Bill Pinto is no longer the head football coach at Fairfield Prep.
Athletic Director Steve Donahue confirmed Monday the school has dismissed the 40-year old coach, who went 0-10 one season. After a weekend meeting with the school’s administrators, Donahue said he informed Pinto of the school’s decision by phone Sunday evening. Fairfield Prep posted an advertisement seeking head coaching applicants at 11 a.m. Monday morning.
“It was a difficult season, both on the field and off, so we have decided to go in a different direction with the program,” said Donahue, who is in his first year as the school’s AD. “We want to get some new, fresh faces and get back to the strong tradition of football at Fairfield Prep.”
Pinto, a Trumbull graduate who spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Fairfield Prep, was hired to replace former coach Rich Magdon in February.
The Jesuits, which featured six seniors and two returning starters from a 3-7 team, went 0-10 and were outscored 83-398 in 10 SCC games. It was the second winless season in school history and the first in 66 years.
Two of Magdon’s former staff members had resigned just before the start of the season in what Donahue called a case of “the old guard and new guard not really meshing.” But the tipping point, Donahue said, came when three assistant coaches Pinto had brought to the program resigned just two weeks before the end of the season.
“That certainly was not a good thing and school was not happy with that,” Donahue said. “They didn’t like the fact these coaches would quit on the kids.
“Needless to say that left Billy in a bad spot. To Billy’s credit, he did a good job in the final weeks keeping it together. I don’t think it was handled correctly. So we decided to say was a tough year and we decided to go in a different direction.”
Update: “I’m disappointed in their decision, I wish I had more time to turn the program around, but I am sure there was a lot of pressure on the school to do with they did,” Pinto said. “Who evertakes over wlll inherit a great group of experienced kids who will also have a favorable schedule. They should be successful, I wish the the school and the kids the best of luck with the mission academics and the football program.”
Donahue said the school has some internal candidates, but would be opening the job to anyone. The deadline for applications is December 18. Applicants should send their resumes and “a plan for assistants and JV staff” to sdonahue@fairfieldprep.org.
“We want to get the best possible fit for Fairfield Prep,” Donahue said. “We hope to have a coach and staff in place by January 15, so we can waste no time getting the program back and going strong.”
WOW! His comments show that he is a class act.
Prep needs to join the FCIAC. The FCIAC needs Prep. An even 20 teams. The FCIAC has so many BAD CLASS LL and L schools in football at the bottom of the league.
Prep will never get into the FCIAC as long as Dave Schultz is in charge of the league.
The FCIAC has some great teams and some bad ones. Prep joining the FCIAC would be great, but I can think of a few better reasons for it to jump ship. Besides the obvious that it would balance out the league, it would also bring some great rivalry games to the FCIAC. I’ve never been to one but I’ve been told the Prep vs. St Joes game was a classic. How about scheduling this game on Thanksgiving. How about Prep vs. Staples, Trumbull, Fairfield Schools, and Bridgeport Schools. Prep has a large enrollment from these school districts. Prep playing anyone else in the FCIAC. I can only guess that the school would also save on transportation costs as well. Everyone has heard the rumours of Shelton joining the league. Either one would be an exciting addition to the FCIAC
wrong…his comments show that he is already undercutting the next coach by saying the schedule is easy and he ‘set the table’ and that whomever enters ‘should’ win.
ive been blogging for three years about the quality of the prep/derby staff
The FCIAC is a death knell to any hockey program who expects (as Prep does) to win Division I every year. The league forces you to play its full slate of also-rans instead of encouraging out-of-state games in RI and MA. Since hockey is the premier sport at Prep, I don’t see them chomping at the bit to join that league.
Sad day for the Jesuits. No way a school that big can’t find one athlete to hand off to every play. I didn’t realize there was such drama off the field. I love how these coaches conveniently retire when they are scheduled to bring back 6 seniors. Good job Magdon. Christy Hayes did the same thing at Saint Joes. You look good when your successor comes in and goes 0-10, when the fact is you wouldn’t of done any better.
