March 1, 2006
Gary Degenhardt: Time is right to retire
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
For the past 30-some years, Gary Degenhardt has been coaching football. Last week,
he decided to find something else to do.
"I'm not sure what it will be," Degenhardt said, "but it just felt like the right
time to move on. My wife and I will be married 30 years in June and I'll have a
chance to spend more time with her. And I've started spending a little more time
on the golf course, though I certainly haven't had much success."
The same certainly cannot be said about the last 15 years when Degenhardt became
the most successful football coach in Cape May County history and one of only 10
in the Cape-Atlantic League to win 100 games.
"I've been thinking about this for the past two or three years," he said, "but
this year seemed different. The group of kids we had this past season was a
perfect group to go out with. We all wish we'd have won a few more games but we
sure had fun trying."
Unlike some other veteran teachers, Degenhardt did not take the $25,000 buyout
offered by the Board of Education. "I thought about retiring as a teacher, as
well," he said. "I talked it over with my wife and she plans to teach four or
five more years. We decided it would work out better if we both left at the same
time."
When you have as much success as Degenhardt did - 10 playoff teams in 15 seasons,
undefeated South Jersey Group 4 champs in 1996, South Jersey Group 3 champs in
1998 and 1999, six league championships - it is hard to pick one or two great
memories.
"There are so many," he said, "but I do remember a few moments. I remember riding
on that bus up to The College of New Jersey to play Shawnee in 1996. We had a
good team. We could throw the ball and run it. We played good defense. But as we
rode along it just started raining harder and harder. I was afraid that was a bad
omen. But it wasn't. We played pretty well.
"And I remember the win over Mainland in 1999, at Rutgers. They had beaten us
during the season and were ranked right near the top in South Jersey. And we had
to play without Matt Chila, who was hurt. But we won. And I remember telling
people after the game that I couldn't remember ever being happier, except when I
got married and each time I became a father. I guess you remember the
championships a little more fondly."
Before he became head coach in 1991, Degenhardt served as an assistant to Mike
Slaveski, Ed Woolley, Tony Galante and Wayne Colman. "What a great group of guys,"
he said. "I learned a lot from all of them. They all had different backgrounds
and brought a lot of new ideas. Mike and Ed were more experienced coaches, Tony
was more my age and loaded with enthusiasm and Wayne had that NFL background. It
was like going to school to get ready to coach."
The training certainly paid off. The 15 seasons under Degenhardt's leadership
have included many of the greatest in OCHS history. Playing against the toughest
competition, he put together the finest record.
"The most rewarding thing about the 30 years was just having the opportunity to
work with such great student-athletes," he said. "When they leave, they're really
not kids anymore. We get all involved in the winning and the championships but
the real benefit is watching these kids become young adults."
A lot of adults who played football at Ocean City High School the past 30 years
have their own memories and scrapbooks filled with highlights that Degenhardt
helped them achieve.
Gary Degenhardt was an intense and focused coach. He would go out of his way in
talking to the media to give credit to the other team and make sure his comments
on the game didn't reflect poorly on them. He cared about his players, both on
the field and off, but also expected them to fulfill their obligations.
When asked what he thought this fall would be like, Degenhardt thought for a
moment. "It's gonna be different," he finally said.
Indeed it will. Different for all of us who watched him take Ocean City High
School football to new heights over the past 15 years. Like Dixie Howell, Fenton
Carey, Mike Naples, Pat Dougherty and Phil Birnbaum before him, Gary Degenhardt
leaves behind a legacy of success that will be a source of pride for Ocean City
High School forever.
Gary Degenhardt career record
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