Joe Coviello, a highly respected and legendary football coach who spent more than six decades serving Hudson County in athletics and education, died Tuesday in Beth Israel Hospital in Passaic. He was 88.
A graduate of Columbia University, where he was a standout football player, Coviello was widely recognized as the finest high school football coach in New Jersey scholastic history.
After beginning his coaching career in Berwick, Pa., where he won 44 games in six years, Coviello spent 14 glory-filled years (1946-1960) as the head coach at Memorial High School, winning 118 games. During one stretch, Coviello’s Memorial teams won 70 of 71 games, as Memorial was considered the premier football program in New Jersey, winning five state championships.
Coviello then moved on to become the first head coach ever at North Bergen High, where he won 88 more games over 10 seasons (1961 through 1971).
His total of 254 coaching victories remained as a New Jersey state record for several years, until one of his former assistant coaches, Warren Wolf, broke the mark while coaching at Brick Township High School eight years ago. Coviello’s mark of 254 wins still remains as the fourth highest victory total in state history.
Coviello was also the head coach at St. Peter’s College for four years, from 1973-77.
Other than his impressive coaching records, Coviello was also the first superintendent of schools and served as principal of North Bergen High School from 1960 through 1972 and was the principal of Memorial in West New York from 1973 until his retirement in 1985.
After he retired from education, Coviello served as the executive secretary of the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association until his death last week. He also served as the chairman of the football committee for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) for more than two decades and was instrumental in implementing the power point system used to establish the current state playoffs.
Coviello has been honored by several associations, including the National Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the NJSIAA Hall of Fame and was a charter member of the Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame, with which he served on its executive committee since its inception 12 years ago.
His death Tuesday brought about many recollections and stories from the people who knew him best, including his former players and coaching colleagues.
“The three most influential people in my life were my dad, my pastor and Joe Coviello,” said Warren Wolf, who spent 10 years as Coviello’s assistant coach (1948-57), before taking over the program at Brick and winning 321games over the last 42 years there. “He taught me about life and how to handle things. He taught me about family life. He really lived his life by example and taught by example. Everything I’ve done with my boys at Brick is the way he was with the boys at Memorial. My experience with him will always be cherished and remembered.”
Wolf maintained a close relationship with Coviello throughout his own coaching career.
“Whenever I had a problem, he was the first person I called,” Wolf said. “We spoke on the phone at least twice a week. The closeness we had was more like father and son. That’s the way I felt. The love I had for him was never ending. I feel like my dad has passed away.”
Wolf has been so touched by Coviello’s influence that he is compiling a biography of Coviello, going back to the coach’s roots in Berwick, Pa.
“I’m in the process of putting it all together,” Wolf said. “It’s my way to show how much he meant to me.”
North Bergen football coach Vince Ascolese had the dubious distinction of having to replace Coviello as the Bruins’ head coach in 1972. Since that time, Ascolese has gone on to win 292 games as a head coach and is currently ranked second in the state behind Wolf in coaching victories.
Ascolese also had nothing but fond memories about his long-time friend.
“My first recollections of Joe Coviello are of my father taking me to Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City to see Memorial play in 1946,” said Ascolese, who could become the second coach in state history to reach the 300-win plateau in 2002. “You could tell then that as a coach, he was so far ahead of the rest. He set the standard, not only in Hudson County, but the rest of the state. He also had such a calm demeanor on the field. He was always calm. He never changed, win or lose.”
Added Ascolese, “There’s only one legend in Hudson County and that was Joe Coviello. There was only one Knute Rockne, one Vince Lombardi and there was only one Joe Coviello.”
Bested Lombardi
Ironically, Ascolese mentioned Lombardi, whom Coviello defeated in 1946, in Coviello’s first year at Memorial, when the Tigers defeated the Lombardi-coached St. Cecelia’s of Englewood.
Ascolese said that he will always remember the first-ever Governor’s Bowl five years ago, pitting the New Jersey All-Stars against an All-Star team from New York. Coviello was selected as the honorary head coach of the New Jersey team, but he was far from just honorary, even at the age of 83.
