The New York Giants have selected Mr. Joe Mattessich of Jefferson Township High School (Oak Ridge, NJ) as "The Lou Rettino High School Football Coach of the Week" for the week of October 22, 2012. Coach Mattessich and the Falcons won Friday's away conference game 35-13 against the Hackettstown Tigers.
In recognition of Coach Mattessich'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 Falcons football program. Coach Mattessich will be acknowledged by a stadium announcement when the Giants host the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 4th 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 Mattessich has had coaching positions since 1989 at Palisades Park, Dumont, Ridgefield, West Milford and Vernon with playoff victories at Palisades Park, West Milford and Vernon. Coach Mattessich was a member of the Palisades Park State Championship coaching staff and was the Defensive Coordinator and Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Jefferson Falcons during their state football final run of 2001. For the first time in New Jersey High School Football history, the 2008 Falcon Football team granted Head Coach Mattessich with his first State Championship by beating two previous back to back, undefeated State Champion High School Football teams. In addition, in 2009, Coach Mattessich coached the New Jersey All-Star Team along with Phil Simms as they accomplished a victorious win over the Northeast All-Star Team which was coached by Joe Theismann.
Coach Mattessich graduated from Cliffside Park High School in 1979 where the football team he played on made two playoff appearances and a State Championship at Giants Stadium. The admiration for football was instilled in him at a young age as Vince Lombardi, then Head Coach at Saint Cecilia High School in New Jersey, coached his high school football coach, Allen (Bucky) Kempton. Coach Mattessich was offered two athletic scholarships, one to North Adams State University in Massachusetts for basketball and the other to West Chester University in Pennsylvania for football and ended up playing Tight End for the West Chester Golden Rams. Coach Mattessich completed his teaching degree at William Paterson University with a membership in Kappa Delta Pi.
Coach Mattessich is a Special Education Teacher at Jefferson Township High School and enjoys implementing alternative lesson plans to reach his students. He has a daughter Cara who is 20 and three sons: Nicky 25, Joe Jr. 16 and Michael 11. Coach Mattessich has nurtured and produced many fine young men that have played and players that are now playing football at the college level. He encourages his players to become model citizens in society where the game of football permeates the many factors of life and living.
