Coaches Bob Fisher and Jerry Morelli headed for high school Hall of Fame

A look at the coaching careers of Bob Fisher and Jerry Morelli shows they shared more similarities than differences.

There are the championships. The playoffs and tournament appearances. The hundreds and hundreds of games won, all while shaping the lives of hundreds and hundreds of teenagers – both on and off the court.

Those numbers are adding up into a significant honor for both, as Morelli and Fisher are headed to the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame.

The induction will be held Sunday at Holy Cross in Worcester, and will also include recognition for the Association’s choices for Coaches of the Year.

Among local coaches, Milton’s Sean LoPresti (Division 2), Abington’s Don Byron (Div. 3) and Cohasset’s Bo Ruggiero (Div. 4) earned the award, but the night will be about the Hall of Famers.

“It’s a great honor,” said Fisher, who is also in the New England Basketball, Bentley College and Rockland High School Halls of Fame. “It was a surprise, to tell you the truth. It’s great to be recognized by your peers.”

Morelli was also touched.

“Anytime you get honored by your peers, you’re humbled and proud,” he said. “We’re looking forward to it as a family. It’s a real nice evening.”

For Fisher, the induction will just extend what still is a remarkable career. He took over as Rockland head coach in the 1969-70 season after three years as an assistant, and immediately made his mark with the Bulldogs.

His teams established a trademark of defense and work ethic. Fisher’s teams pressed, played suffocating man-to-man defense, ran constantly – and won.

He won state titles in Division 2 in 1972 and Division 3 in 2004, and captured sectional titles in 1975 (Div. 2) and 2000 (Div. 3). He’s also made the sectional semifinals or better 17 times, and reached the 500-win milestone last year.

The most impressive statistic, however, which followed him from Rockland to Quincy in 2001, and then to Marshfield in 2008, may be his playoff streak. No team coached by Fisher has ever missed out on the postseason.

“All of our teams have made it,” he said. “I take tremendous pride in that.”

Fisher also brought basketball into his family. Son Brian played for Sacred Heart and coaches the Hanover girls team, while younger son Scott played at Marshfield.

And there’s also his wife, Jane (“She has been a blessing to me,” Fisher said), who follows him to nearly every game.

“It became a basketball environment at our place,” he said. “And the basketball environment continues.”

As he prepares to start another decade on the sidelines, Fisher said he’s still just as eager for the season as he was back in 1969.

“I love what I do. I still do,” he said. “I’m young in terms of my mind and heart, and the kids have been keeping me going.”

Morelli began his career in the shadow of a legend. Once he emerged, he had little trouble making a name for himself.

Starting as an assistant at Dedham High School for current Connecticut men’s coach Jim Calhoun, Morelli took over as head coach at Dedham in 1973. While with the Marauders, Morelli won over 100 games, took home two Bay State Conference championships, and reached the semifinals of the “A” class of the Massachusetts Tech Tournament.

Morelli left Dedham after 10 years, but after coaching stints at Weymouth North and Curry College, he took over as head coach at alma mater Boston College High School. The success didn’t stop.

Under Morelli, the Eagles won six straight Catholic Conference championships, the last one coming in 2004 and helping him earn the Boston Globe Division 1 Coach of the Year award.

Morelli said his ability to succeed everywhere he went was due to a connection with the players he influenced.

“I think I related to the kids very well,” he said. “When you go school to school and league to league, and go to a program that hasn’t been as successful, and you turn it around, and get kids to buy into your philosophy, I think I did that very well.”

Now on the verge of another honor to add to the collection, Morelli takes a reflective look on his past.

“When you coach, you coach for the moment,” he said. “You hope that you are successful, you hope that you’ve inspired kids. You let the ‘W’s take care of themselves.”

Fisher and Morelli both found approaches that worked. According to MBCA president Byron, that was one of the factors that made them so respected within the coaching circle.

“(Jerry) just wins everywhere he goes. He’s been several different places, and been successful everywhere he’s been,” he said. “Bob’s an icon in this part of the state, and beyond. His teams are notoriously hard-nosed, tough defensive teams. He’s one of the coaches that has an absolute effect on how the game is played.”

As successful as they are, both coaches agreed that the credit must be shared.

“It’s a great honor, but the honor means you’ve had great kids,” Fisher said. “I’ve had great kids everywhere I’ve been.”

Morelli feels the same way.

“Overall, I think it goes back to the kids,” he said. “Through all the years, my kids were just super.”

Drew Bonifant may be reached at dbonifant@ledger.com.