John F. Chironna (July 4, 1928 – October 15, 2010) was an

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 ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach. He served as the head coach of the Rhode Island Rams football team in 1961 and 1962, compiling a record of 4–11–3. Chironna was also head coach of the

Rhode Island Rams baseball The Rhode Island Rams baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team of the University of Rhode Island, located in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. The program has been a member of the NCAA Division I Atlantic 10 Conference sin ...

program from 1960 to 1961, tallying a mark of 16–15–1. Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Chironna was raised in

Westfield, New Jersey Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316,Westfield High School Westfield High School may refer to: * The Westfield School, Perry, Georgia * Westfield High School (Westfield, Indiana) * Westfield High School (Massachusetts), Westfield, Massachusetts * Westfield Technical Academy, Westfield, Massachusetts * West ...

."John Chironna"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'', October 19, 2010. Accessed March 28, 2023. "Chironna was born on July 4, 1928, in Plainfield, N.J., and graduated from Westfield High School in 1946. At Westfield he was a three year football starter on the line and gained All State Group 3 honors in 1945 as team captain. That same year he earned All County honors in basketball. " He then played both sports at

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

and was named an All-East selection three times. Chironna was inducted into the Bucknell Hall of Fame in 1984 and was named to Bucknell's "Football Team of the Century" in 1996. Former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis credited Chironna for influencing his view of football. Weis said, "John Chironna taught me the game of football. Parcells and Belichick taught me how to navigate at this level, but Chironna, he taught me the game." Weis taught English and was an assistant coach to Chironna at Morristown High School in

Morris County, New Jersey Morris County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county's population was enumerated at 509,285,

during Weis' early coaching career.

Head coaching record

Football

Baseball

References

;General * ;Specific 1928 births 2010 deaths American football guards Bucknell Bison baseball players Bucknell Bison football players Rhode Island Rams baseball coaches Rhode Island Rams football coaches High school football coaches in New Jersey Westfield High School (New Jersey) alumni Sportspeople from Plainfield, New Jersey People from Westfield, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey Baseball players from New Jersey {{1960s-collegefootball-coach-stub