Only a select few high school varsity coaches last for more than ten years due to burnout along with their responsibilities to their own families that conflict with the almost year-round commitment needed to sustain the continued player and coach development at all levels of a sport in any district.
Just wrapping up his 31st year as Hilton head football coach and 34th year overall, Rich Lipani stands sixth all-time in Section V football with 194 wins breaking a tie with retired Nick DerCola of Clyde-Savannah with a blowout win against Edison Tech on April 14. Fifth is the retired Mike Foster of Canandaigua with 199 wins.
Like many in his position, Lipani rarely will talk about himself and deflects the accolades to his players and the rest of the coaching staff. But there is a common denominator to the Cadets success since he took over in 1989 that has led to two Section V championships – Class BB title in 1992 and Class A in 1994 – along with numerous years advancing to at least the semi-finals of their Class.
Instead, his many alumni do more than give Lipani and his staff accolades for what happened while on the team and the lessons they have carried forward to their careers. We have tracked down two of them:
Johnathan Letta played varsity from 2013 to 2016 season as a defensive back as a freshman and then quarterback, defensive back, and outside linebacker for three seasons. The two-time All-Greater Rochester Selection and Monroe County Class AA Division II Player of the Year in 2015 was also an All-State Honorable Mention in his junior and senior seasons. He was entering his senior season at St. John Fisher before the pandemic canceled this past season.
Jason Gentile was a running back and outside linebacker along with special teams from 1990 to 1994. He went on to play at SUNY Brockport and earned a Master’s degree from Kansas State before recently retiring from a 20-year stint in the U.S. Army and lives in Alaska.
Q. Favorite memory from your time?
Letta: “My favorite overall experience was my entire junior year. We had all the guys that we had played with growing up, and we were playing really good football, with a certain kind of swag and attitude to us and the way we played. “My favorite individual memory or game would have to be the first game that was played on our new turf during my sophomore year. On top of it being the first game on the new field, it was our homecoming game. We were playing Webster Schroeder, and a win pretty much solidified a spot for us in sectionals. I remember coming out of the locker room, and our practice field that we usually warmed up on being filled with cars. We looked at the entrance, and there was a massive line and a swarm of people coming from multiple areas where people have never had to park before. That’s how many people there were. We went down 14-0 very quick in the first quarter, but went on to score every time we had the ball after that, scoring our final touchdown with less than a minute left to win the game 49-42. The atmosphere was absolutely incredible, and the fact that we were able to win such a crucial game was an awesome experience. One that I’ll never forget.”
Gentile: “I have so many amazing memories and experiences from that time, playing for Rich Lipani. My favorite memory is winning that first Section V title back in 1992. It was a very special time for the entire community. I find it even more satisfying since our team came from behind to beat a very good Irondequoit team.”
Q. Why do you think Coach Lipani has been able to have the success and longevity he has had at Hilton?
Gentile: “The secret to Rich’s success, in my opinion, has been his consistent and disciplined approach. He has a very even personality and leadership style. He approaches every practice, game, and season the same. He was never an avid talker and always maintained a very professional, positive, and personal approach with his staff, players, and parents. Rich also is one of the humblest men I have met. He never bragged about his success and always was focused on the current team.”
Letta: “Coach Lipani has had the success and longevity that he has because of the culture he has created at Hilton. When someone refers to “Hilton Football,” anyone who has been a part of, or been around the program knows the meaning that those words carry with them. He has created a culture where everyone feels welcomed. He has a nickname for just about everyone on the team and has many jokes that he and very few people understand, but everyone laughs at. The culture of “Hilton Football” is one where everyone is brought in. The players who really understand “Hilton Football” and embrace it will do just about anything for Coach Lipani, as well as any of the other coaches involved in the program, because they understand that Coach Lipani and his coaching staff will do the exact same for them. This is something that is instilled program-wide, from the Varsity team down to the modified team, but it is really understood once you are a part of the Varsity team and around Coach Lipani on a regular basis. Hilton football is, and always will be, extremely special to a lot of people. It gives a certain type of feeling just thinking about it and trying to explain it. However, without Coach Lipani, that feeling we get, and that culture that has been created without a doubt wouldn’t exist.”
Q. Favorite Lipani coaching story?
Letta: “Prior to my junior season, the preseason rankings came out, and we weren’t in the top 10. As a team, both coaches and players, we knew the personnel that we had and took this kind of personally. We had made sectionals for several consecutive years prior and were returning a lot of key players as well as a very experienced coaching staff. Needless to say, while we understood that preseason ranking meant absolutely nothing, we felt disrespected to some extent. As the season went on, we proved ourselves going 6-1 in the regular season, beating many “ranked” teams, and hanging around quite well with the team we lost to. After we won our last game of the regular season to solidify our 6-1 record, all the players were on a knee, and Coach Lipani was addressing the team, which he always would after a game. However, this time was a little different because as Coach Lipani was giving his speech, there were several reporters or journalists around watching. It was then when Coach Lipani lifted up his pullover shirt to show us the shirt he was wearing underneath. The boosters would usually provide us a shirt of some sort every year. This particular year, the shirt had our logo on the front, but on the back, the shirt said “Unranked.” This was something the team decided to have put on the shirt and was something that was taken personally by all of us. Coach Lipani hadn’t seemed to be playing too much into caring about it like we did all year, but as he lifted his shirt and turned around to show us the “Unranked” portion of the undershirt, he explained that nobody had pinned us as being in the position that we were in, and that we were going to carry that chip on our shoulder through sectionals. This resonated with all the players, and everyone got super excited, now recognizing that we were both players and coaches, now carrying this chip on our shoulder, with a mission in mind heading into sectionals. This moment really unified an already extremely close-knit group that much more.”
Gentile: “Coach was never a big speech person. However, I recall the speech he gave at halftime during that first Section V championship game. We were losing 12-6 going into halftime. He said, and this is a quote, “Now is the time to turn it on … now is the time to take this game.” That speech inculcates everything he is about.
Q. What lessons learned, if any, do you still use in your current position?
Letta: “In reference to offseason workouts, Coach Lipani would always tell us you have X amount of opportunities (he would always know the exact number, or at least seemed like he did) to get yourself better this offseason, whether it be from morning workouts, summer workouts, Westside Camp, or anything else. It is what you do with those opportunities that can either help make you a better player or keep you in the same spot you are in now. This has always stuck with me as I have gone through not only high school football but now life. It has helped me recognize the opportunities that I have in front of me, and really pushed me to optimize and take advantage of those opportunities to the fullest extent. I think this helped derive a love for trying to constantly better myself in some way, shape, or form.”
Gentile: “After I graduated High School, I went on to play college football where I lettered at SUNY Brockport. I graduated and went on to serve in the U.S .Army for over 20 years. I retired a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. During my time serving our Nation, I deployed to combat four times. I spent six years in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other places around the world.
“I say all this because every day I served my Soldiers and our Nation, I recalled the lessons that Coach Lipani imparted upon me. I still use them. I have listed them below.
1. Be resilient: mentally and physically.
2. Organized: Have a disciplined system of organization and be consistent with your approach.
3. Passion/Enthusiasm: Have passion in all you do, whether it is in football, your work, or life. Have enthusiasm with others.
4. Commitment: Be committed to people and your mission.
5. Leadership: Always put the welfare of others before yourself – your subordinates own success and you, as a leader, own failure.
“Finally, Coach Lipani has meant so much to not only me but to thousands of young people who have played or were taught by him. If I could ever have the same impact on someone else’s life the way he has on mine, I would feel a debt has been repaid. I love Coach Lipani like a father. Playing for him during those times was truly like Camelot.”
