Varsity Insider

Here’s my story from today’s paper:

Today marks Bill Tribou’s final official day with the Chappaqua Central School District, which he joined in 1989 and coached football in for 22 years. But after an acrimonious summer, the 56-year-old didn’t even wait that long to start anew.

The longtime Horace Greeley football coach closed that chapter with his resignation as coach and teacher effective today. He had already continued his coaching career when he joined the Peekskill varsity team as a full-time assistant prior to preseason camp.

“I’ve been telling people, I have this ability to move on,” Tribou said. “It’s not that I’m going to forget. I don’t have any bad memories about the football program. I have some sour memories about what goes on in school systems, but I’ve moved on. I want to help Peekskill. That’s where I am now.”

Tribou and the school district announced the settlement last week in a joint statement that was posted on NewCastleNow.org. It stated that Tribou was entitled to approximately one year’s salary, but said neither he nor the district would discuss circumstances that led to the settlement.

“I would have loved to coach at Greeley this season, but it didn’t work out,” he said.

Tribou coached previously at Lincoln, Mamaroneck and Roosevelt high schools, Iona College and Fordham University. He was the head coach at Greeley for 20 years and won 121 games to become the winningest coach in program history. His teams played in seven Section 1 title games, winning one in 2001.

Tribou became proactive about finding another coaching position once his longtime assistant, Tim Sullivan, was named the Quakers’ interim coach earlier this summer. He was offered opportunities as an assistant and even one as a head coach in another state (He wouldn’t identify any of the schools). But he opted for Peekskill after e-mailing coach Frank Bucci, whose staff had an opening for an assistant.

“I said to myself, ‘Peekskill’s been taking it on the chin for a while. They could use my help,’ ” said Tribou, who lives nearby in Ossining. “I do know a little bit about this gmae. I felt very good about making this decision.”

Tribou has been put in charge of Peekskill’s offense. In a general sense, he’s also provided an experienced hand for Bucci, a former Pleasantville assistant in his second year as a head coach.

The Red Devils had 30 players at Wednesday’s workout, the most since Bucci assumed control of the program.

“It can get frustrating at times at practice,” Bucci said. “Having Bill keeping me positive has really been a positive for me personally, as well as the program.”