CLEVELAND, Ohio — Nick Restifo spent the last day of his life coaching three football games.
He will be remembered by many as the longtime St. Ignatius offensive coordinator, who served as one of the patriarchs to the Wildcats’ dynasty with head coach Chuck Kyle. Restifo, 72, died Saturday evening during the team’s bus ride home from Cincinnati.
His colleagues, former players and students are cherishing what made him such a valued part of their lives. Restifo coached and taught at St. Ignatius with Kyle for 40 years, retiring from football after the 2020 season. He is survived by his wife, Susan, and daughter, Grace.
Word of Restifo’s death circulated throughout the community swiftly during the weekend, and St. Ignatius canceled classes on Monday to mourn its loss. Although Restifo didn’t attend the school himself — he attended Cathedral Latin on Cleveland’s east side — St. Ignatius made him an honorary graduate in 2019.
“He’s more of a Wildcat than anybody,” said Eric Haddad, who played running back for him until graduating in 1994. “He’s believed in so many kids for so many years.”
St. Ignatius’ coaching staff for the 1985 season is pictures, from left: Nick Restifo, Harry Vandevelde, Jim Michaels, Tony Antonelli, Jack Corrigan, Mark Avcollie and Chuck Kyle.(Cleveland Press via Plain Dealer)
Friendship of a lifetime
Restifo and Kyle came up together as assistants at St. Ignatius. When they interviewed to become the head coach in 1983, replacing Al Gizzi, they made a pact: if one was hired, the other would remain as the other’s assistant.
Restifo figured to coach the offense, while Kyle had the defense.
“Chico, you’re probably going to get the job,” Restifo recalled in 2022 of telling Kyle. “If I get it, would you be my defensive coordinator?”
Kyle looked back on that moment Monday after losing his friend.
“That is technically the first offensive coordinator St. Ignatius ever had,” Kyle said. “Football back then, the head coach called the plays.”
Restifo and Kyle attended John Carroll University together. Kyle returned to his alma mater at St. Ignatius in 1973 while still a senior in college to teach and coach. Restifo graduated a year later and took a job at St. Joseph (now Villa Angela-St. Joseph) to do the same.
By 1981, they reunited as assistants for Gizzi.
“He could have gone to other places,” Kyle said. “But you know what? He liked teaching at our school. We had a great relationship, and that was something I appreciate.”
Their time together quickly maturated into a seamless cooperation of minds, both as coaches and friends. With the growth of passing offenses in college football, they worked their connections to get Restifo on trips to attend coaches clinics and meet with coaches such as Howard Schnellenberger at Miami (Fla.) and LaVelle Edwards at BYU
Their teams produced quarterbacks, such as Bernie Kosar and Vinny Testaverde at Miami. BYU boasted Steve Young and Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer.
Soon, St. Ignatius had its own pedigree of quarterbacks.
“We were playing pretty good defense,” Kyle said. “It’s just that you’re trying to slug it out with people, and sometimes you gotta throw it over their heads a few times. We got into realizing that, and then a guy like Joe Pickens shows up and we can really throw the ball. Things like that start happening.”
In Restifo’s near-four decades as St. Ignatius’ offensive coordinator, the Wildcats won 11 state championships and three national titles. He studied passing offenses and translated them for what fit their teams, producing Pickens, Brian Hoyer, Tom Arth and Scott Mutryn.
All went on to play in college and the NFL, but their paths took turns in that direction with Restifo.
“I would not be where I’m at today without him,” said Mutryn, who graduated in 1994 with Haddad.
Mutryn went on to play quarterback at Boston College, competing with Matt Hasselbeck for that job, before a season with the New England Patriots and another year in NFL Europe with the Amsterdam Admirals.
“In college, I almost asked to be coached harder because I felt he brought out the best in me,” Mutryn said. “He coached me and pushed me to be a better player.”
