Winthrop’s Bob DeFelice has been associated with Bentley University for his entire adult life, and that’s not changing anytime soon despite his decision to retire as Director of Athletics. Ever the baseball man, DeFelice is returning for his 53rd season as the head coach of the Bentley baseball team.
As Bentley’s only head baseball coach, DeFelice has 814 wins during his 52 seasons at the helm, a total that ranks third in New England Division II history. Following the retirement of Augie Garrido at Texas after the 2016 season, DeFelice is now the longest tenured active college baseball coach in the country.
And it’s all he’s ever wanted.
“My entire life, all I’ve ever wanted to do was be a full-time coach,” said DeFelice. “I love every part of it, and the university was unbelievable for allowing me to stay on and do this. Every step of the way, whether it was at Winthrop (coaching the football team) or at Bentley, I always had a second job or something else that was pulling my attention. Now, I can just be a coach.”
The Bentley baseball team has called Robert DeFelice Field its home since 2002, and upon the culmination of his 50th year at Bentley a statue was erected outside the Bentley Arena. In addition, the rink in the arena now bears his name, as does the plaza outside the arena.
DeFelice’s affiliation with Bentley dates back to 1968, when he was hired as the school’s first baseball coach. After coaching the team on a part-time basis from its debut in 1969 to 1987, he was named Assistant Athletics Director for Programs in August 1987. Two years later, he was promoted to Associate Athletics Director and then in 1991 was named the Director of Athletics, a position he held until Friday. He was initially set to step down from the position at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year in June, but he remained on board to help guide the athletic department through dealing with the pandemic.
“It’s been a very crazy six months or so,” said DeFelice. “I think so many people, myself included, are plan-oriented people, and this pandemic has really thrown people like that for a loop because things change every day. It’s hard to have a plan when you have to switch things up on a daily or weekly basis.”
Now, as he looks ahead to his 53rd season on the bench, DeFelice is trying to navigate a new world with all sorts of health safety restrictions in place for his team.
“Things are good (with the team) considering the circumstances, but we’re still very limited in what we can do at this point,” said DeFelice. “We have a lot of players coming back and all of the guys have been doing whatever work they can do individually as we continue to navigate things. Our fall and winter sports are already pushed back, so who knows whether spring will get pushed back as well. We’re tested weekly at the school and we’ve had really good numbers, so the signs are all good. But we’ll have to wait and see.”
Before joining the Bentley athletic department staff on a full-time basis in 1987, DeFelice spent 17 years (1970-86) as head football coach at his alma mater, Winthrop High School. During that time, he led the Vikings to a 101-65-2 record, with four Northeastern Conference championships, a 33-game winning streak in the early 80’s and two Eastern Massachusetts Division II Super Bowl titles.
DeFelice has also been inducted into eight Halls of Fame. He was honored by Boston College in 1986, Bentley in October 1999 and was a charter member of the Winthrop High Hall of Fame in 1997. In November 2002, he was one of four inductees into the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. Most recently, in November 2010, he was a charter inductee into the Intercity Hall of Fame. DeFelice has also been inducted into the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame, the Boston Park League Hall of Fame and the Union Printers International Baseball League Hall of Fame.
But as he’ll say, his home is on the baseball field. He’s excited to get back to work with his team in a limited capacity this fall before hopefully commencing yet another year with Bentley baseball in 2021.
“Everyone is excited to hopefully get back to work out there,” said DeFelice. “Baseball has been one of the few sports that got up and running pretty well during the pandemic, so we feel that’s a positive sign. Hopefully things stay moving in a positive direction and we can hit the ground running when the season comes around.”
