Inside evolution of coaching as Joe Frappolli begins 50th year as Florence football coach

A tear began trickling down Joe Frappolli’s right cheek.

“Why have I stayed?” he asked, repeating the question he was just posed. “Well …”

Frappolli paused. He stood to the side as the Florence Township High School football team prepared for Thursday’s season opener, his 50th leading the Flashes.

Over the next hour, he’d discuss how coaching has changed over the last half century – the longer calendar, more demands of coaches, players and families, social media, even general wear and tear.

“I’m 76 now,” Frappolli said. “When you start to get into the 70’s, everything hurts. When I’m out here for three hours or so, my sciatic nerve, I got to get off my feet, ice up. My knees. I have neuropathy. My feet burn. Your back hurts. Thank God nothing major major, but it’s not easy being out here.”

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Then why? Why did Frappolli have his trademark shirt, tie and headset on again leading Florence visited New Egypt to kick off the 2023 campaign?

“There was always something that was drawing me back,” said Frappolli, who guided the Flashes to a season-opening 34-0 win over New Egypt. “Somebody saying to me, come on coach, you got another couple years in you. I still hear to this day, ‘Coach, how long you going to be around? I want you to coach my son.’ That’s sort of neat to hear. I’ve gone through the generations of people. To answer your question, it’s not an easy answer, but I would just say my love of the school and the community. The roots here.”

Those roots run deep. Frappolli is an institution in Florence. His mentors were pillars of their communities too. When Frappolli first started coaching, being with a program multiple decades wasn’t uncommon.

Now, it’s a rarity.

Just six current South Jersey football coaches have been with the same team for at least two decades.

Is there a chance another one reaches 50 years like Frappolli, who has said this will likely be his last? Yes, but it’s a long shot, especially in this new coaching world.

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Tim Gushue has served on practically every committee there’s been for New Jersey football during his 41-year head-coaching career at Shawnee.

Frappolli is a big reason why.

“They (Frappolli and former Northern Burlington coach Charlie Pirrello) used to drag me up to meetings at Rutgers when I was a really young coach,” Gushue recalled. “I said I want to get involved with that stuff. I’d ride up and sit in the back seat and just listen to them.”

Gushue is the second-longest tenured coach in South Jersey, and he still follows Frappolli’s lead.

“Jim (Horner, Cherokee), Joe (Frappolli), Charlie (Pirrello), Larry Ginsburg (Eastern), Vince McAneney (notably Pennsauken), that whole crew to me, they were like the Bear Bryant’s of high school football,” Gushue said. “If they were going to stop to talk to you, you damn well better listen.”

Sadly, some of those legends have passed away.

Then there’s more recent coaching giants like Paul Sacco (St. Joseph), Glenn Howard (Paulsboro), Clyde Folsom (notably West Deptford), Bob Coffey (Mainland) and Frank Fucetola (notably Williamstown) that have passed the whistle on.

There are many reasons why a new generation of coaches has risen, but a lot of it comes down to the demands of the sport.

“It’s constant,” Frappolli said.

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It wasn’t all that long ago high schoolers had summers off, maybe a few weight training sessions here and there. Teams began Sept. 1 and played a few weeks later. Now, offseason workouts are a must.

“It’s a 12-month job,” Frappolli said.

“You never did this for the money, honestly, but you calculate the hours we spend, even the hours in season, people would laugh at what we make per hour,” Haddonfield coach Frank DeLano explained. “We sped up the game. Require all summer things. It’s not, do you want summer stuff? You need to. We got to do more, we got to do more. That has chased people from our game.”

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DeLano, who just kicked off his 22nd season leading the Bulldawgs, is one of South Jersey’s old hats now.

Yet, he still remembers being a 21-year-old whippersnapper in total awe of Frappolli.

This was back when the South Jersey All-Star game was a must-see event at Rowan University, which Frappolli was a major part of. DeLano, a young coach cutting his teeth, was trying to take in every detail he could.

“We looked around (the young coaches) and we always said in gest, we’re sitting with the immortals,” DeLano said. “It was him, Bob Barikian (Collingswood), coach McAneney, I get goosebumps even talking about it. … It was 1:30, 2 in the morning conversations, sitting outside, making sure kids are sleeping. The next thing you’re talking and sharing stories. That’s what our game is missing today. That’s one of the reasons that the longevity isn’t there. The personal relationships aren’t there.”

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Part of that is the pressure coaches face from every direction.

There’s family pressure, making sure coaches have enough time with their own kids.

“We played town sports,” said Frappolli’s son and assistant coach, Joe Frappolli Jr. “Everything we did was in town. We didn’t travel very far. He was able to go to things, go to ball games, go to school events. Now, I think it’s harder. You talk about people raising kids, my kids are young, they’re involved in a lot of sports, a thousand different directions. You don’t just play township sports.”

Then there’s pressure from other families, who are relying on coaches to get their kids noticed, get their kids recruited, get their kids to college, get their kids scholarships.

“I’m asking you to give me your son like from June all the way through December for football, and then I want him in the winter months for working out and strength and conditioning,” Frappolli said. “(Parents) expect him to play, expect him to get awards and scholarships and all, and if he doesn’t, you’re not doing your job.”

Frappolli never viewed that as his job.

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Frappolli coached teams played 'hardest football I've ever seen'

EJ Quinn wasn’t getting a lot of reps his freshman year. He was growing frustrated. He felt unnoticed.