Mutryn lives in Massachusetts and has four children, including three sons. He spent last weekend visiting one them in Chicago, where he learned of Restifo’s death. Haddad just saw Restifo earlier this month during a fundraising event.
Haddad recalled Restifo asking him if he could come and support the effort.
“Just a great guy and wanted to be involved,” Haddad said.
A love that never faded
That yearning for involvement brought Restifo back to the football field this year.
He retired from coaching after the 2020 season, two years before Kyle stepped aside, but remained a Spanish teacher. Never too far from his friends and former pupils, Restifo approached Ryan Franzinger earlier this year about returning to the sidelines.
“‘Coach, I think I can help you,’” Franzinger said Restifo told him. “I said, ‘Great. I’d love some help.’ I asked him if he would coach the freshmen, and he wasn’t too proud to do that.”
Franzinger graduated from St. Ignatius in 2002 after starring on two state championship teams. He played fullback for Restifo and linebacker for Kyle.
As colleagues, they bonded off the field for their love of cuisines.
“You know, he loved a good meal,” Franzinger said. “Particularly Italian.”
The lessons never stopped, either.
Upon returning to St. Ignatius as a coach and member of the faculty, Franzinger spent eight years as assistant principal for student discipline. In that time, he recalled plenty of instances of students arriving to his office without a clean-shaven face. Franzinger knew before asking that student had come from Restifo’s Spanish class.
“Those are the little details that mattered to him,” he said.
Now, Franzinger finds himself catching those little things at practices.
Nick Restifo served as offensive coordinator for 38 years at St. Ignatius. The school won 11 state championships and made him an honorary graduate in 2019.(Saint Ignatius Athletic Department)
Calls to remember
When Haddad and Mutryn entered their sophomore season in 1991, both had aspirations to become the quarterback at St. Ignatius.
They dueled behind incumbent Kevin Mayer that preseason. Restifo had both throw out passes from the left hashmark to the right hash for a preseason drill. Haddad admitted it likely led to his move to running back, but that skillset came back later in the season for the state championship.
Restifo called what became one of the most famous plays in their dynasty, “29 Halfback Pass,” which led to the Wildcats’ 24-21 win against Centerville at Fawcett Stadium in Canton. They had clawed back from a 21-9 deficit and pulled within five early in the fourth quarter. Facing third-and-11 at the Centerville 38-yard line, the trick play allowed Haddad to take a pitch from Mayer. Haddad rolled left and found Mike Sako open at the 15. Sako evaded one tackler and outran two more to score.
“I think that kind of sunk into his head,” said Haddad, thinking back to Restifo’s passing drills that summer.
During that year, Mutryn started two games in place of Mayer. He took over as the starting quarterback for the next two years. They won two more state championships.
“He wasn’t afraid to call plays that maybe in certain situations other people would have backed down,” Mutryn said. “But we practiced it. We always worked at things, and we were always prepared for that. He always had an amazing ability to put the utmost of trust into the players.”
That trust passed down to younger brothers and teammates.
Drew Haddad remembers watching that half-back pass, and the embrace of between his older brother and coach. Restifo had Drew promptly after Eric during St. Ignatius’ run of five straight OHSAA Division I state titles from 1991 to ‘95.
While Eric played running back, Drew lined up at wide receiver in those passing games that demanded precision that led him to be drafted in 2000 by the Buffalo Bills.
“Even from the days, 30 years ago, game planning for opponents, he always had a smile on his face,” Drew said, “being witty and charismatic at the same time.”
Like Restifo earlier this year, Drew Haddad returned to St. Ignatius as a member of Franzinger’s staff. On Saturday morning, he walked onto the field at Cincinnati St. Xavier to find his former coach, colleague and friend near the 50-yard line. They had two freshman games and one more for the junior varsity ahead of them.
“Isn’t this a beautiful day for football?” Restifo asked.
He still called the plays that afternoon for the freshmen. Their final play went for a touchdown.
Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on X (@mgoul), Threads (@mgoul) or email ([email protected]).