John Amabile (April 16, 1939 – April 22, 2012) was a professional
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
**Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
**Scouts BSA, sectio ...
for the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
,
high school football
High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
, and
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
.
Playing career
Amabile played quarterback for the
Boston College Eagles
The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisio ...
from 1958 to 1960. He finished his career completing 163 of 329 passes (49.8%) for 2321 yards, 17
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
s, and 18
interception
In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...
s. He won the 1960 Thomas F. Scanlan Memorial Trophy, an award given to the senior football player outstanding in scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability. He played for the Jersey Giants of the
Atlantic Coast Football League
The Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) was a professional american football minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with NFL and AFL teams to serve as farm clubs. The league pai ...
in 1964.
Coaching career
Amabile launched his career at Lincoln High School in 1967. He coached at Belleville High School and then From there he moved to Middletown High School, where he coached from 1970 to 1974.APP News
From 1977 to 1984, he coached Wall High School. He led the Crimson Knights to consecutive 11–0 seasons and
NJSIAA
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) is an association of hundreds of New Jersey high schools that regulates high school athletics and holds tournaments and crowns champions in high school sports.
State championsh ...
Central Jersey Group III championships in 1982 and 1983. His teams won four straight
Shore Conference
The Shore Conference is an athletic conference of private and public high schools in the U.S. state of New Jersey, centered at the Northern Jersey Shore. All schools in this conference are located within Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County ...
divisional titles from 1981 to 1984.
Amabile coached at
Neptune High School
Neptune High School is a comprehensive four-year community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Neptune Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Neptune Townshi ...
from 1985 to 2000. From 1993 to 1999, the Scarlet Fliers had a 33-game home winning streak. From 1994 to 1998, Neptune won five straight Shore Conference divisional titles, going unbeaten in 1995 and 1997.
From 2003 to 2008, Amabile coached
St. John Vianney
John Vianney (born Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney; 8 May 1786 – 4 August 1859), venerated as Saint John Vianney, was a French Catholic priest who is venerated in the Catholic Church as a saint and as the patron saint of parish priests. He is of ...
. In his six seasons with the Lancers, Amabile had a 22–38 record, with only one winning season and playoff appearance. In 2009, he coached
Allentown High School
Allentown High School is a public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from three communities in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Upper Freehold Regional School District. The scho ...
.
Amabile compiled an overall record of 252-172-11. Only Warren Wolf, Lou Vircillo and Vic Kubu are believed to have more wins in the Shore Conference.
In 2011, Amabile was the offensive coordinator at
Long Branch High School
Long Branch High School is a comprehensive, four-year community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades in the city of Long Branch, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, operating as part of the Long Branch Public Sch ...
.
Scouting
Amabile scouted for the New York Giants from 2002 to 2011.
Death
Amabile died on April 22, 2012, at the age of 73 at
Jersey Shore University Medical Center
Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) is a 691-bed non-profit, tertiary research and academic medical center located in Neptune Township, New Jersey, servicing coastal New Jersey and the Central Jersey area. JSUMC is the region’s only ...
. He was a resident of
Spring Lake Heights, New Jersey
Spring Lake Heights is a borough located in the southern coastal portion of Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,713,"John Amabile; Obituary" ''
Asbury Park Press
The ''Asbury Park Press'' is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state. It has been owned by Gannett since 1997.
Its reporting staff has been awarded numerous national hon ...
'', April 24, 2012. Accessed August 9, 2012. "John Amabile, 73, of Spring Lake Heights, passed away Sunday, April 22, 2012, at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, with his devoted family at his bedside. He was born and raised in Jersey City and moved to Spring Lake Heights in 1968, where he has resided for the past 44 years."