Bielli steps down as Carroll’s football coach
Delayed on the front end. Moved up on the back.
Delayed on the front end. Moved up on the back.
That was the process for Dan Bielli as he finalized, then made public, his decision to retire as Archbishop Carroll High's highly successful football coach.
Bielli said he sensed last fall, during season No. 11 in his second stint at Carroll, that he was reaching his limit.
"And by the end of the season," he noted, "I was pretty sure. But I was always taught that football coaches should wait until after Christmas vacation to make those kinds of decisions. I came back and did think, 'This'll be it.' But then I saw the players in the hallway, and then in the weight room and I started thinking, 'Maybe I should go one more.' So, I went back and forth, then finally decided a couple days ago."
Next matter: disseminating the information. At 9:30 Tuesday morning, Bielli announced his intention to Principal Joe Denelsbeck.
"I asked him if I could meet with the kids in the weight room after school," Bielli said.
Denelsbeck wanted a more instantaneous tribute.
"He said he wanted to call the kids down to Room 213, where I teach health, so that's what happened during third period," Bielli said. "There were probably 50 kids in the room. I got more emotional than I thought I would. Definitely more emotional."
Bielli was 98-55 in 12 Carroll seasons (1995, 1999-2010) and 106-68 overall, counting two campaigns (1996-97) at now-defunct Kennedy-Kenrick.
This is his 42nd year at Carroll, and he said he hopes to keep teaching for three more, minimum. When he wasn't running programs, he spent almost all other falls as an assistant at Carroll or nearby Harriton (just one).
Bielli, Carroll's winningest coach, produced Catholic Blue champions in 2000, '01 and '02 and that first group stormed to a 13-0 mark while rolling to 584 points, then a city record.
"Boy, that was wonderful being in the right place at the right time with all those great players, and kids," Bielli said. "A lot of fun. A lot of fun."
A product of West Catholic and West Chester, Bielli spent his first teaching year in the public school system in Cherry Hill, N.J. His first fall at Carroll, in '69, marked the school's debut in the CL.
Asked what he'll most take from his experience, Bielli responded: "The relationship with the kids. The bonds you get while teaching are pretty strong, but they can't touch football or sports in general. And the guys I've coached with have been wonderful, too.
"I'm looking forward to spending more time with my lovely wife, Ann, and to being as fit as I can. I'd always be as fit as could be when practice started in August, then be falling apart by Halloween . . . Though I feel pretty good about this decision, I guess only time will tell."
In a news release, Fran Murphy, Carroll's athletic director and a longtime football assistant, called Bielli "an Archbishop Carroll legend." He added: "He has been an integral part of Carroll football for over 40 years. His contributions to our school, to the athletics program, and to the hundreds of players whose lives he has impacted are unrivaled. Those contributions will stand forever as a testament to his commitment to Archbishop Carroll and to the values we cherish - integrity, loyalty and tradition." *
