Longtime St. John’s football coach Bob Ricca dead at 79

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Longtime St. John’s football coach Bob Ricca died over the weekend, the school announced Monday.

He was 79.

“We were so saddened to hear of Coach Ricca’s passing,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Ed Kull. “He mentored a generation of highly successful student-athletes and our football alumni remain one of the most loyal and dedicated groups at the University. That can be attributed in no small part to Coach Ricca. We offer our sincere condolences to his family, friends and former players.”

Ricca was the program’s head coach from 1974 until it was disbanded in 2002. He oversaw the team’s move from the club level to Division III in 1978 before it made the leap to Division I-AA in 1983.

St. John’s coach Bob Ricca, center, meets with his co-captains, defensive linemen Bill Harting, from John Adams, on Friday, Sept. 16, 1977. Cyril Morris

The Flushing native quickly turned the program from an afterthought on campus into a successful one. Ricca posted 15 winning seasons, winning seven conference championships, including the 1994 ECAC title with a 10-1 record. He won conference Coach of the Year honors three times.

Four of his players are in the school’s athletic hall of fame.

Longtime St. John’s football coach Bob Ricca on Friday at the age of 79. Branch Funeral Homes

“There’s no question that basketball is still number one here,” Ricca told the New York Times before the start of the 1983 season. ”But we’re beginning to generate some fan interest on our own merits; we’re developing our own identity.”

Ricca, a standout football player at Holy Cross High School and CW Post, began his coaching career as a part-time assistant at St. John’s in 1970 while he was a teacher at Kings Park High School on Long Island.

The athletic program took over from the student club team in 1973.

St. John’s football team members (front, left to right) John Canan, Warren Hirsch and Joe Lagudi, and (rear, left to right) Richard Kesnig, Tony Bopp, coach Bob Ricca, Pat Hayden and Chris Butz pose on Thursday, November 3, 1977. Getty Images

”The biggest problem, by the time I arrived, was the lack of organization,” Ricca told the Times. ”The students were essentially our bosses, and they didn’t have any administrative experience, so there were a lot of loose ends. But I learned a lot. In fact, I learned everything about operating a football team.”

Ricca’s wake will be held on Friday from 2-4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Branch Funeral Home in Smithtown. A funeral mass will take place on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Christ the King in Commack.

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