Nick Kotys was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 college and high school football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

. At Coral Gables High School

Coral Gables High School

Coral Gables Senior High School is a secondary school located at 450 Bird Road in Coral Gables, Florida, USA.Coral Gables SHS opened its doors in 1950; its architectural design reflects a Spanish influence with its open courtyards adorned with water fountains...

 near Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, he built one of the most dominating high school football

High school football

High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

 programs in Florida state history, winning state playoff championships in 1963, 1964, 1967 and 1968, and two mythical state newspaper poll championships before the playoff system started. His Coral Gables Cavaliers football teams also won four mythical national titles

High School Football National Championship

The High School Football National Championship is a national championship honor awarded to the best high school football team in the United States of America based on rankings from USA Today and the National Prep Poll. There have been some efforts over the years at organizing a single-game playoff...

 in 1956, 1964, 1967 and 1968. Kotys retired in 1971 after 20 seasons as head coach of the Cavaliers with a 160–33–9 record—his teams having won over eighty-one percent of their games played.

Kotys earned his B.S.

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in economics and education from Villanova University

Villanova University

Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...

 (1936), before starting his coaching career at Shickshinny

Shickshinny, Pennsylvania

Shickshinny is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 959 at the 2000 census, and declined to 896 in the 2007 Economic Census....

, Bloomsburg

Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania

Bloomsburg is a town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, 40 miles southwest of Wilkes Barre along the Susquehanna River. In 1900, the population of Bloomsburg stood at 6,170; in 1910, 7,413; in 1940, 9,799, and in 1990, 12,439. The population was 14,855 at the 2010 census...

, and Pottsville, Pennsylvania

Pottsville, Pennsylvania

Pottsville is the only city in and the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 15,549 at the 2000 census. The city lies along the west bank of the Schuylkill River, north-west of Philadelphia...

, where he compiled a thirteen-year record of 98 wins, 24 losses and 7 ties. Kotys became the offensive coordinator

Offensive coordinator

An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...

 and backfield

Backfield

The backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage. The backfield or offensive backfield can also refer to members of offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including any backs on the field, such as the quarterback, running back, and/or fullback.-Play...

 coach under head coach Herman Hickman

Herman Hickman

Herman M. Hickman was a Hall of Fame college football player for the University of Tennessee and later a head football coach for Yale University. He played pro football for the NFL's Brooklyn Dodgers. He later was a TV and radio analyst and broadcaster, a writer and a professional wrestler.-...

 at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in 1949. He left Yale to accept the head football coach and athletic director

Athletic director

An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...

 positions at Coral Gables High School in 1952.

Kotys was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame

Florida Sports Hall of Fame

The Florida Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honoring athletes with outstanding achievement in sports in Florida. It has expanded its goals to include encouraging physical fitness among Florida's citizens through the example of its honorees.The FSHOF was founded by the Florida...

 in 1984. Thirty-six years after he retired from coaching, the Florida High School Athletic Association

Florida High School Athletic Association

The Florida High School Athletic Association is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high school It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations ....

 (FHSAA) named him to its All-Century Team in 2007.