Robert F. Casciola (born c. 1935) is an American former

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 ...

coach,

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

executive, banking executive, and broadcaster. He was the head coach at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

from 1971 to 1972 and at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

from 1973 to 1977. He held assistant coaching positions at Princeton and,

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

. Casciola served as an executive vice president and the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

for the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

of the NBA from 1987 to 1991. He joined the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame in 1991 as executive director. He became president in 1996, serving in the role until his retirement in 2005. He played college football at Princeton as a tackle.

Early life

A native of

New Hyde Park, New York New Hyde Park is a village (New York), village in the Towns of Hempstead, New York, Hempstead and North Hempstead, New York, North Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. ...

, Casciola attended Mineola High School in

Garden City Park Garden City Park is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 7,806 at the 2010 census. History From about 1787 until abo ...

. He attended college at

, where he played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

from 1955 to 1957. He was named to the All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

team in 1957. He graduated in 1958.''2008 Princeton Football Media Guide'', p. 134.

Coaching career

After graduation, Casciola spent three years as the freshmen coach at his alma mater.Bob Casciola to take over Princeton's grid program
''Star-News'', March 2, 1972. He then joined the Princeton varsity coaching staff, where remained through the 1965 season. Casciola also served as an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and attained the rank of captain before being discharged in 1965. From 1966 to 1969, he spent three years mentoring the

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

s and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

s at Dartmouth under head coach

Bob Blackman Robert John Blackman (born 26 April 1956) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow East (UK Parliament constituency), Harrow East since 2010 United Kingdom general ele ...

. From 1969 to 1970, he served as the defensive coach at

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. In December 1970, he was promoted to head coach in place of

John Toner John L. Toner (May 4, 1923 – September 23, 2014) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Connecticut (UConn) from 1966 to 1970 and as the school's ...

, who remained at UConn as

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

.Robert Casciola
''Bangor Daily News'', December 22, 1970. Casciola led UConn to a 5–3–1 record in his first season and a share of the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

championship. After one additional season at UConn, he amassed a record of 9–8–1 during his tenure. In March 1973, Princeton appointed Casciola as its head coach and continued through 1977.Robert "Bob" Casciola Records by Year
, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved January 17, 2011.

After coaching

In June 1978, Casciola became the assistant vice president for government banking at the First National State Bank of New Jersey (later known as the First Fidelity Bank of New Jersey). In 1979, he served as a member of the

Garden State Bowl The Garden State Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, from 1978 until 1981.Foldesy, Jody. "Bowls burgeon as big business", ''The Washington Times''. December 21, 1997 ...

committee. In 1981, he led a football camp for high school

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 ...

s and wide receivers at

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. He worked as a color analyst for Princeton football broadcasts starting in 1981, and later also announced for the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, and Ivy League athletics. In 1987, he left his position with the First Fidelity Bank of New Jersey to take over as executive vice president and

for the

of the

. Casciola held that post for five years.Robert Casciola
American Football Coaches Foundation, retrieved January 17, 2011. In July 1991, Casciola resigned from the Nets to become the executive director of the

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

and

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

.Transactions
''The New York Times'', July 17, 1991. Casciola has four children with his wife, Janet.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casciola, Robert 1930s births Living people American bankers American chief operating officers American color commentators American football tackles College football announcers Dartmouth Big Green football coaches New Jersey Nets executives Princeton Tigers football announcers Princeton Tigers football coaches Princeton Tigers football players UConn Huskies football coaches United States Army officers People from New Hyde Park, New York Sportspeople from Nassau County, New York Coaches of American football from New York (state) Players of American football from New York (state)