Today's Tidbit... A Vince Lombardi What If

Lombardi and his assistants (1947 St. Cecilia yearbook)

Vince Lombardi was an assistant coach at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey, from 1939 to 1941 and was the head coach there from 1942 through 1946. Lombardi became the freshmen coach at Fordham in 1947, an assistant coach at Fordham in 1948, and then joined Red Blaik's staff at West Point after being recommended for the job by Sid Gillman, who left the Army staff that year.

But all of that might not have happened, and his career could have taken a different path if events had played out differently. Lombardi lost his first game as a football head coach in 1942 before going undefeated the rest of the season and in 1943 and 1944. Despite the success, he resigned from St. Cecilia in May 1945 to take the job at Hackensack High, where he would be eligible for tenure.

Del Greco, Al, 'At Random in Sportdom,' Record (Hackensack), May 19, 1945.

Unfortunately for Lombardi and Hackensack, St. Cecilia rescinded his release a few weeks later, so he returned for the 1945 season.

Del Greco, Al, 'At Random in Sportdom,' Record (Hackensack), June 9, 1945.

Lombardi continued his success at St. Cecilia for two more seasons before heading to Fordham, so he likely would have succeeded at Hackensack and gone on to bigger things. Still, you never know how different opportunities -even those taken away- might impact your life.

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