Imregi and Minard’s Coach in Cottage C delivers a punch as this previously unknown venture unfolds at a boys state reform school in the Florida Panhandle. Inspired by events in the life of Victor Prinzi while he taught and coached at the Florida School for Boys, (now known as the Dozier School for Boys), the plot twists and turns with each chapter. The ensuing relationships and the frustrating battles remain fresh long after the book has ended.
On a cool February morning in 1961, twenty-five-year-old Matt Grazi faces the most unwanted change of his life. His pro-ball career over, he stands as coach across the field from a platoon of teenage delinquents at Colby Hill Reform School for Boys (CHB) in the northern panhandle of Florida.
Previously a star football quarterback at Florida State University (FSU), Matt knows a successful coaching season is his chance to remain in the world of football, and his opportunity to give value to his years spent on the football field. Not one to back away from a challenge, he gears up to communicate with the teens only to find CHB is riddled with complications.
With a personal vengeance, Matt recruits Harry Beauregard, Bo, a superb athlete and boxer, who could be a physical asset to the team, but is defiant and has his own set of rules. Using sports to develop a new sense of awareness and pride, he struggles to train and mentor Bo and the other boys who want to play and brings them together as a team.
Amid gross and unjust brutalities at one of the largest reform school in the nation, Matt’s journey at the Colby Hill School for Boys forces him to make decisions that forever effect his life.