Dave DeNapoli steps down after nearly three decades as venerable Dunellen football coach

Through tough times and good, and a bevy of both wins and losses, the one constant for Dunellen football for nearly 30 years has been Dave DeNapoli.

But now, he’s putting away the clipboard.

DeNapoli announced his retirement from coaching on Twitter Thursday evening, after 29 seasons as head coach in the tiny Middlesex County town. He finishes his career with a record of 133-172-1 over that time span.

He took the reins in August 1996, at the age of 39, and followed a legend in his own right, Pio Pennisi, who brought the school a Central Jersey Group 1 championship in 1993 and had just stepped down to become vice-principal at the high school.

“This is a dream come true, something I’ve always wanted to do my whole life,” DeNapoli told Home News Tribune reporter John Haley at the time. He had joined the Destroyers as a volunteer assistant just six years prior.

He played quarterback for Dunellen, graduating in 1975, and has lived in town all his life.

DeNapoli for years ran the double-wing offense, also dubbed “offense in a phone booth.” At a school where talent could certainly be found, but often in small numbers due to its sheer size – it’s the smallest high school in the Greater Middlesex Conference – the system often helped make Dunellen competitive.

DeNapoli brought them to two sectional finals. the first came in 2010, when they lost as the third-seed in Central Jersey Group 1 to Shore Regional at Rutgers, finishing 10-2. Four years later, they were the top-seed in North 2, Group 1, but fell to Shabazz, 14-6, at Kean University in Union, and ended the season 9-3.

Check back later as we plan to update this story with audio from DeNapoli.