Montclair State athletics photo

After 40 years as the head football coach at Montclair State, Rick Giancola has announced his retirement.

Giancola ends his illustrious career with a 260-143-2 record, including 179 victories within the New Jersey Athletic Conference. He was the active winningest coach in NCAA Division III football and was fourth among all current collegiate coaches behind Columbia's Al Bagnoli, North Carolina's Mack Brown, and Alabama's Nick Saban. 

"Coach Giancola dedicated almost his entire career to this university and the football program," expressed athletic director Rob Chesney. "His tireless work ethic helped set the program standard and positively impacted thousands of student-athletes. I would like to sincerely thank him for a lifetime of successful work."

Giancola was not quoted in the university's news release. He guided Montclair to 12 NJAC championships and nine NCAA Division III playoff appearances. An 11-time NJAC Coach of the Year, he closes his career with the eighth-most wins in Division III history and has had 26 student-athletes named to the Division III All-America Team and 25 of his players signed professionally.

The Red Hawks went 2-8 this season, 0-6 in the NJAC.

His career at Montclair began in 1976 as an assistant coach under Fred Hill before taking over as head coach in 1983. Giancola gained his 100th career victory against Wilkes in 1997 and earned his 200th on Nov. 13, 2010, against William Paterson. He crossed the 250-win plateau with a 24-0 triumph over Christopher Newport on Oct. 19, 2019.
 
Associate head coach Mike Palazzo will assume the head coaching role moving forward. A former Red Hawk student-athlete, he was an assistant coach for nine seasons, serving many roles, including defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, and recruiting coordinator.