NHS Football Update; DiGregorio Named Coach of the Year

The Nutley High School Varsity football team has had an amazing season during this pandemic. They had a  6-0 record and were ranked number 20 in the state and third in their conference rankings. The Nutley Head Coach, Steve DiGregorio won coach of the year for Nutley’s football conference from the Star Ledger. 

Nutley missed three games because of Covid-19 precautions. The NHS squad was forced to cancel games against West Essex, Montclair, and Riverdale this season because of this protocols. 

At the start of the season, NHS played the West Side Rough Riders and they proceeded to win 31-18. After the win against West Side, everything went up from there, as they won every game they played to make them 6-0.

When Coach Steven DiGregorio was asked about how his team has performed this season, he responded with “I am very proud of his team, and the record speaks for itself. The offense and defense have been very talented and they have played together. I would also like to credit the coaching staff that has been outstanding.”

The Nutley High School varsity football team had to overcome many obstacles to be able to play their six games this year. When Coach Steve DiGregorio was asked about how he, his coaching staff, and players prepared for the season, he stated that, “It was hard because none of us were used to these unusual circumstances. We had to follow the guidelines of the state and the town, while still creating the best program we could.”

Coach Steve DiGregorio and his team had to take extreme precautions to be able to play this year, and even though they followed the precautions, they still had multiple games taken away from them due tuo Covid-19.

In order to play this season, the varsity football team had to adjust tremendously to be able to play this year, and it was difficult because no one was used to what they had to do to be able to play this year. “The team did a great job adjusting,” Coach DiGregorio said. “So much was unknown about the season, like what practice and games would look like. We weren’t able to have a weight room or be able to use the school.” The whole Nutley Football program had to come together and adjust together because nobody had ever experienced this type of football season and had to fill out multiple forms and protocols that made us able to play this year.”

Shutting down the program for two weeks late in the season was also a challenge. “It was something that we thought would never happen, but it happened to a lot of our opponents. We tried to meet with our players often via Google Meet and tried to give our players time to catch up with their school work.” The shutdown also gave players time to focus on their schoolwork and keep their grades up.

The Nutley Varsity football team has exceeded everyone’s expectation on their season. “I am so extremely proud of my guys, and my coaching staff. Nobody expected to be here today, but we did it. We proved everybody wrong,” Coach DiGregorio said.