A Lifelong Football Journey for Peter Mazzaferro

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The connection was made during a football coaching clinic held in the Catskills during the 1960s.

Pete Mazzaferro was a young coach when he crossed paths in New York state with Ed Swenson, the director of athletics and head coach at what was then known as Bridgewater State College.

Swenson eventually wound up hiring Mazzaferro to be one of his assistant coaches in 1966, and the Torrington, Conn., native who graduated from Centre College in Kentucky found himself living and working in southeastern Massachusetts at the age of 36.

Little did anyone know at the time that Mazzaferro would be staying in Bridgewater for decades.

He was hired in 1968 as the Bears' head coach with Swenson focusing on his director of athletics duties, and for 36 seasons, Mazzaferro was in charge of the Bridgewater State program.

"If I had never met Ed Swenson back then,’’ Mazzaferro once said, “I guess I never would have known about Bridgewater State.''

After all these years, Mazzaferro knows all about the school that is now Bridgewater State University -- and his achievements as a head coach from 1968-2004 are well known by followers of Division 3 football.

On Friday night, Mazzaferro's successful career will be recognized when the university names its turf field the Peter Mazzaferro Field as part of the Edward C. Swenson Athletic Complex.

The 93-year-old Mazzaferro, who still keeps close tabs on the Bears, will be on hand for a pregame ceremony starting at 6:30 p.m. prior to the Bridgewater State-Worcester Polytechnic Institute game.

A number of former players, who helped Mazzaferro go 195-137-7 at Bridgewater State, will be in attendance for the festivities and there will sure to be trips down memory lane.

"It's a real honor to have your name on the field," said Mazzaferro this week. "It'll be nice. I'm looking forward to it."

BSU President Fred Clark, who said that former football players brought up the honor, took the idea of having the field named after Mazzaferro to the Board of Trustees, and the idea was unanimously approved in June.

"The reason is really clear,'' said President Clark. "He's done so much for us, 36 years as not just a coach but a physical education faculty member and in both areas he excelled.

"It's the way he coached that influenced my enthusiasm. He focused on fair play, strong character and understood the importance of not just creating great students but creating great people.

"We remember where we've come from and as we're moving forward into the future, we remember that we stand on the shoulders of truly great people that created the foundation on which we've built. Peter Mazzaferro is one of those folks who created the remarkable foundation here at Bridgewater State."

Mazzaferro's teams won six New England Football Conference championships, went to the NCAA tournament in 1989 and 1999 and twice played in ECAC postseason games. He was the New England coach of the year twice and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the All-American Football Foundation.

Rich Florence played for Mazzaferro from 1971-74 and then was on his staff as an assistant coach for 16 seasons. The two remain close friends, and Florence is thrilled that the field is being named for his former head coach.

"It's fantastic," said Florence. "The players are happy and thrilled that the university is recognizing him like this. The guys that played for him appreciate the time, energy, and effort that he put in all those years, and he worked it at 24-7. He made an awful lot of personal sacrifices for the program.

"He brought it to a high level. I applaud Ed Swenson, who planted the seed. But Pete is the one who grew the program. Ed stepped aside at the right time and Pete was the right man to come in and take over the program.''

Joe Verria, the Bears' current head coach, was a standout defensive tackle for Mazzaferro from 1976-79. He worked as an assistant coach at Bridgewater State for 28 seasons before taking over the program in 2016.

He appreciates all that Mazzaferro has done for Bridgewater State football and is glad that his team will now be playing at Peter Mazzaferro Field.

"Over 30-40 years, he was the program," said Verria. "He coached me back in '76 and other guys before that. He was the one who put Bridgewater on the map, the championships, the undefeated teams.

"When you think about the success and all the accolades he's received, it's all very well deserved. He's mentored many, many guys, including myself. The positive experience we had at Bridgewater, definitely a big part came from him."

After graduating from Centre College, where he was a defensive end on the football team, ran the 440 in track and played basketball, Mazzaferro went to Springfield College for his master’s degree and later became the head coach at Waynesburg in 1959.

Mazzaferro returned to New England and was the head coach at Curry College in 1963 before moving to Geneva College in western Pennsylvania to be an assistant.

That was when Swenson, whose head coaching career was winding down, called and added Mazzaferro to his staff.

"They hadn’t won a game in a couple of years," said Mazzaferro of the Bears, who were 0-7 in 1964 and 0-6 in 1965. “They were only playing six or seven games.

"When I became the head coach in 1968, it was different than being at Waynesburg and Geneva where we could give football scholarships. We were lucky to have a budget at Bridgewater."

But the program grew and grew under Mazzaferro, taking trips to the postseason and going undefeated (10-0) in 1999 before losing in the NCAA tourney.

It was a labor of love for Mazzaferro as hundreds and hundreds of players went through the program.

"It's been my whole life, really," he once said. "I dedicated my life to Bridgewater State football."

"Coach Pete Mazzaferro is the foundation on which BSU's football program is built," said associate vice president for athletics and student wellness Dr. Marybeth Lamb. "He has dedicated his professional life to intercollegiate athletics and the role it has in the development of our student leaders."

Now, the home turf field of the Bears' football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse teams will be named for Mazzaferro after a ceremony on Friday night.

"It's going to be a great event," said President Clark. "It's going to be a great celebration. His shadow is long. His impact is real and profound. It's a great legacy, and it's all around us."