Verzilli steps down as Trojans football coach
PAHRUMP — Leo Verzilli wanted to hold off making any kind of announcement concerning his future as the Pahrump Valley High School football coach.
Not that there was any doubt about what his decision would be.
“I’m not going to come back,” said Verzilli, who let his team know of his decision Thursday night. ''What I wanted to do was make sure everything was in order, all of the uniforms returned, all of the equipment turned in, all of the paperwork finished, especially for my assistants. They gotta get their checks.”
Verzilli’s decision might not have been difficult, but it was painful.
In his three seasons, the Trojans won one game — the 2008 opener against Mountain View — and lost 28 straight, including all 24 Southwest League games.
“When I first took over this job, I talked about accountability, that everybody had to step up and do the right things,” Verzilli said. ''A lot of the boys did. They didn’t miss workouts; they didn’t miss practices; they played hard in the games.
''But we were outmanned. Teams were bigger, stronger and faster than we were, and the main thing was the speed.”
Still, Verzilli was hopeful at the beginning of the 2010 season.
“I thought we could win our first three games,’’ he said, but that was before Verzilli learned that three senior starters, who played a total of six positions, were academically ineligible — and would be for the entire season. Two were cornerbacks and running backs; a third was a lineman who eventually regained eligibility by completing a series of special academic tests.
“And another thing, weightlifting is very, very important,” said Verzilli, hinting at some irritation with the rules against mandatory weightlifting. “I go to coaches meetings in Las Vegas, and all they talk about — I mean, all they talk about — is lifting. Who’s benching what. Who’s deadlifting what.”
''We don’t make it mandatory here, which means a boy can go all summer without lifting weights, get on the team and expect to play. I have a problem with that, especially if other boys are lifting all summer ... and they’re not.”
Verzilli said he is unsure who his successor will be.
''There are some guys here interested ... but I really don’t know who will,’’ Verzilli said.