Then Frappolli pulled the Florence youngster to the side.

“He looked at me and told me he sees great things in me and he sees me succeeding in life,” Quinn, now a senior running back, said. “He sees that I always want to get things done. I always hustle on the field. It woke me up that he notices things I do and makes me want to do better even more. I never expected a coach to tell me specifically that he sees good things in me and that I can be successful in life. That touched my heart.”

It’s why Quinn plays the way he does. It’s why generations of Florence football players – Frappolli is coaching grandsons now, including his own, quarterback John Paul Dunphy – have done the same.

“They play the hardest football I’ve ever seen,” said Holy Cross head coach TJ Maderia. “... When I was at (Burlington) Township, we actually beat them my senior year, but before that, we’d play them and we’d watch them on film, they were average looking football players, average size, and at Township we had guys that looked like freaks. We’re getting recruited places. We’d watch on film and be like, we have better talent, and for three straight years I remember losing those football games by like three touchdowns. We’re like OK, if we want to be successful like they are, we have to play football like they are.”

Maderia wants his program to be the same way. It’s not just grit and grind though.

Maderia’s father Tom, who built legacies at Holy Cross and Burlington Township, created the same family atmospheres Frappolli preached. Coaches’ kids were encouraged to be around. Winning was important, but not as much as the community itself.

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Frappolli is involved with the local library, Knights of Columbus, and other local organizations throughout Florence.

“He’s always present,” Frappolli Jr. said.

It’s why his wife Donna convinced him to come out again for another season.

“She said to me, and my brother John said this too, it’s not fair to the community that you’re just going to walk away,” Frappolli said. “… You’ve been the heart and soul of Florence football your whole life, now you’re not even going to give people a chance to wish you well?”

So Frappolli is back, for his 50th, and likely final, fall.

And he wants to give the same advice his mentors like Bill Gordon (Rancocas Valley), George Masters (Moorestown) and Rocky Cancellieri (Riverside) gave him.

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“I always tell the younger coaches that I see, hang in there, stick around for a while,” Frappolli said. “The game of football needs good young people, needs people to fight the good fight. To teach kids the right things.”

Current South Jersey football coaching tenures

Includes 2023 season; does not include returns

50 years: Joe Frappolli, Florence

41 years: Tim Gushue, Shawnee

31 years: Sal Marchese, Delsea

22 years: Frank DeLano, Haddonfield

21 years: Tom Maderia, Burlington Twp.

20 years: Bill Fisher, Seneca

18 years: Mario Patrizi, Cinnaminson

15 years: Clinton Tabb, Pennsauken

14 years: John Adams, Woodstown

13 years: Kevin Smith, Ocean City

12 years: Frank Riggitano, Middle Twp.

11 years: Jack Geisel, Palmyra; Beau Sherry, Moorestown

10 years: John Emel, Penns Grove; Steve Everette, Willingboro; Casey Murphy, Gloucester Catholic

9 years: Brian Leary, Highland; Jim Raso, Hammonton; Chris Thomas, Pitman; Dom Tomeo, Triton; Frank Wilczynski, Overbrook

8 years: Jule Dolci, Northern Burlington; Mark Hendricks, Kingsway; Ken Loomis, Wildwood; Chuck Smith, Mainland

7 years: Mike Healy, Pennsville; Pete Lancetta, St. Augustine; Imion Powell, Maple Shade

6 years: Rob Bryan, Gloucester; Brian Glatz, Cherokee; Steve Lane, Bridgeton; Chris Lina, Haddon Heights; Mike McKeown, Collingswood; Jason Morrell, West Deptford; Anthony Reagan, Woodbury; Mike Schatzman, Washington Twp.; Joe Wojceichowski, Lenape.

5 years: Skip Edwards, Bordentown; Dennis Scuderi, Paul VI

4 years: Justin Arabia, Cherry Hill West; Lance Bailey, Lower Cape May; Zac Dayton, Haddon Twp.; TJ Maderia Holy Cross; James Melody, Cedar Creek; Mike Wilson, Schalick; Brian Wright, Timber Creek; Keenan Wright, Atlantic City.

3 years: Lionel Bolen, Eastern; Kadin Booker, Burlington City; Jason Coombs, Cumberland; Mike Forest, Oakcrest; Greg Gruver, Buena; Jonathan Musso, Lindenwold; Chris Pollard, Bishop Eustace; Dan Reed, Audubon; Robert Van Sciver, Riverside.

2 years: Humberto Ayala, Millville; Bill Belton, Winslow; Melik Brown, Eastside; John Chamberlin, Clayton; Andrew DiPasquale, Holy Spirit; Tyler Drob, Cherry Hill East; Steve Duncan, Clearview; Jimmy Harritopulos, Absegami; Kevin Harvey, Paulsboro; Rob Hinson, Camden; Patrick Landis, Deptford; Garrett Lucas, Rancocas Valley; Malachi Timberlake, Pleasantville

First year: Timmy Breaker, Glassboro; Andrew Daley, Gateway; Rob Davis, Egg Harbor Twp.; Gerald Davis, Pemberton; Ron Dorsey, St. Joseph; Wayne Gilliam II, Camden Catholic; Ron Gordon, Williamstown; Jose Guzman, Vineland; Colin Hewko, Delran; Danny Mendoza, Salem; Desmond Wiggins, Sterling.

Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Joe Frappolli begins 50th, likely last, year as Florence football coach