Carl Defilippi, who guided the Hubbers of Smethport Area High
School to unprecedented success on the gridiron during the 1980s
and 1990s, will be inducted into the 21st class of the Pennsylvania
Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
He will be among the ten coaches to be inducted during
ceremonies that begin at 9 a.m. June 16 at the Hershey Lodge and
Convention Center. Just 208 coaches have been so recognized since
1986.
Also, the new members of the Hall will be introduced at halftime
of the Big 33 Football Classic, which features 33 outstanding high
school players from the Keystone State against their counterparts
from Ohio.
Defilippi coached in this game in 1998 as an assistant coach,
working with the defensive secondary.
Defilippi said that Chris Dworeck, head football coach at
Brookville High School and the district representative of the
Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association, nominated him for
induction into the PSFCA HAll of Fame. “I was nominated in January,
and was notified this week of my selection,” Defilippi said.
Defilippi, who already is in the Armstrong County Sports Hall of
Fame and the prestigious Allegheny-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of
Fame, commented on this latest recognition.
“To be nominated by your peers across the state is the ultimate
honor,” he noted.
The individual coaches will receive a ring and two identical
photo plaques which also list their respective accomplishments. The
coaches will receive one of these plaques, while the other will be
displayed in the Hall of Fame Building which is to be constructed
on City Island in Harrisburg.
Defilippi, saying his induction is more than a personal
recognition, credited the contributions of his staff and the
players he coached over the 21 seasons he walked the sidelines at
the helm of the Hubbers.
“This honor is certainly a tribute to our coaching staff of
Denny Maynard, Ward Baun, Rick Woodring and Jim McGuire, who stayed
together over those 21 years and to our school district and the
players, themselves. It shows the public where Smethport is and
what a ‘Hubber’ is.”
The Leechburg native and University of New Hampshire graduate
coached football in Smethport for 27 years. Prior to taking over
the head coaching duties, he spent six years as an assistant,
training the defensive backs.
Throughout his coaching career, Defilippi was noted for his
defensive teams and the ability to make any necessary adjustments
at halftime. In 2000, PA Sports Fever ranked the Hubbers’ defense
as the best in the state during the decade of the 1990’s in total
points allowed and points per game.
The same publication also noted that Smethport’s record of
107-16-0 was the fourth best in Pennsylvania for the same
period.
Defilippi compiled an overall record of 186-37-2 for an .837
winning percentage. Between 1989 and 1996, the Hubbers put together
a streak of 67 consecutive regular season victories, which was a
state record at the time. Eisenhower broke that string with an
overtime win in 1996.ð
Following that loss, though, the Hubbers embarked on another
winning streak, one that went 21 games.
Defilippi said that he is proud of the fact that, as a
representative of District 9, Smethport played in 15 state playoff
games, more than any other school, compiling a 9-6 record.ð
Those games included six trips to the District IX finals, four
to the PIAA regional III championships, four to the PIAA state
semifinals and the PIAA Western Championships and the state finals
against Scotland in 1992.
He said, “For five years, we were still playing football in
December, and that is a testimony to our kids who had been
practicing since the hot days of August.”
Two of his teams received the Big 30 Team Sportsmanship
Award.
One of the highlights of his career was coaching his sons, Jeff
and Mike, and their friends. In 1992, Jeff, Woody Maynard and Matt
Baun, were recognized for their skills in the classroom as well as
on the playing field. They were all National Honor Society members
and high honor students. Today, all three are engineers.
In 1998, the Big 30 recognized Carl and Mike when they were
selected as Coach of the Year and Player of the Year, respectively,
perhaps the only time a father-son duo has been so honored.
Jeff and his younger brother, Mike, graduated from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where they were both
scholar-athletes.
A speaker at numerous high school football clinics and at
Clarion University, Defilippi has been named as Coach of the Year
numerous times in the Allegheny Mountain League and former Border
Conference. He is the only coach in the history of the Big 30 to be
named Coach of the Year three times.
