Lou DeFilippo
LOU DEFILIPPO
"COACH" & TEACHER
DHS FOOTBALL
1968 - 1982
W116 - L30 - T8
DERBY PRIDE
Click below for a video tribute from 2006
|
The city of Derby honored legendary football coach Lou DeFilippo on
Saturday, September 13, 1997 by naming the football field within the Leo
F. Ryan Sports Complex as the "Lou DeFilippo Football Field." Lou compiled
an incredible 116-30-8 record at the smallest football playing school in
the state of Connecticut during the course of his illustrious 15 year
tenure in Derby. His teams were undefeated five times during that period
('68. '69, '72, '73, & '75) and finished as Connecticut's top ranked team
twice ('69 & '72). This larger-than-life figure who had such a positive
impact on the lives of his students and players passed away on March 5,
2000.
However, many people did not know that long before he arrived in
Derby, DeFillippo had already established quite a record! A graduate of
Fordham University where he captained Fordham's 1941 Cotton Bowl Team and
was one of the MVPs in the game, DeFilippo went on to be the 47th player
drafted by the NFL in the 1941 draft. He played with the New York Giants from 1945 through 1947.
His other coaching assignments included assistant positions with Purdue,
Fordham and Columbia as well as the Baltimore Colts. He was the head coach
at East Meadow High School on Long Island from 1961 to 1968 and in seven
years compile a 46-9-1 record winning five straight league championships
from 1963-1967 and a Long Island championship in 1964.
DeFilippo also found time to coach lacrosse at East Meadow and later
as the freshman coach at Yale University.
Lou was honored many times over with a variety of "Coach of the Year
Awards" including those presented by the Long Island press, National
Football Foundation, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and
the Connecticut Sports Writers. He is a member of Fordham University's
Athletic Hall of Fame as well as the Connecticut Coaches Hall of Fame.
Lou DeFilippo Field is part of the Derby's Leo F. Ryan Sports Complex
which is named after another legendary Derby coach, Leo F. "Nuggy" Ryan who
was a three sport coach at Derby winning state titles in both football and
basketball.
Return to Hall of Fame
Back to
Derby Home page
|