Chichester legend Bob Nugent still embraced by many

Joe Woods had one condition when he was asked to become the boys basketball coach at Chichester High School in the late 1980s. Woods would only take the job if Bob Nugent, who coached the Eagles for more than 20 seasons, could be his assistant.

“He was my Woods said.

Woods, now the girls basketball coach at Garnet Valley, met no resistance. How could anyone say no to the man who was “Mr. Everything” at Chi?

“Anytime you run into someone from Chi, the first thing you asked was if Nuge was still there,” said Chi great Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, who played basketball for Mr. Nugent. “That’s the kind of impact he had on the community. You’ve heard the term “It takes a village,” when Mr. Nugent epitomized that saying. He was the most civicminded person I ever met.”

Mr. Nugent spent 43 years in the school district as a teacher, coach and athletic administrator. Next to Johnson, Mr. Nugent is the name most associated with the school.

“It should be the other way around,” Johnson said. “He was Chi.”

Mr. Nugent died Thursday. He was 93.

In addition to his many years at Chi, Mr. Nugent also served as an assistant football coach at St. James High School, his alma mater, and was the men’s basketball coach at Neumann University for four seasons.

“Everybody knew mentor,” Nuge and Nuge knew everyone,” said Mr. Nugent’s longtime friend and former assistant coach Al Cini. “It was incredible the number of people he knew and touched. He just had a way of meeting people. He touched so many lives.”

And Mr. Nugent cared for those he touched.

“He kept in contact with a lot of his ex-players,” said Haverford High football coach Joe Gallagher, who played for Nugent at St. James. “He would call me once a week during the season and he knew what my team was doing. It was amazing. It went well beyond just coaching us in high school. He cared about us as people.”

“He was a very good texter,” Johnson said. “That’s how he stayed in touch with a lot of us. He would text me to see how I was doing or to recommend a book to read. I’ve read five books in the last few years that he recommended. He challenged you in different ways. He really kept you on your toes.”

Mr. Nugent did sharp, subtle wit.

“He followed my teams at Garnet Valley,” Woods said. “Every once in a while I’d get a text from him that read, ‘Stop beating those teams by so much.’ That’s the way he was. He always had little zingers for you.”

A viewing will be held in the gym at Chichester High from 5 to 9 Monday evening. An additional viewing will be held Tuesday morning at St. John Fisher Church from 8:30 to 10:15, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m.

“He was a wonderful man and a terrific individual,” Cini said. “He’s going to be missed.” so with a