Frank Miriello won 90 games
at W&L, 50 of them coming in the past eight
seasons. W&L athletics photo |
Washington and Lee’s Frank Miriello has announced his
retirement as the school’s head football coach effective
immediately. Miriello will remain as an instructor of physical
education through the remainder of the current term.
"A few weeks ago I celebrated my 67th birthday and on that day I
found myself pausing and reflecting on my life’s journey,"
said Miriello. "I have been coaching for 45 years and it feels like
it is the right time to retire. It has been a privilege and an
honor to serve this great University and the outstanding
student-athletes I have worked with for the last 26 years. It has
been a wonderful journey. I will be forever grateful to former head
coach Gary Fallon, former athletic directors Bill McHenry and Mike
Walsh and former president John Elrod. It is difficult to express
the magnitude of my appreciation to those gentlemen for providing
me the opportunity to coach at the collegiate level at such a
prestigious university."
Miriello is the program’s all-time wins leader, posting a
90-79-1 (.532) overall record across his 17 seasons as head coach.
His teams posted a .500 or better record in 12 of his 17 seasons
and he guided the Generals to a pair of Old Dominion Athletic
Conference (ODAC) titles and the only two NCAA Tournament berths in
program history.
"Frank Miriello's decision to retire marks the end of an important
time in the life of the football program at W&L,” said
athletic director Jan Hathorn. "Frank's contributions over the past
17 years have been very significant, and his love of the game has
been at the heart of the success of the football program,
especially in his commitment to our student-athletes and his track
record for winning. We are grateful to Frank for all that he has
done to inspire, teach and direct the young men in the program, and
for the many ways he has built a name for our football program that
is synonymous with hard work, quality and spirit. It's a
bittersweet time for us, as we will miss Frank and we are happy for
him in his decision. With much gratitude, we wish him well in his
retirement."
Five times Miriello was selected as the ODAC Coach of the Year
(1996, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2010) and in 2006, he was named the
American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) South Region Coach of
the Year. That season, he led W&L to a 7-4 record and the
program’s first conference title since 1985. It also marked
W&L’s first postseason appearance since the 1951 Gator
Bowl as the Generals met Wilkes in the first round of the NCAA
Division III playoffs.
"I always attempted to set attainable and realistic objectives and
goals, and in the process, make it a high priority that each season
the team would achieve milestones that had not been accomplished in
recent history or ever," Miriello noted. "'Doing things that
haven’t been done' was our driving force. It wasn’t
about championships as much as it was about preparation and the
process. The focus was on commitment, improvement and team.
Fortunately, I had outstanding assistant coaches and
student-athletes that bought into this approach."
Despite a resume that included just three losing seasons in his
first nine years, Miriello’s teams got better over time as
evidenced by a 49-32 (.605) overall record across the last eight
seasons. His 2010 team finished 8-3 overall and won a second
conference title, while his 2011 squad completed the season with an
8-2 mark that included losses by a combined 14 points to NCAA
Tournament participants Centre and Hampden-Sydney.
"It has been a great run here the last eight years and I’m
very proud of the guys for their outstanding effort and
commitment," said Miriello. "It all paid off with a pretty good
run. When I looked at the last eight years and what we
accomplished, a couple of titles there, two eight-win seasons and
an 11-1 record in conference the last two years, I realized how
special this run has been."
Individually, Miriello coached his players to 61 First Team
All-ODAC citations and five D3football.com All-America honors.
Additionally, two players, Robert Hull ’96 and Chris Sullivan
’02, were named finalists for the Gagliardi Award, which is
presented to the top student-athlete in Division III football.
As a coach at various stages of his career, Miriello spent better
than 26 years as a coach at Washington and Lee, joining the staff
in 1978 as a member of Fallon’s first football team at
W&L. He coached the offensive line through the 1981 season,
helping lead the Generals to the ODAC title in his final season.
After assistant coaching stops at Hampden-Sydney (1982) and VMI
(1983-84), Miriello served as the head coach for one season at
Steelton-Highspire High School in Pennsylvania (1985) before
serving as the head football and lacrosse coach at Mercersburg
Academy from 1986-89. He returned to W&L in 1990 as assistant
football and assistant lacrosse coach and became Fallon’s
defensive coordinator in 1991 until taking over as interim head
coach following Fallon’s unexpected death in 1995. The
interim tag was removed following the season.
"I feel it is fitting that the game vs. Hampden-Sydney was my
last," Miriello said. "Losing by only a touchdown (42-35) after
falling behind 28-0 in the third quarter. The guys never gave up,
they stayed focused and played with class. That is what W&L
football is all about. I hope that those are the hallmarks for what
we have done here over the last 17 years and those hallmarks will
continue as the program moves forward."