Michael VENDETTI
Tribute to Mike Vendetti

Remembering Coach Mike
by Bruce Baker

When an academic institution celebrates an anniversary in its history such as Nichols College is doing this year many special dates, events and noteworthy individuals are recalled and honored.

While recognizing contributions to the success of the College one such family, the late Mike and Joan Vendetti and their sons, Mike, Mark and Paul must be mentioned. All three sons played football at Amherst College which Mike and Joan were extremely proud of.

We are all aware of the successful coaching career of Mike and yet there is much more to consider as the Vendetti’s were always the first ones sought out on campus on Homecoming Day because of lasting friendships developed over the years and their warm friendly hospitality.

This year a large group of former football players from the championship years of the 1970’s returned to the hill on a beautiful warm homecoming day to reminisce and remember Coach Mike and Joan.

Prior to the kickoff the public address announcer asked the crowd to observe a moment of silence in honor of Coach Mike. Almost as though someone wrote a script for this homecoming day the football team responded with a win which would have pleased Mike.

Individuals talked about the coach and one former player summed it up pretty well by saying “We know he’s gone but until you’re sitting here in the tailgating area that you realize it’s just not the same without the coach holding court. That’s when the reality of it all sinks in.”

Another player said, “We are all so fortunate to have shared the best years of Mike Vendetti’s life at Nichols and because of him we formed a great band of brothers for life. We are all better men because of him”

When he was coaching, Mike somehow knew when he had a game won and would never run up the score on his opponent. He would quickly give his backup players some playing time which drove his young assistant coaches crazy because they felt Nichols needed another touchdown.

If you had a son playing football you would have wanted him to play for Mike because he would sacrifice a game for the safety of the player rather than risking a serious injury.

We are all aware of Nichols winning four straight New England Football Conference titles in a row in the 70’s and a fifth one over a six year span.

However, there was a much lighter side to Coach Mike that many folks may not be aware of.

Have any of you alums ever heard of the Rainbow Garden Restaurant at the foot of the hill?

Many years ago there was student unrest on campus one spring day for a reason which we shall not go into.

The college president called a group of administrators and staff into his office and told all of us that we were going to walk “guard duty” that night because the students would listen to us and we could control their actions.

It all went downhill from there.

Around five o’clock, Coach Mike drove his car down the hill and across the old dirt track while blasting his car horn as he drove up to the house at the end of the field. He got out of the car and was wearing his old Army uniform which he could only button the top button of his jacket since he had put on a “couple” of pounds since his military days and yelled out “reporting for duty”.

That night the students asked what we were doing walking around the dorms and when we informed them we were on “guard duty” we all had a good laugh and everything on campus was calm.

After a while we decided that in shifts we would sneak down to the Rainbow Garden for a cold beer. The conversation regarding our guard duty was a classic and we never got caught. Mission accomplished.

During one game when his team was not playing particularly well he decided he would make an impression on them at halftime. He walked over and yelled at them and then kicked what he thought was a empty water bucket but it turned out to be a bucket full of ice and he broke his toe which gave him problems for several years to come.

After he retired, he and Joan would spend the winter months at Ormond Beach in Florida. One day a group of people had gathered and it appeared someone had been injured. After looking into the situation all it was Coach Mike sitting in a lawn chair wearing the biggest straw hat you ever saw and holding court. There was a group of women all asking Mike for the fish he had just caught. One woman said “don’t you realize he is the unofficial mayor of Ormond Beach”

He even took control in Florida.

There are a few more highlights on the lighter side that are best left unmentioned.

The passing of Coach Mike and his wife, Joan marked the end of an era in Nichols history but not one which will soon be forgotten. To Coach Mike and Joan, a job well done on earth. Rest in peace.

(Bruce Baker was the Sports Information Director at Nichols College from 1971 to 1982)



Learn more about the life of    Michael VENDETTI.

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