Vito Ragazzo


Vito Eupollio Ragazzo was an American gridiron football player, coach, and scout. He played college football at the College of William & Mary and professionally with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a forerunner of the Canadian Football League. Ragazzo served as the head football coach at the Virginia Military Institute from 1966 to 1970 and at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1985, compiling a career college football coaching record of 51–72–1.

Early life and playing career

Ragazzo was born on March 17, 1927, in Aflex, Kentucky. He attended Williamson [High School (West Virginia)|Williamson High School] in Williamson, West Virginia, where he played football as an end and was a teammate of Dick Hensley. He was inducted into the Williamson High School Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the inaugural class in 1998. Ragazzo played college football at the College of William & Mary. In his college career with the William & Mary Indians, he caught 15 touchdown passes, which stood as an National Collegiate Athletic Association record from 1949 until Howard Twilley of Tulsa broke it in 1965.