New Head Football Coach Appointed At New Rochelle HS

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — An assistant coach will take over leading the New Rochelle High School football team. Raymond L. Rhett Jr., an assistant varsity football coach, was appointed as the team’s head coach Tuesday by the New Rochelle board of education at its Tuesday meeting.

Rhett has 19 years of experience as coach in various sports, including football, basketball, softball and track and field. Since 2017, he has served as an assistant coach for the varsity football team, a post he also held from 2001 to 2004. He served on the coaching staff that led the football Huguenots to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse for the past two years, coming home with the state championship last November.

Rhett takes over from Coach Lou DiRienzo who was removed and reassigned by Superintendent Dr. Laura Feijóo in November under circumstances that the district did not discuss. DiRienzo resigned his position effective Dec. 31.

Feijóo said the district was excited to have Rhett take on the role of head coach for the championship team.

“He has been an integral part of the team’s leadership during its phenomenal performance in recent years. That, and his understanding of the importance of academics as well as athletics, make him the right fit,” she said.

Rhett said he looks forward to the challenge and the opportunity and to continuing to build the program.

“It starts in the off-season with a focus on academics and in the weight room," he said. "We’re focusing on having the student athletes grow academically and become stronger and faster.”

Rhett has served as a physical education teacher and coach with the district since 2001. His previous positions include head coach of the modified track and field, and softball programs at Albert Leonard Middle School, assistant varsity track and field coach at NRHS, head coach of the NRHS junior varsity basketball team and junior varsity football team.

Previously, he was a physical education teacher in the Bronx and Rochester.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in movement in sport science from the Physical Education Teacher Program of Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. He later earned a Master’s Degree in Health Education from Lehman College in the Bronx, and an additional 60 credits from College of Saint Rose.

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