FOXBOROUGH – It didn’t come as much of a surprise to hear everyone from Robert Kraft, to Bill Belichick, to a group of his former offensive linemen praise Dante Scarnecchia to the hilt during Saturday’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Scarnecchia, who earned his red jacket in the contributor’s category, was the best offensive line coach in Patriots history, and one of the best assistant coaches of all-time in the NFL.
He spent 34 seasons with the organization under six different head coaches and four ownership groups, winning five Super Bowls with the Patriots.
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Kraft introduced Scarnecchia, and talked about the “culture of excellence,” the now retired offensive line coach fostered with the team.
“His influence extended beyond the gridiron, shaping the character of our team,” said Kraft. “And setting a standard of professionalism that in my opinion is second to none . . . his relentless pursuit of perfection was instrumental in our success.”
Of course, Scarnecchia had a reputation for being a no-nonsense coach who was tough on his players, always managing to get the best out of them.
Said Kraft: “Most football coaches act like marine drill sergeants. But for Dante, it was no act.”
Scarnecchia was in fact a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Several of his former players – Matt Light, Nate Solder, Sebastian Vollmer, Dan Koppen – had fun talking about how tough it was to play for the legendary coach.
Each player talked about his experience with Scarnecchia, starting with Light. Naturally, his Scar stories were filled with humor.
“As coach would tell me often my rookie year, ‘Light, you don’t know if the ball is pumped or stuffed,”’ Light said, drawing laughter.
The Patriots Hall of Fame left tackle then told a story. Early on, he revealed to Scarnecchia that he had a problem with narcolepsy – a sleep disorder where sufferers find it hard to stay awake for long.
“I walked into Coach’s office, and I said, ‘Hey coach, look . . . I fall asleep when I’m not actively participating in things like film study … so I don’t want you to think it’s disrespectful when I fall asleep from narcolepsy,’’’ Light said.
“He looked at me, and said, ‘You fall asleep in my meeting and I’ll kill you.’ So right out of the gate, I didn’t think this was going to work too well.”
The line brought the house down at the Cross Insurance Pavilion, where the ceremony was moved due to the inclement weather.
Scarnecchia then got up from his seat, grabbed a microphone and countered.
“He told me an example was, ‘I fall asleep in my car when I’m driving,’’’ Scarnecchia relayed. “And I said, ‘Matt, you’ll be a lot better off falling asleep in your car than falling asleep in my meeting.’’’
Kidding aside, the players all praised Scarnecchia for how well he prepared them, and taught them. Nate Solder said he wouldn’t have become the player he did without Scarnecchia.
Light then closed the panel discussion by pointing to his own red jacket, and saying of Scar: “I have this color jacket on. And, I owe a majority of that to this guy.”
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