By: Brian T. Dessart
"It's something you dream of," Vito, an East Rockaway resident, said of the award, which is voted on by the 56 public high school football coaches in Nassau County. "It's very difficult to achieve. It's a team award - a program award."
Roosevelt's success is nothing short of amazing when you consider that early in his coaching career in the district, Vito faced adversity that eventually cost him his coaching position. In fact, it forced him out of Roosevelt athletics altogether. The man and the team have now come full circle.
Vito arrived at Roosevelt in 1989, hired as a phys. ed. teacher and junior varsity football coach. He took over the varsity squad in 1992. A week after the 1993 season ended, however, Vito was notified by then school board president Robert Summerville that the football players' grades weren't kept high enough during the regular season, and that Vito's job was in jeopardy.
"I didn't do anything wrong," said Vito, who claims he correctly followed all school academic policies. "They couldn't get rid of me."
In the spring of 1994, he was relieved of his coaching position nonetheless. That same year, two other varsity coaches, who headed Roosevelt's baseball, volleyball and wrestling programs, were dismissed as well.
The dismissals were later found to be part of a discriminatory pattern. Vito and the other terminated coaches were white in a predominantly black district. Vito was the only one who fought the decision, presenting and proving his case to the Nassau County Commission on Human Rights.
In the meantime, Vito held onto his teaching position at Roosevelt, and was a football assistant at Nassau Community College in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. "Working each day and seeing your kids coached by someone else is tough," he recalled. "I said, 'I'm not going to be beat.'"
In 1996, New York state took control of the Roosevelt School District, and offered Vito the coaching position that had been taken away from him two years earlier. "I wasn't looking for anything but to get my coaching job back," he said. "I just wanted to be the coach."
Despite his forced hiatus from coaching, Vito returned stronger than ever, becoming a mentor and a role model, providing direction to his athletes. "I'm not only proud of his accomplishments as a coach, I'm proud of his accomplishments off the field," said Sue Vito, Joe's mother. "The concern he has for the young men ... that's the whole truth. He devotes himself to these kids. Whatever he does for them, I'm right behind him."
The 42-year-old Vito, a 1979 graduate of East Rockaway High, has developed an enviable year-round football program, incorporating a strength-training regimen that helps prepare his athletes for competition.
"You could probably find him here 12 hours a day, but he's home on Christmas," Roosevelt Athletic Director Harvey Palmore said. "He's more than just a coach. He is a friend, father, brother, uncle, teacher and psychologist - that's what the youngsters need here."
Senior running back Daryle McClenic agrees. "He helped me with everything - schoolwork and my problems," McClenic said. "He helps everybody with everything. He won't give up on you."
According to Vito, the Roosevelt football program is more than wins and losses, despite the Nassau County championships he brought to the team in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004, the Long Island titles he claimed in 1999, 2000 and 2004, and Roosevelt's ending Bethpage's 50-game winning streak in 1998.
In 2003, Vito was named by his peers the Conference IV Coach of the Year. "When you're voted on by your guys," Vito said, "that's a big deal." This past season, Vito was selected by Newsday as Nassau County's Coach of the Year, the second time he has been so honored since 1999.
The Roosevelt district has faced austerity six out of the nine years since he returned, Vito said. He is grateful for the assistance he has received because he has borne much of the program's cost. A $10,000 donation from Boomer Esiason bought uniforms and equipment, the New York Jets gave the program blocking sleds and footballs, and Dennis O'Reilly and Associates donated more than $5,000 worth of jerseys.
"A lot of people helped us," Vito said. "There's so many good people. It is special ... it really is."
Vito's financial contribution to Roosevelt athletics is in addition to the numerous activities and functions he organizes for students, including transportation to other high school football games, 7-on-7 summer scrimmages and trips to Jets practices. He has also been known to take graduating seniors on trips to prospective colleges and universities.
"If you really care about coaching, it has nothing to do with finances," Vito said. "The best experience is getting the young men who people didn't think would get a high school diploma, and getting them into college. It's important that I know we helped kids who were going the wrong way. We profess family, and that's what we really are."
Vito has a good grasp of what matters to his athletes. "They don't care how much you know," he said. "They want to know how much you care."
Comments about this story? BDessartHERALD@aol.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 1312.
