Life was worth the smile for coach, mentor

Longtime Hillsdale High School coach and former dean of students Rich Mazzoncini died Sunday in San Mateo at the age of 61.

Mazzoncini — affectionately referred to as Coach Mazz for years by Hillsdale alum — died at Mills-Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo from complications associated with a rare disease called neurosarcoidosis. His winning smile, positive attitude and team spirit carried him through his battle with the auto-immune disease and left a lasting legacy among the thousands of students he encountered.

“As soon as you met him, you knew he was a special person. He brightened up the room,” said longtime friend Allan Stanbridge.

Stanbridge met Mazzoncini in the mid-1970s while both taught at Capuchino High School in San Bruno. Mazzoncini’s involvement in the San Mateo Union High School District started long before that. He played football for Aragon High School and went on to play football at California State University, Hayward — now known as California State University, East Bay. He started his teaching career at Ralston Middle School in Belmont. Soon after, Mazzoncini was hired as the assistant varsity football coach and frosh-soph baseball coach at Carlmont. Stanbridge was the basketball coach. The two became close friends, sharing family vacations and weekend dinners, Stanbridge said.

Mazzoncini transferred to Hillsdale in 1980 or 1981 and began to shine as both a coach and the dean of students.

“When he came there, he was more than a coach, he was a guiding light to the school. He injected some spirit into the school,” said former teacher, baseball and basketball coach Bill Wilken.

Mazzoncini knew both baseball and football well. His knowledge of the two sports and his strong commitment to the team created devoted players. His teams were always competitive and in 1991, he led the football team to a rare CCS title.

He managed to keep a warm and welcoming “Benny Goodman” smile both on the field and as a dean, Wilken said.

His smile was a trademark indicative of his good nature, humor and light-hearted approach to serious problems. No matter what the situation, those who knew Mazzoncini said he had a smile for all occasions. As Hillsdale’s dean, he often found himself a disciplinarian. Yet the same students he disciplined would still give Mazzoncini a warm hello and a pat on the back. They visited him in the office and chatted with him during the lunch hour.

“He is just what an ultimate educator should be. He had the students respect. He gained their respect. As a coach, it was not so much about the Xs and the Os or the wins and loses. From when I graduated, and beyond, there were so many people affected by him,” said Jeff Scheller, former student and current San Mateo High School football coach.

Scheller is one of a number of former students who owe their current coaching careers to Mazzoncini. Brett Stevenson was a former student and player who took over coaching for Mazzoncini once he retired in 2006. Mazzoncini also mentored him to fill the dean of students position when he retired, Stevenson said.

Stevenson is currently serving as interim co-principal. Mazzoncini served as vice principal before he retired.

“He just had such a way with people, he had a way to relate to them,” said former student Brett Stevenson. “He spent a great deal of the time listening to students, not just preaching to them.”

The news of Mazzoncini’s death was the latest in a string of bad news to quickly circulate through the tight-knit Hillsdale community. Many of the same people close to Mazzoncini attended the funeral for former coach and counselor Homer Zugelder only a few months ago. The school’s sports community also spent the day comprehending the sudden loss of Richard Batman, a parent of former Hillsdale baseball player and local photojournalist.

Still, Mazzoncini’s influence reaches far beyond the walls of Hillsdale or its teams.

“He died too young. He would have went on to better things. He would have ended up in the County [Sports] Hall of Fame at some point,” Stevenson said.

Mazzoncini was never quick to anger. A sign behind his desk in office read: I don’t get mad, I get even. The sign pointed to his dry sense of humor and constant good mood. Mazzoncini could had a way with “zingers,” friends said. He and former Hillsdale teacher Owen Lucy organized the annual faculty breakfast. Mazzoncini liked roasting fellow co-workers, cracking jokes and making fun videos.

“He’d laugh at anything and poke fun at himself too,” Lucy said.

His zest for life and calm approach to problems transferred to his personal life. It is a lesson his two daughters learned early.

“He always used to think, ‘today is the best day of my life.’ He lived each day as it came. He never worried about the future,” said his 29-year-old daughter Marissa.

While neither Marissa or her sister Andrea, 24, took to athletics, Mazzoncini taught them how to appreciate watching a game, Marissa said.

He also like watching Pink Panther movies, a little-known fact Marissa pointed out about her father. He could laugh at the jokes no matter how many times he watched movies. He even owned a Pink Panther tie, Marissa said.

Mazzoncini enjoyed fishing and golf. He had season tickets to the San Francisco Giants games and continued going after the illness made it impossible for him to walk, friends said.

Even as the debilitating disease took hold of his body, Mazzoncini kept a smile and positive attitude — the characteristic that earned him so many friends over the years.

“He was someone you liked from the start,” Stanbridge said. “He was someone you wanted to be with again.”