Collodi key to historic season at EF
By Jose Negron
jnegron@yourmvi.com
Mike Collodi is known to many as a humble leader.
When things go right, he’s quick to praise his players and members of his coaching staff. When things don’t go according to plan, he takes accountability as Elizabeth Forward’s head coach.
The program as a whole deserves credit for its magical season this past fall, but it all starts with Collodi at the forefront.
“Coach Collodi deserves way more credit than he admits,” said senior quarterback Evan Lewis. “He was able to keep the team focused and on track during the pandemic and we were way ahead of other schools because of that. Our zoom meetings and workouts during the pandemic kept us on track.”
Collodi helped navigate the Warriors through the COVID-19 pandemic before making history in more ways than one.
Under his tutelage, EF finished with an unbeaten regular season record and an Interstate Conference championship. The Warriors went on to win their first playoff game in 20 years before advancing to the WPIAL championship game for the first time in program history.
“Coach Collodi is just a special guy in general,” senior defensive end Chase Whatton said. “He’s been through a lot, but he never fails to make it to practice or even film study. He’d stay hours and hours after to watch film with our other coaches. Coach Collodi has a love for football and a drive that not many have.”
Collodi’s dedication and success guiding EF this past fall was recognized last week as he captured the Mon Valley Independent-BeeGraphix Finest 30 Coach of the Year Award.
A year after being named an honorable mention selection for the honor, Collodi was selected unanimously by members of the MVI Sports team and local coaches.
“He brings great energy, he has a good attitude and he shows us different ways to succeed on and off the football field,” junior lineman Nicholas Murphy said. “Coach Collodi played a huge role in our success this year; he always tried getting us extra time on the field and he also stressed how important film study was, which was a big part in us beating our opponents.”
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