He taught boys how to be good ballplayers–and how to be good men.
That’s how Sam Champi is being remembered in Fairchild Nation.
Champi, who died Wednesday at age 76 from respiratory illnesses, coached the Fairchild Fire Co. team in the Morristown National Little League for nearly four decades. With the late Tony Cattano, he managed All-Star teams to a pair of state championships in the 1980s.
“Morristown National Little League can never pay the debt for the time Mr. Champi gave to our organization,” said Keith Chesnut, crediting Champi with inspiring him to continue coaching long after his own kids passed through the program.
“I never saw him berate a kid. He really cared about the players,” Ed France, another former coach, said of Champi, a West Point football star, Vietnam veteran and Princeton-trained engineer.
“He was a true legend,” said Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty, who coached in the rival Morristown American Little League.
Champi imparted baseball wisdom to his young charges. Dave Corcoran remembers his coach patiently teaching him how to screen the sun with his glove, before a game 30 years ago when he was a green second baseman.
“Must’ve thrown me 50 pop flies until you knew I had it down right,” Corcoran said in an online tribute.
Champi also molded character.
When Morristown High grad Dan Quinn coached the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2017, he acknowledged Champi as one of the people who “left a long impression on my life.”
Boo Andreas played for Champi as a Little Leaguer from 1978-80. After his college career at Notre Dame, Andreas continued his education–by accepting Champi’s invitation to help him coach Fairchild.
“He taught me how to deal with 10- to 12 year old boys, and how to motivate and discipline them when needed,” said Andreas, 53. “It gave me lot of confidence when I did have kids of my own. I wasn’t questioning how to do this. I had a great teacher and mentor.”
Andreas was scared the first time they met. He remembers extending his “little 10-year-old hand” to a 6-foot-5, 280-pound bear of a man who, according to his obituary, once tore off a piece of Hall of Famer Roger Staubach’s jersey during an Army-Navy game and stashed it in his pants as a souvenir.
But appearances can be deceiving.
“Despite his size, he was such a gentle person. He was the least scary person you ever met in your life,” Andreas said.
Champi showed Andreas the importance of setting expectations for kids; otherwise, it’s unfair to discipline them. At the start of each season, Champi invited parents to gather around the bench and listen while he told the team:
“We expect to win every game we play. If you didn’t expect to win, you shouldn’t have a scoreboard,” Andreas recalled Champi saying.
Champi never scolded anyone for booting a grounder or striking out. But he expected players to hustle, to pay attention, and to show up on time, Andreas said. Tardy players would run a lap while everyone else took batting practice.
“It would give them time to think about why they were late,” Andreas said.
A natural hitter, Andreas had difficulty teaching the skill. Champi told him to work with pitchers instead. More lessons learned: “Be aware you have weaknesses. And it’s okay to have weaknesses,” Andreas said.
‘GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY!’
Champi showed very few weaknesses as a young man.
The Newark native was valedictorian of his class at Seton Hall Prep, where he lettered in basketball, baseball and football and was named Essex County’s Outstanding Athlete/Scholar en route to All-State grid honors.
Champi also won the 1962 state javelin championship–at only his second track meet. His achievements landed him in the Seton Hall Prep and Newark halls of fame.
Many scholarship offers followed, but Champi chose the United States Military Academy. He graduated 10th in a class of 575 cadets, completing Ranger school and attaining the rank of Captain, First Class. He also was a member of the Catholic Choir, Spanish Club, and yearbook advertising staff.
As a plebe, Champi played basketball for Bobby Knight. But he starred in football, catching the winning touchdown pass in the 1964 Army-Navy game and garnering MVP honors a year later in the rematch.
“His only regret was tying Navy in the 1965 game,” states his obituary.
Champi was chosen for the North-South Shrine game and the Academic All-American team that year, and inducted into the National College Football Hall of Fame.
After West Point, he earned a master’s degree in civil engineering at Princeton University. Then he served in Vietnam, repairing and building bridges.
Decades later, Champi returned to Vietnam to build low-cost apartments, according to the National Football Foundation. He worked for Engineers Inc., and lived in Maplewood and Morris Township before moving to Chester.
He coached in the Morristown National Little League from 1978 to 2015, Chesnut said.
Samuel Frank Champi, the son of the late Samuel and Rose Champi, is survived by his wife of 53 years, Ruselyn (Bagott) Champi of Chester and their five children: Sam Champi Jr. (Jill) and Bill Champi (Alyssa), of Morristown; Cristine Champi of Chester; Kimberly Krenik of Alexandria VA and Dana Champi of Chester; and grandchildren Cassidy, Lauren, Chase, Sydney and Ariana Champi, and Kingston and Russi Krenik.
He also is survived by his sister, Angela Fahey (Richard, deceased) of Bernardsville. A brother, Frank Champi, predeceased him. Survivors include many cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.
Visitation is on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, from 1 pm to 5 pm, at the William J. Leber Funeral Home, 15 Furnace Road, Chester. The funeral mass is on Monday, Aug. 9th at 11 am at St. Luke Parish, 265 West Mill Road, Long Valley.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Morristown Nation Little League or the Chester First Aid Squad.
My deep and sincere condolences to the family and friends for their sorrowful loss. I am so glad they experienced the joy, love and satisfaction of having him as husband, father, mentor and friend in their lives. He was an imposing man as an upperclassman to myself and other plebes in his USMA company, but also someone you quickly learned was an admirable, approachable and inspiring man, the kind of person one would hope to be. I am grateful to have known him.
Thank you for your dedicated service, on and off the field of ‘play’! May God Bless you; condolences to family and friends. Your leadership has probably spared the lives of many soldiers; they know who you are – and now I do!
8-YEARS ACTIVE DUTY (USAF: Air Defense Command, EUROPE-Cold War/Security Service, Civil Engineering/Special Operations – South East Asia Viet Nam);
14+ YEARS AIR NATIONAL GUARD, Civil Engineering
Have much respect for coach Sam Champi.
Sorry for this loss to his wife, Children, entire family and his friends and this community .
One nice memory I can share, one time when I was coaching the 10 year old All Star team that his son Sam Jr played on he gave me some advice. He asked me if I attended church ,of if I prayed much?
I told him I did pray but that I was not a big church goer in those days .
Coach Sam said to me” Ed it’s good to go to church, it’s important
,make that a value, prayer is the power that moves things.”
I found out he was right.
He served his country in the Viet Nam war, he was a stand out football player at West Point. He was a wonderful father and community coach. He was a person to listen to!
Rest In Peace good man. We will always recall you with respect and honor.