and watch them play and follow the team,” Coyne added, “It’s kind of my baby.”
 
A new era in Rocky Hill football will begin next season and whoever replaces Coyne and Fritz will have some big shoes to fill, but at least they can rest assured that the football program, which was only a pipedream 15 years ago, is here to stay.

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