Longtime Bergen County tennis coach reaches 800 career wins

Over the last five decades, Rich Zawacki has become one of many coaching greats at Don Bosco and also a pillar of the school's overall function.

Zawacki reached another milestone in his legendary coaching career on May 18, becoming the fifth boys tennis coach in New Jersey history to reach 800 career wins. His Ironmen defeated Bergenfield to improve to 7-9 on the season.

"Guys, this accomplishment is all you," Zawacki said as he was presented a plaque by Don Bosco president Joe Azzolino. "I'm just happy that I got to be a small, little part of that success."

Zawacki stands alone in fifth place among career coaching wins in boys tennis with a career record of 800-190, a winning percentage above 80 percent.

"He epitomizes what it means to be a Salesian educator," said Azzolino, who was once Zawacki's student. "St. John Bosco created the Salesian Order and one of the things we pride ourselves on is teaching in that fashion. It's about meeting kids where they are. We can love to teach, but it's about the kids understanding that and Rich does that at a high level for half a century."

A long teaching and coaching career

Zawacki, a Don Bosco graduate himself, started teaching at the school in 1971. He began coaching tennis in 1975 and became the soccer coach in the fall of 1976. He started coaching bowling in 1985, and still holds that position.

Zawacki's soccer teams won five state sectional titles and more than 300 matches before he stepped down in 1996. The Ironmen won state bowling championships under his watch in 1991 and 1993.

"I think what makes it mean more for me than anything else is that it all happened here at Don Bosco," Zawacki said.

His reach extends beyond athletics. Zawacki has served as a department head in social studies and was the first economics teacher for many successful Don Bosco graduates.

Among them is Chris Riccobono, who won the Bergen County Group 3-4 tennis singles title and was named Athlete of the Week by The Record in May 1997.

"I really enjoyed my experience at Don Bosco," Riccobono said. "Some of my success came from the tennis court. I can never really pinpoint it when people ask about where success began, but I loved playing for coach and what he was able to teach me on and off the court."

Nearly three decades later, Riccobono is known for founding UNTUCKit in 2010, growing the popular menswear company to annual revenues exceeding $600 million. In 2022, Riccobono co-founded Greatness Wins, a performance apparel brand he began alongside Derek Jeter, Wayne Gretzky, and famed ballet dancer Misty Copeland. Greatness Wins has a valuation around $2.5 million.

"I remember his economics courses as plain as day," Riccobono said. "There's a lot of commonality in being an entrepreneur and playing an individual sport like tennis. It can be a lonely lifestyle in both and he was capable of firing you up and showing belief that you could make it."

Riccobono is just one notable example of the lives impacted by Zawacki's guidance. Five decades later, Zawacki knows that the next success story from Don Bosco could be sitting at one of the desks in front of him right now.

"I tell my economics classes now that it'll amaze me what you'll accomplish in the next 15 years," Zawacki said. "I'll tell them there are guys sitting in this room that will be multi-millionaires by the time they are 40 years old. I don't know who you are and I won't expect which of you will do it, but it's there for the taking. It absolutely amazes me meeting a kid as a teenager and seeing them on the path to an incredible life at 25 or 30."

Rich Zawacki's place in the record books

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations record books, all five of the most successful boys tennis coaches nationally came from New Jersey.

Elliot Lovi holds the national record with 2,079 career wins from 1974-2024, split between Livingston and Millburn. Haddonfield Memorial's Jeff Holman holds the active state record with 1,254 wins and counting since taking the boys tennis job in 1978. William Kingston earned 1,145 wins at Moorestown from 1974-2019, followed by 956 career wins for Ralph Ipri from 1964-2008 at Glassboro and Cherry Hill West. Zawacki's 800th career victory ranks him fifth.

"I think every great coach has goals they look to accomplish," Zawacki said. "I didn't know if I was going to go past 700 and stay there. The number just kept building and I'm so happy to not just get here, but be a small part of all these kids' lives."

Zawacki has had Don Bosco tennis alumni from multiple decades reach out on the path to the milestone. Some players have reached out in between match days or even traveled from multiple states away to see Zawacki and the current Ironmen team play on the journey to the latest milestone.

"To have former players in their 50s send me emails reaching out or come from wherever they are now to see a recent match is special," Zawacki said. "That's what it's all about. That's what I'm happier about than the wins themselves."

Riccobono understands the perspective of Zawacki's outlook, but also knows his old mentor still cares a great deal about the wins, which is why he is still compiling them at age 77.

"Coach is a nice guy that says the wins and losses don't matter," Riccobono said. "I know that he has a competitive fire in him and he wouldn't still be doing it if it wasn't still fun for him and he didn't love winning."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rich Zawacki, longtime Don Bosco NJ tennis coach, hits 800 career wins