Former Steinert standout has distinguished himself as a player and coach at Kent State and he will soon be inducted into his high school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
By Mary Ann Tarr
He was not an instant hit as an athlete but success soon followed for Colin Ferrell.
“I was a bad football player my freshman year,” said Ferrell, who first stepped onto the gridiron as a ninth-grader. “As bad as I was – and I was bad – I knew it was my sport.”
Ferrell went on to complete a banner high school career at Steinert and followed that up with an all-star career at Kent State University.
“Colin Ferrell was one of the most dominant defensive players in the history of Mercer County football,” said former SHS coach Frank Gatto. “During his senior year he was considered by many publications in the state as one of the top three defensive ends in New Jersey. He had a great career at Kent State. Injury cut short a promising NFL career. Colin is currently coaching the defensive line at Kent State. There is no greater honor for a coach than to see a former player now coaching and helping young people achieve their goals in life.”
Ferrell, who will be inducted into the SHS Athletic Hall of Fame during ceremonies April 1, has fond memories of his days as a Spartan.
“It was a great experience with a bunch of great guys that I’m still in contact with,” he said.
Sports were a key component for Ferrell.
“My family had just moved to New Jersey when I was I ninth grade,” he said.
He earned five varsity letters at Steinert, three in football and two in track and field.
“After graduating, I went to Peddie as a (Post Graduate),” Ferrell said. “But Kent wanted me to start mid-year. They wanted me to start in January; I (went) on a visit and I was enrolled within two weeks.”
Other schools interested in the player who “was always one of the bigger kids” included Purdue and Towson.
Steinert is a big part of his life and so is Kent State.
“Every time I think I’m done with Kent, it pulls me back in.” he said and laughed.
Collin Ferrell prior to during the Temple University vs. Kent State University game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon October 7, 2006. Kent State won 28-17.
He was a four-year starter at defensive tackle with the Golden Flashes while earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He served as a team captain and received All-Mid-American Conference honors before graduating in 2007.
In 2008, he was a free-agent rookie defensive tackle who made it to the team’s final cuts with the Indianapolis Colts. He was with the Colts for an entire preseason and started on the defensive line in the very first contest held in Lucas Oil Stadium against the Buffalo Bills.
Although an NFL career didn’t happen, Ferrell returned home to New Jersey and worked at a Lowe’s, a job he said he was “fortunate to get making decent money.” Still, he began coaching high school football on the side.
From 2009-11, he was a defensive line coach at The Hun School of Princeton and he had the same role at SHS in 2012.
Ferrell landed back at Kent State, serving as Defensive Quality Control/Director of Player Development from June 2013 to May 2014 and then was a defensive tackles coach as a graduate assistant (he earned a master’s in sports recreation and management in 2015).
Since last March, he has coached the defensive line.
“This is a second home for me,” Ferrell said. “I’m where I’m supposed to be where I am impacting people.”
Ferrell talks with one of hs players during a game.
Ferrell also found the woman he is going to marry at Kent State. “I recently got engaged,” he said. “I met her here when I went to get my master’s.” The nuptials for Ferrell and Dr. Talea Drummer are scheduled for Feb. 10, 2018.
He says much of the credit for his success can be traced back to Steinert.
First he praised all of his football and track and field coaches. “Without those experiences, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today,” he said. “They made the foundation and the overall effect was it made me want to get better. Of course, it was Coach Gatto, and I’d (also) have to credit Coach (Ron) Yacyk, and Coach (Bill) James, who took me under his wing.”
“I was fortunate to coach Colin directly for three years in football as both his defensive line coach and as the defensive coordinator/assistant head coach, under Head Coach Frank Gatto, and then in each of those spring seasons as his coach on the Spring Track team in the weight events, shot put and discus, under Head Coach Doug Martin,” James said. “It was a pleasure to see Colin start to emerge as a young sophomore to one of the most dominating defensive players by his junior and senior years. What was even more enjoyable was to watch him develop into an outstanding young man who contributed to not only our school community but the whole of Hamilton Township.
“In Colin’s three years on the varsity football team, the team compiled a record 22-8, and Colin was a big part of that success. Today, 15 years later, I can look back with both pride and admiration of not only the young man at Steinert but the VERY successful coach, and, more importantly man he has ultimately become and is a perfect addition to the Steinert Athletic Hall of Fame.”
Ferrell grew to love the hard work and camaraderie he experienced as a student-athlete at SHS and noted the impact his teammates made as they helped him to grow.
“Chuddy Whalen and Joe McCarthy, who taught me what it meant to work in the weight room,” Ferrell noted with deep appreciation of the guys who pushed him. “These guys would seek me out. When I was a junior, the light (finally) went on.
“It was just the whole Steinert football family. Everybody moved forward together.”
Information about the 2017 induction ceremonies can be found at steinertathletichof.com. You can also find information about the SHS Athletic Hall of Fame on the organization’s Facebook page.
