(EDITOR’S NOTE - This is the fifth in a series of articles that will appear in the Times News during the summer, highlighting former area coaches and athletes as they reflect on their careers and discuss their current endeavors.)

Dan Rossino has known Cazzie and Greg Kosciolek since their early youth, and has watched them develop a diligent and unparalleled work ethic from their late father, Cazzie Sr.

The Kosciolek name in the greater Panther Valley area has been recognized synonymously with football.

“The bottom line with both of them is about hard work,” said Rossino, who is a prominent umpire on the high school and collegiate levels. “It stems from their father and their family. Everything they have, they have earned. When there is an opportunity, they know how to strike.

“But they are their own person. When you see people like this, you have to root for them. It just goes to show what hard work can do.”

With football being at the center of their universe throughout their lives, both Cazzie and Greg Kosciolek have taken a major step being replay official communicators for major college football conferences across the country.

Cazzie, who previously worked in the American Athletic Conference, currently works for the Southeastern Conference, while Greg works for the Coastal Athletic Association and Ivy and Patriot Leagues. Cazzie had the distinction of being on the crew for the 2022 National Championship Game between Georgia and Alabama.

For Cazzie, his current position evolved after he was part of a Holy Cross football staff that was not retained after the 2014 season. Kosciolek was a running backs/special teams coach there for eight seasons. A standout at Boston University and a fifth-year senior at New Haven, Kosciolek began coaching in the New England area in 1998.

Suddenly, since his days at Panther Valley, there was a void in his steady football presence.

“I was without football for the first time since 1985,” he said. “I didn’t know what the heck I was going to do. I knew Brian Platt, who was a back judge in the ACC, and local official Frank D’Angelo, among others, to see if they had any connections with officials. I had been working some camps and doing some other football related work.”

Fate worked with him, and put him on a rewarding path - one that was truly unknown at the time.

“I was offered a position as a replay official in the American Athletic Conference, and I didn’t know what it was,” deadpanned Kosciolek. “It looked like a very interesting job, and I trusted the people who helped me get there.”

Cazzie, the eldest of three sons, soon realized that the position was going to be a unique one.

“There are three men involved with the replay process, and I was going to be the communicator,” he stated. “I was the middleman, and felt like I was the 911 operator. I was basically the play-by-play man in the operation. I’m speaking with the tech guys in the truck, and providing what is happening on the field.”

The elder Kosciolek sees his position with more intensity than an air traffic controller. It’s a role that requires laser-focused scrutiny.

“The air traffic controllers get a break every 20 to 30 minutes,” he said. “We don’t get one for at least three straight hours. We are the eyes on the field. I really have to watch the spot of the ball.

“I need to be as accurate and as fast as I can be.”

For Kosciolek, working the National Championship Game wasn’t as nerve-wracking as anticipated. He did call his time at the 2018 Army-Navy game “an awesome experience.”

“It wasn’t what you would think,” he recalled about the national championship game. “We had all the national people there, and I just had to do my job. It was something that I won’t forget soon, and it was great to be a part of something like that. But there was a lot of support for everyone.”

Kosciolek, who lives in Massachusetts, makes the trek to most football weekends that begin Friday with a flight from Boston’s Logan International Airport.

“You got to,” he offered. “The SEC is referred to as the Waffle House league because there aren’t a lot of direct flights.”

Cazzie’s brother Greg has the position of supervisor of special education at Panther Valley. Greg played collegiately at the University of Delaware and New Haven, and had coaching stops at Kutztown, Panther Valley, Reading and Northern Lehigh high schools. In addition, he also has been a well-respected official for basketball, football, and softball.

The younger Kosciolek saw the window open for his current position “just before COVID hit,” in 2020, and his older brother helped unlock his future.

“I sat in a ZOOM meeting with him, and it sounded like something that I wanted to try,” said the younger Kosciolek. “I knew it could be pretty intense, but you can draw a lot of parallels to coaching and officiating with it.

“It is a matter of watching every play, every run and pass. There always is the chance that the official will want to look at any play before the next snap. It has been a real education and a great experience. The game continues to evolve, and no one would have thought something like this would be part of it 10 or 15 years ago.”

The younger brother refers to his assignments as the “C-I-P” (Coastal, Ivy, and Patriot conference and leagues), and travels to most of his assignments via his car. He normally is there by Friday evening. There rarely are issues with his day time job at Panther Valley.

“I can get on the road, and there usually aren’t any problems,” he said. “Over the past few seasons, I have been relatively close to home, but that will change this year. I always drive back home after the game, and I can keep going on adrenalin.

“When you’re that laser-focused for three or more hours on a game, you are pretty wiped out when you get home.”

Both brothers agreed that there are more rules to the game that the average fan or even coach understands and acknowledges. They also have plenty of preparation work for their weekend task with meetings during the week, as well as meetings and workshops in the offseason.

Greg recalled a fumble recovery play that involved the ball rolling out of bounds that stymied everyone and required a rule interpretation.

“That can happen,” he said. “Sometimes, you have to get out the rule book. It can come down to the fine print, and some of the rules are worded very vaguely. There is always the chance that you will see something new.”

Like his younger brother, Cazzie does have a daytime job - directing Wicked Smart Football, a manufacturing and consulting company - and also has been involved with Three-Step Sport, where he continues to work with camps. Cazzie also privately works with quarterbacks in the greater New England area.

With the college football season around the corner, Greg is anxious to begin. However, he is well aware of the anguish of a typical season.

“Now, everybody is ready to go,” he said. “As you get close to the start, your adrenaline can get going. Toward the end of the season, it can begin to wear on you. At the end, you’ll be ready for it to be over like any coach or official.

“Still, this is football, and it has been a big part of our lives. We wouldn’t want it any other way.”

With the younger Kosciolek closer to home, Rossino has been able to spend more time with him, notably on the softball officiating front.

“Greg has done some high level softball officiating with me in the past,” said Rossino. “Greg has excellent people skills and is very approachable. He listens and gives you the respect you deserve. He can take constructive criticism and learn from it. They both have been able to adjust well and can excel at a job like this.

“Although they have a lot of excellent qualities, they are like night and day. Cazzie will react more quickly than Greg. Yet, they support each other and have maintained their strong family bond.”

Tom Bonner, who coached both brothers at Panther Valley and knows the family well, expected both brothers to follow in the coaching footsteps of their father, as well as extend their love for the game.

“It doesn’t surprise me that they both are successful,” said Bonner. “They grew up in a strong family environment that was very supportive. They both understand the game. I have kept in touch with them, and Greg is in the area. Both of them had opportunities, and they each took advantage of them.

“Their father would be very proud of each of them today.”

As it was - and still is with the Koscioleks - it will stay all in the family.

NOTE: Cazzie Kosciolek photos courtesy of the University of New Haven.