New Canaan coaching legend Bo Hickey dies at 77
Bo Hickey was a multisport star at Stamford Catholic, NFL running back, state champion football coach, and the man who turned New Canaan boys ice hockey into one of Connecticut’s elite programs.
But former New Canaan athletic director Vin Iovino may have summed up Hickey the best.
“Bo was a legend,” Iovino said.
Thomas “Bo” Hickey, one of Stamford’s biggest sports stars and a longtime coach with the New Canaan football and ice hockey teams, died on Tuesday, his family confirmed.
Hickey, who retired from coaching following the 2013-14 ice hockey season when the Rams defeated Darien for an FCIAC championship, was 77.
As word of his death spread on Tuesday, Hickey was remembered as a loyal friend, colorful character, and a great coach. All underneath a tough exterior.
“You’ve got this giant, rough, gruff guy, and underneath all of it, he was a teddy bear,” Iovino said. “He was nurturing and caring. Things he did innately people don’t learn in any coaching course.
He just did it.”
Hickey was an assistant coach for New Canaan football for 31 years, joining the program back when Lou Marinelli was just starting with the Rams. During that time, New Canaan won eight state and four FCIAC championships, and had a knack for reaching kids and getting them to perform at a high level.
“He saw things in kids a number of times when I wasn’t sure,” Marinelli said. “He’d say ‘give me time, he’ll come around’,” Marinelli said. “And he was almost always right. That was one of his really strong points — his ability to figure a kid out and get the most out of them.”
Hickey was also the superintendent of Lakeview Cemetery in New Canaan for 34 years and many discussions and gatherings of friends were held in the garage on that site.
“It sounds nuts, we had great times as coaches down at the cemetery in his garage,” Iovino said. “We solved more problems down in the cemetery in his garage than we solved at any board of education meeting.”