HERSHEY – Carl Defilippi was inducted into the prestigious
Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame
during ceremonies Friday at the Hershey Lodge and Convention
Center.

Defilippi had a successful 21-year stint as gridiron coach of
the Smethport Hubbers that included 11 undefeated regular seasons
and an overall record of 186-37-2 for a winning percentage of
.834.

The 10 inductees of this year’s class were recognized at
halftime during the 50th annual Big 33 game between the
Pennsylvania and Ohio all-stars at Hershey Stadium.

Defilippi handled the defensive secondary in the 1998 Big 33
game.

Chris Dworeck, head football coach at Brookville High School and
the district representative of the Pennsylvania State Football
Coaches Association, nominated Defilippi for this honor.ð

“Chuck” Sponsky, a 1999 PSFCA Hall of Fame inductee, acted as
Master of Ceremonies.ð

“The mission of the PSFCA is the promotion of football in the
Commonwealth,” Sponsky said. “What better way to promote football
than to honor my colleagues. Dedication, sacrifice, unselfishness,
pride and competitiveness all describe the gentlemen on my
right.”

Sponsky briefly described the Hall of Fame selection
procedure.

“There are a lot of nominees, but we only choose 10 each year,”
he said. “Our committee is really humbled when we read the resumes.
There are currently 190 members in the Hall.”

Rick Woodring, a veteran teacher and coach at Smethport,
delivered the presentation speech for Defilippi.

“Carl has excelled at the three facets of life: family, career
and special interests,” Woodring emphasized.

“As a faithful and loving husband, he is the father of three
great children. An outstanding teacher and senior high school
guidance counselor, he has placed academic success as a top
priority and initiated the annual Academic Awards Banquet over 25
years ago.

“And football has been his passion from his days at Leechburg
High School when he was an All-WPIAL selection and played on two
championship teams in that league to his collegiate days at the
University of New Hampshire where he earned three varsity letters
and was a member of UNH’s 1968 Yankee Conference championship
team.”

In his remarks, Defilippi recalled, often with much humor, that
time 35 years ago, when he and his wife, Jane, accepted teaching
jobs at Smethport.

“Geographically, Smethport is one of the largest school
districts in the state, but we had to travel 20 miles to go to a
movie,” Defilippi said.

Coming from Leechburg, about 30 miles from Pittsburgh, Defilippi
was shocked when he attended his first Hubbers’ game at the old
McCoy Stadium.ð

“There were no bleachers, just cement seats,” Defilippi said.
“There was a tall ladder leading to the press box, and a student
was dressed in a costume that resembled a wheel because Smethport
is the hub of the county. I told Jane, ‘We’re out of here within a
year,'” he said with a smile.

“Much has changed since then,” Defilippi noted. “We wouldn’t
live anywhere else now,” he said.

After six years as an assistant, Defilippi took over a program
that had not won more than 10 games in five years. He turned that
program around, recording a streak of 67 consecutive regular season
wins, a state record at the time.

Much of that success, Defilippi said, is due to his coaching
staff that stayed intact throughout his career of 21 seasons. Those
coaches, Denny Maynard, Ward Baun and Jim McGuire joined Woodring
at the ceremonies.ð

Also in attendance were Defilippi’s two sons and former players,
Jeff and Mike, his wife, Jane, statisticians, fans and friends, who
traveled over 200 miles to Hershey.ðð

Defilippi dedicated his Hall of Fame award to his daughter,
Lisa, and especially to Jane, affectionately known to hundreds of
Hubber football players as “Miz D” for her tireless efforts on
behalf of the team.

Defilippi also praised his players over the years.

“They played with poise, pride and confidence,” he said. “Our
kids were well-behaved, too. I received a letter from school
officials at Altoona who commented positive on the Smethport
students’ conduct during one of the playoff games at Mansion
Park.ð

“As was the usual procedure, after the 1991 season when we
advanced to the state finals against Scotland, our kids voted for
the defensive and offensive MVPs. When the votes were counted, all
the ballots read ‘Team’ in both categories.”

A particular highpoint in Defilippi’s career was coaching his
sons who were valedictorian and salutatorian at SAHS as well as
being outstanding athletes. They went to school at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.,ðwhere they were All-Academic
selections. Today they both are engineers.

Defilippi pointed to the town’s support of the team during his
head coaching years. Not only did the fans travel in great numbers
with those teams, but they showed their enthusiasm for the players
by organizing “Welcome Home” parades in the early morning
hours.

“Almost everywhere we went in the playoffs,” Defilippi said, “we
had to answer the same old question: ‘What’s a Hubber?'”