Let’s make sure everyone gets their fair share of blame. The Rev Hanwell who could care less about football and didn’t want to listen to the parents concerns since his decision on administrators not being coaches. Coach Magdon for mailing it in last year and alienating a lot of future players. The Senior parents and kids who decided not to play this year because of the coach and let their buddies to go to battle undermanned. Finally the former AD Bob (Mr Arrogant) Harris for the Football banquet that is supposed to be about the kids but ended up being a Love Fest for Magdon and then that farce of a coaching search followed by his “retirement”. Good Job All.
rumor has it the football coaches in the FCIAC would love to have Prep in the mix. Can we say the same for the hockey and Lax coaches. Prep is better off playing hockey in the SCC where there are restrictions on the better teams playing division 2 & 3 teams in the league. This gives schools like Prep, NDWH, Hamden the flexibility to play top teams from New England and New Jersey. Same for the lax programs. Better competition makes the teams tournament ready.
Fairfield presently plays most of the power football teams in the New Haven area.A strong showing is an excellent measure of their standing in the state.The ciac would be a step backwards
I can’t believe such a storied program has fallen so far.
its a shame what happened this year. even though pinto didn’t have much to work with he really botched this year up by hiring the three quiting coaches who from what i have heard were extremely unproffesional all year. long time prep assistant coach shea would have done a much better job
The real problem here is not the coaches. It’s some of the meddling parents and the administrators that entertain them. That is the true downfall of prep football the last 3 years. The AD and administrators made it impossible for the coaches to do their jobs. The coaches didn’t quit, prep quit on them.
prep fan,
one thing is for sure, the people who told you that weren’t around the program. the coaches did what they had to do in support of one of their own. the coaches gave the school and pinto plenty of time to fix the wrong doing to one of the staff members. when this was not met they did what they had to do.
just to show what gutt-less people they are (prep) they didn’t even meet with pinto face to face to let him go, they did it over the phone!!!
and they want to talk about the old staff and the new one not meshing but do you know when they left(the old staff)…9 days before the first game!!! talk about leaving the team in a bad situation. that left the “new” staff switching duties. 9 days to get ready for nd of west haven.
how unprofessional the “new” staff was for wanting the players to be at practice, on-time for practice, and lift weights!! the”new” staff’s blue collar values did not mesh with the “prep” way.
the once storied program at prep is all but dead. sorry alumni but the truth hurts. its time for them to get into the fairchester league!!
i’m just sick and tired of seeing good coaches dragged through the mud. who is speaking for those coaches. only the people involved know the truth and we’re only hearing one side. so all you who are making the bad comments, you should get all the facts first or at least take the story and think about the other side.
do we really believe football coaches who put in all the time that they do,the time away from their families, would just up and walkout without a good reason. think about it!!
This is what I heard went down…Prior to boarding the bus for an away game a parent(female) of one the players had an argument with one of the assistant coaches about her son’s playing time…This woman made some very disparaging comments about the coach and rest of the staff…This assistant finally had enough and erupted on the woman…dropping a few choice words in the process…The assistant was then let go and then 2 others quit because of the treatment of one of their fellow coaches
I am not surprised about the parents acting crazy – that happens in every town! Plus add in that the prep parents are paying top dollar for the school only adds fuel to the fire. It seems nobody wants to have average happy children these days! It’s a real problem and some of them should get help before they destoy their children.
YAAAAAAWWWWWWNNN
The old days of hard work ethics are replaced with whining and complaining. Sadly not so much by the kids but by the parents. If your kid isn’t being played as much as you would like perhaps he isn’t putting in the effort? Are they attending practice? If a coach talks to a kid about missing too much practice or not putting in the effort than he is reprimanded for not being positive enough. Are you kidding me? This is football, suck it up parents!
Just an FYI…if you have a problem with the coaching than you go to the head coach with the problem. You don’t put an assist coach on blast because you feel your kid should be played more? Shame on the administration/AD for the treatment of those coaches!! Doing the right thing is replaced by $$$. Great job Prep!