“He was as vibrant and active as any other coach on that staff,” said Ascolese, who was an assistant coach in that game. “I learned a lot about him as a coach back then. He walked around those practices in the hot June sun and was involved with every aspect of the game. He wasn’t just a figure head. I was very impressed.”
Ascolese said that he will also remember the game when he went past Coviello on the all-time win list.
“He came to the game, and that meant an awful lot to me,” Ascolese said.
Wolf said that Coviello was also at the game when he passed Coviello on the win list as well.
“We never thought about records,” Wolf said. “In fact, I don’t even think Coach Coviello had any idea about a record when he retired. But when it surfaced that I was going to go past him [against Southern Regional in Forked River], he was there to put his arm around my shoulder and say, ‘If anyone had to break my record, I’m glad it was you.’ And I was honored. I’m glad it was me, because he was my mentor.”
Hudson County Freeholder Silverio “Sal” Vega enjoyed a 30-year relationship with Coviello, as Vegan went from a student to a teacher/coach at Memorial, to the school’s athletic director. “It’s hard to imagine that he’s gone, because he’s always been here,” said Vega, who is also a member of the West New York Board of Commissioners. “His presence, his stature just commanded such respect. That’s going to be missed. A lot of the identity of Memorial High School is directly tied to him. For us, he is Memorial High School. His presence is still everywhere here. His legacy at Memorial will live on.”
Added Vega, “People who either played for him or taught with him cannot separate the two. There are two images, Memorial and Mr. Coviello.”
Vega said that his proudest moment as a public servant came six years ago, when West New York officials named the town’s new recreation facility the Joseph Coviello Recreation Center.
“I know that he was very proud, in his soft, quiet way, that we were able to show him appreciation while he was still here,” Vega said. “I know we’re all better people because of him.”
Robert Aiello, the chairman of the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue, was one of Coviello’s first quarterbacks in 1947.
“I think about this quite often, but the greatest thing he taught us was discipline,” said Aiello, who was the fire chief in West New York for 15 years, before retiring and taking on the role of chairman of the NHRFR. “We learned discipline, we learned conditioning and we learned that practice made perfect. We had repetitious practices, doing the same thing over and over until we got it right. He was able to get the most out of every player. I think that experience helped me as a chief later on. I learned a lot of my leadership traits from him.”
Aiello said that he also remained very close to the man he affectionately called “Coach” and went to breakfast with him on a regular basis with many of his former teammates.
“Even though I’m 70 years old, I still remember my high school football days and playing for Coach,” Aiello said. “I loved the chances we had to get together and reminisce. We all still had the loyalty to Coach. It’s a great loss. I feel like a huge part of my life has been taken away, that I can’t see him anymore.”
Open heart
Aiello said that he last went to breakfast with Coviello in November, just two days before he went into the hospital for open heart surgery, from which he never recovered.
Wolf also had a fine moment with his coach and long-time friend and mentor last November, when he asked Coviello to accompany him to New York while Wolf received the Frank McGuire Award from the McGuire Foundation.
“People like Lou Carnesecca and Dean Smith were coming up to him, telling him that they knew who he was,” Wolf said. “I know he enjoyed it immensely.”
Wolf said that he will always remember the day that he became directly associated with the legend of Joe Coviello.
“My wife [Peggy] was in his social studies class at Memorial,” Wolf recalled. “I was coaching a semi-pro team in West New York, called the Hub Pros. And Coach asked Peggy to ask me if I would be interested in coaching at Memorial. Well, that hit me like a bombshell. I hustled as quick as I could to get over to tell him that I would be honored. And we remained together for 10 great years.”
Added Wolf, “That request was like a message from God. It stands out in my mind, that I was now starting my career in the footsteps of an immortal. Everything I’ve done all comes back to him, in life and in football. Anytime we do anything at Brick Township High School, it’s because of Joe Coviello.”