Head football coach at SF’s Lincoln High School retires
Hall of fame San Francisco football coach retires
Abraham Lincoln High School head football coach Phil Ferrigno decided to retire due to health concerns. The Hall of Fame led the Mustangs to 10 section championships and three state titles in more than two decades
SAN FRANCISCO - Abraham Lincoln High School head football coach Phil Ferrigno is retiring due to health concerns.
"I was thinking I had maybe two years left in me," Ferrigno said. "It was just time. Then I had a little scare with some heart issues, but we're doing well with that."
Ferrigno has quite the resume. He's in multiple hall of fames in San Francisco as a player and coach.
He has won 10 section championships and three state titles in 22 seasons as a head coach for the Mustangs.
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"Dedication, discipline, and desire. Those three Ds. Dedicate yourself to something, have the discipline to do it every day and have the desire to be great. That's it. That's what my mom told me when I was 16 years old," said Ferrigno.
Before Coach Ferrigno got his shot at being the head coach of Lincoln in 2002, he was an assistant coach for several high schools in San Francisco, City College of San Francisco, and San Francisco State University.
He joined the Mustangs coaching staff as the wide receiver coach. One of its former players, Lincoln Hall of Famer and 1988 graduate James Ward said he felt his presence immediately.
"I knew when he first arrived here as far as spring practices in 1986, he just had a different energy compared to the former coaches in the previous regime," Ward said. "I just knew he was going to have an impact on us."
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"I worked directly with him as part of the wide receiver group. I just knew that we were going to be on to something as far as Lincoln rising from the ashes," Ward continued.
Ferrigno isn't ashamed that he coached with an old-school mentality. In this generation of football, most coaches want to pass the ball, but Ferrigno has been so confident in his formula for winning, that he'll run the football to drive down the field with two minutes left in the game.
Although he won't be at the helm of the Mustangs, he will still be on campus as the head of the PE department.
His longtime director of football operations, Edison Zhou, said he will miss Ferrigno's passion and the solidarity he created in the program.
What we don't know:
With regard to who will be the next head coach for the Lincoln Mustangs, Ferrigno is not sure who it will be, but he will be close to the process of choosing the next head coach.