Two former Carle Place High School coaches have joined a short list of people from the district inducted into the Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame.
Joe Coady, the school’s first football coach and longtime director of physical education and athletics, and Ralph Capozzi, who was a longtime football, baseball and bowling coach in the district, were enshrined as part of the 2025 induction class on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at the Crest Hollow Country Club.
“It is a real point of pride to have two longtime members of the Carle Place community inducted into the Nassau County Hall of Fame,” Justin Block, Carle Place’s director of physical education, health, family and consumer sciences and athletics, said.
Block said Coady and Capozzi’s legacy will inspire future generations and that their honoring reflects their hard work and dedication to Carle Place.
Coady graduated from the University of Delaware and started his education and coaching career in Tenafly, NJ, according to his bio read at the induction ceremony.
He moved to Carle Place in 1955, where he became the director of physical education and athletics, as well as the school’s first football coach.
Coady remains the winningest coach in Carle Place football history, as his career record stands at 125-57-11.
The Frogs were undefeated four times and won regular-season conference championships 10 times with Coady at the helm.
Coady’s best seasons were in 1958 and 1959, when Carle Place had back-to-back 8-0 seasons while outscoring opponents 430-61.
New York Jets Super Bowl champion Matt Snell was a member of those teams.
Coady passed away in 2017.
Capozzi led the Frogs to county championships in football, bowling and baseball during his tenure as coach.
As the baseball coach, he guided Carle Place to a 210-84 record, winning five county championships, three Long Island titles, two regional crowns and making a trip to the state finals in 1997. Capozzi was selected as the Conference C Coach of the Year five times, according to his bio read at the induction ceremony.
Capozzi coached football and bowling for more than a decade at the high school as well.
His football teams won 94 games, including an 11-0 season in 1995 that ended with a Long Island Class IV championship.
Carle Place won back-to-back Nassau bowling titles in 2000 and 2001 with Capozzi at the helm. Over the length of his career, he produced 14 All-State bowlers.
In addition to Capozzi’s athletic successes, he was also involved in charity work.
While with the district, Capozzi ran a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, where over 15 years, he helped the organization raise over $550,000, according to former principal Neil Connolly.
Coady and Capozzi’s inductions bring Carle Place’s total to seven administrators, coaches and players honored in the Hall of Fame during its 10-year history. Rebecca “Becky” King (2015), Matt Snell (2016), Jimmy Colligan (2019), Gloria O’Connor (2019) and Chris Ceruti (2023) are the other Carle Place inductees.
