Al Fracassa said waiting for No. 400 has been driving him crazy.
Photo courtesy of Brother Rice High School
Two high school football coaches made history on Friday night.
Al Fracassa of Brother Rice (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) became only the ninth coach in history to reach 400 career victories with a 38-2 victory over Chandler Park Academy (Harper Woods, Mich.), while Philip Haywood of Belfry (Ky.) won his state-record 346th game with a 52-20 rout of Pike County Central (Pikeville).
In his 52nd year as a head coach, Fracassa was relieved to end a three-game losing streak.
"It's been a long journey," he said Saturday. "I've been trying to do it for the last three weeks. Yesterday it came true. I finally got that off of my back. We have lost three games by four points and one by a touchdown (this year). It was driving me crazy. People were all calling me (each week). I got a reward - we made the playoffs."
He never fathomed such a milestone after college.
"I never thought of that (400 wins)," he said. "I just wanted to be a coach. Not too many coaches reach that milestone. I'm kind of proud of that. You can't win that many games without having great athletes."
Fracassa, 78, isn't making any promises concerning his coaching future. He's No. 8 on the coaching win list nationally for those gentlemen who are still active.
"I don't know if I am going to last much longer," he said. "Maybe I'll go one more year. One year at a time - that's the way I decide. I love working with young people. That's my life."
After Haywood's record victory, Belfry fans waved hundreds of placards declaring "346."
The humble Haywood told Mike Fields of the Lexington Herald-Leader, "I'm getting all this publicity, but I have to give credit to all kinds of people. We started selling sweatshirts this week that say, 'Faith, Family, Football.' That's our community. That's what we believe in."
The Pirates then received a police and fire truck escort to Belfry High School where they were greeted by hundreds of happy fans.
The only thing which dimmed the celebration was the absence of Haywood's wife, Linda, who broke her arm the previous week.
