The New York Giants have selected Mr. Bob Valli of Cresskill High School (Cresskill, NJ) as "The Lou Rettino High School Football Coach of the Week" for the week of October 1, 2012. Coach Valli celebrated his 200th career win this weekend when the Cresskill Cougars beat the Manchester Regional Falcons 42-6.
In recognition of Coach Valli's success and commitment, he will receive a certificate of recognition signed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin and a $1,000 check will be granted to the Cougars football program. Coach Valli will be acknowledged by a stadium announcement when the Giants host the Cleveland Browns on October 7th and an announcement will also be posted on the Giants website, www.giants.com.
The Lou Rettino High School Football Coach of the Week Award is part of the Giants' continuing effort to promote youth football. The Giants elected to name the award in memory of former Union High School (NJ) coach, Lou Rettino, for his fine commitment to the game of football, his community and the betterment of his athletes' lives.
Each week during the 2012 high school football season, the Giants will select one area high school head coach as the Coach of the Week winner. The selection is based on the coach's continuing commitment towards promoting youth football, developing motivated student-athletes and his overall community involvement. At the conclusion of the 2012 season, the Giants will choose a Coach of the Year. That coach will receive $2,000 for their school's football program. They will also be invited to attend a dinner hosted by the Giants.
Coach Valli has been coaching football at Cresskill HS for the past 36 years, 26 of them being the Head Coach. His overall coaching record is 200-61-2 and his teams have won four State Titles and ten League Titles. Under his direction, the Cougars were selected as the Bergen County Team of the Year in 1984, 1987 and 1989 and has had four undefeated seasons. Coach Valli has been selected as the All League Coach of the Year six times and was the National Football Foundation Coach of the Year in 2000. He was the past President of the NJ High School Football Coaches Association and the Bergen County Coaches Association, in which he was an Executive Member from 1989-2011. Coach Valli is currently the Vice President of the Bergen County National Football Foundation and was selected by the NFL to represent New Jersey at the National Coaching Summit. This November, Coach Valli will be receiving the very prestigious Thomas L. Della Torre Award from the YMCA of Greater Bergen County for Special Achievement.
Coach Valli was the starting Linebacker and Kicker at Montclair State University from 1973-1976 and in 1975, he was selected to the New Jersey Athletic Conference All League Team at the Linebacker position. He was a three sport athletic (football, wrestling and baseball) at Hopatcong High School and was All State in both football and wrestling and All Sussex County in all three sports. In addition, Coach Valli was lucky enough to play football for the legendary Dick Celli at Hopatcong HS.
Coach Valli was a Physical Education teacher at Cresskill HS for 23 years before serving as a Guidance Counselor for the past 13 years. He and his wife Catherine of 34 years have three children, Gregory (30), Glenn (25) and Lauren (21). Most importantly, the Valli's are all lifelong Giants fans!
