Richie Joly has been an assistant coach for the Jamestown football program for the last 19 season, 17 as head coach Tom Langworthy’s right-hand man. P-J file photo by Tim Frank

Jamestown head football coach Tom Langworthy stood in the Red & Green’s locker room at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park in the immediate aftermath of their 2022 Section VI championship game victory over Williamsville North.

Amidst the celebration, assistant coach Richie Joly reminded everyone that there was more than just one milestone achieved that night at the home of the Buffalo Bills, specifically that Langworthy had just won his 100th career game.

Almost two years later, Langworthy has never forgotten that.

“We gave each other a hug, and I said, ‘You’ve been there for everyone (of them),'” he recalled Tuesday night before practice. “He was celebrating me. … That embodies who he is. He’s a connector, he’s a builder. He does things without wanting anything in return.”

For those counting, Joly has been helping to connect and build the program for the last 19 seasons, 17 as Langworthy’s right-hand man.

“As you get older, that’s what you appreciate — the longevity,” Langworthy said. “We put a competitive team out there every year, we put a winning team out there every year, but also you’re teaching character, you’re teaching being a good teammate and you’re teaching fundamentals.

“Winning matters, but there’s more (to it) than just winning.”

Joly epitomizes that.

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Joly grew up in Bennington, Vermont, and was a two-year varsity starter on the Mount Anthony Union High School football team. During his senior season, Joly’s squad went undefeated on its way to the state Class A championship. He was selected an all-state defensive back.

So when he learned that the 1994 team was going to be honored at Mount Anthony Union’s season opener earlier this month, there was no way he was going to miss it, even though it would be a very short trip.

“They were honoring the 30th anniversary of the state championship,” he said. “I literally left (Jamestown’s) practice, went home, packed some stuff and drove six and a half hours to Vermont. I stopped at my mom’s really quick and then I drove to the (football) field.”

Once there, Joly realized he’d never paid to get into a high school game in his life. Should he get in line to buy a ticket? Was he going to be late for the festivities if he did?

Fortunately, the school’s athletic director was standing nearby, as well as a few of his former teammates from three decades ago.

Problem solved.

“It was probably the most joy I’ve had in a super long time, just reminiscing underneath the Friday night lights and being back on the field with some of those special guys,” Joly said. “That was awesome.”

After the game, the football alums went to what Joly described as a “little gathering.”

“I got to my mom’s at 2:57 in the morning,” he said, “and I left at 5.”

Joly had no time to sleep, because the Red & Green had a preseason scrimmage at Clarence in suburban Buffalo.

“I think I got there at 10:15 a.m. and we started like at 10:20,” he said with a smile. “It was 14 hours in the car. It was a long haul.”

But worth every minute.

“Number one, I had the opportunity to go because our (scrimmage) schedule was on a Saturday. I had an opportunity to squeeze it in. One of my (favorite) quotes is, ‘Live, don’t exist.’ I had that opportunity so I had to take it.”

Not surprisingly, that’s a message he plans to take back to his Jamestown team.

“You’re probably not going to remember the score,” Joly said. “It’s all the little things that happen in the locker room, on the bus rides and in-the-game stuff that nobody sees from the stands. That’s what (me and my high school teammates) were laughing about. It was just an awesome experience.”

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Joly is accustomed to road trips, most of which have been experienced with his family that includes his wife, Sara, and their teenage children, Cole and Peyton.

But the one Joly experienced the week before the start of football practice in August was a bit unique, to say the least.

We’ll let Langworthy explain.

“Your family always comes first,” Langworthy said, “and they had a big-time, life-changing moment, a huge milestone moment when they sent (Cole) to school (at Arizona State University). Richie tells me a month or so in advance that he may not be there for the first day of practice because he has to move Cole. Of course I understood.”

But because of his devotion to the Red & Green program — one his father-in-law, Joe DiMaio, had been an assistant coach for for 32 years — Joly changed the “game plan.”

A week before the start of preseason practice, Joly informed Langworthy that he had booked a flight on a Sunday from Arizona to Cleveland that included a layover. He arrived in Cleveland at 7 a.m. Monday morning, hopped in his car at the airport and drove the two and a half hours to Jamestown, pulling into the Strider Field parking lot before Jamestown’s first practice was half over.

“I think it shows dedication, and imagine the message it sends to our players,” Langworthy said. “I don’t think anyone can be late to practice when he made it to practice when, 12 hours before, he was halfway across the country.”

Added Joly: “I think that’s important for our kids to see. If we have to leave practice early or Coach Langworthy has to go to his sons’ games or I have to go to my daughter’s volleyball game, we make sure they know … it’s because it’s a family obligation.”

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When Joly was asked why he would literally go the extra mile in order to be there for the Red & Green program, he acknowledged that he is simply following the lead of his high school coach.

“I lived with my grandparents,” he said. “My dad wasn’t really involved in my sporting stuff, so my coach played a huge role in that, picking me up, bringing me places, just spending time with me. I think that’s the piece to give back, because a lot of our players don’t have that.”

Noted Langworthy: “Richie is one of those coaches who goes above and beyond for kids, whether it’s giving them rides or giving them pep talks during the day. He’s not (only) an in-season coach, he’s a year-long coach, and he’s a great mentor to the kids. Anytime you do something over time, it creates value, and he’s been able to do this for two decades. He’s helped a lot of kids, been there for lots of kids and it’s gone way beyond football.”