Garnet Valley coach Mike Ricci watches in the final moments of Garnet Valley’s PIAA Class 6A semifinal against St. Joseph’s Prep this month. Ricci wrapped up 35 seasons on the sidelines with the Jaguars as Delco’s second winningest head coach. (PETE BANNAN – DAILY TIMES)
By Terry Toohey
The numbers are staggering, and the turning point is clear.
Since 2006, the Garnet Valley football team has gone 164-32 overall, including 114-12 against Central League opponents since joining in 2008. It has won three District 1 championships (two in Class 3A, one in Class 6A), eight Central League titles (seven outright) and an Eastern Pennsylvania crown (Class 3A 2007).
In that span, the Jaguars made the playoffs every year except for 2010, when then went 7-3, and 2020, when the Central League did not partake in the postseason due to the coronavirus pandemic. In that 16-year span, Garnet Valley has had 10 seasons of 11 wins or more, four with just one loss and an undefeated campaign (6-0) in the COVID-abbreviated 2020 season.
The Jaguars were respectable before that, going 97-93-1 in Mike Ricci’s first 19 seasons. He served in two stints, from 1986-1989 and 1991-2005, around serving as an assistant coach at Widener in 1990.
So what changed?
For one, the school grew, tripling its enrollment from fewer than 500 in grades 9-12 in 1992 to more than 1,600 today. The size of the team increased, too, from roughly 40 players in Ricci’s first season of 1986 to 140 this season.
