By Joseph Staszewski
Holy Cross football had fallen on hard times when Tom Pugh took the reins in 1973.
He used his football knowledge, engaging personality and consistent nature to leave it as the best in Queens right now and one of the most respected in New York City.
Right from the beginning he was a presence,” said lineman Frank Kestler a captain on Pugh’s first team with the Knights.
The now 68-year-old Pugh, who recently retired from coaching after 42 seasons at Holy Cross, was given a Knights program that did not win a game on any of the three levels the previous season. He chose to rebuild it for the future by turning to its storied past. Pugh, who is an encyclopedia of knowledge about the CHSFL, immediately spoke of returning the program to its glory years of the 1960s and showed the players right away he meant business.
“I think a couple of the guys who were going to be seniors that year really tested him,” Kestler said. “He got in their faces right away. He made it known who was the boss and if you want to play for him, what was expected.”
That meant your best at all times and the competitive and innovative Pugh returned the favor in his own preparation. Kids gravitated to that along with his charm and affable personality. They knew they were going to get quality coaching and a quality person. Holy Cross won the CHSFL title just four seasons later in 1977.
“It took time, but the kids bought into the tradition of the school,” longtime assistant Stanley Aufieri said. “The main thing was Tommy’s personality. He drew coaches in. He drew players in like moths to a flame. He has that way about them. He’s always had that way.”
Pugh never got complacent.
When he got the job, his expertise was on the defense side of the ball after his stint as an assistant coach at Chaminade and playing defensive back at Emporia State University in Kansas. It was the foundation for all of his teams, but Pugh listened to others he respected and never became one-dimensional. He is currently known as an offensive guru.
“There are some coaches that specialize on one side of the ball or the other,” Aufieri said. “He could do it either way. We used to kid around. He’s come up with plays on bar napkins. Out in the field he would draw plays in the dirt.”
Pugh won 215 games, guided the Knights to eight league championships during his tenure. He is a member of the league’s Hall of Fame. Former Cross star Devon Cajuste is starring at Stanford and fellow standout Kevin Ogeltree just finished his seventh season in the NFL.
“He, to me, is just what a high school coach is all about,” St. Anthony’s coach Rich Reichert said. “He cares about the kids more.”
Even if that meant doing something for the betterment of all the kids in the CHSFL in a situation that might not help Holy Cross. Pugh, who has been vice president of the league since 1976, never resisted meaningful change.
“Tommy was a class act,” Mount St. Michael coach Mario Valentini said. “He had the interest of the entire league. He would do things that were not always the best for him, but was in the best interest of the league.”
It is just one of many qualities that allows Pugh to leave coaching so well respected and accomplished. He connected with people and brought out their best because he never stopped giving his.
“Tom Pugh was just always a leader,” Kestler said. “To me he was just someone I would follow anywhere.”
