Bill Norwood reflects on coaching career at Clifford Scott

EAST ORANGE, NJ — In his nearly 30 years of coaching at defunct Clifford J. Scott High School in East Orange, Bill Norwood said he has had a lot of fond memories.

Norwood, who retired about 13 years ago, was among the inductees of the Essex County Football Coaches Hall of Fame during the Paul Robeson All-Star Football Classic at Belleville High School on Tuesday, June 13. 

Norwood said he felt grateful for receiving his prestigious honor.

“It was a tremendous honor,” Norwood said in a phone interview on Monday, July 10. 

Norward commended the coaches and former coaches and players who run the hall of fame, such as Bloomfield’s current head coach, Mike Carter, and Stephen Cowan, an East Orange figure who helped found the Robeson game.

Norwood was born and raised in Delaware, attending Seaford Senior High School, where he played one year of football as a tailback. He didn’t get much playing time. After all, his cousin on the team, Eric Barnes, was the state’s leading rusher. 

Norwood then attended Delaware State University, where he met his first wife, who had family roots in East Orange. That’s how Norwood ended up in East Orange. In fact, his father-in-law was Mayor William Hart, the first black mayor in East Orange.

After graduating from Delaware State University in 1972, Norwood immediately got a job as a health, physical education and driver’s education teacher at Clifford Scott, where he was a teacher for the next 37 years.

Norwood’s coaching career spanned 27 years, which included softball, in addition to football. 

Norwood was the head coach of the freshman football team from 1972-80. He then was a varsity assistant coach. Back then, the Scotties played against Newark schools and a few Passaic County schools. The team then moved into the since-defunct Northern Hills Conference, which included such schools as Wayne Valley, West Milford, Lakeland, Orange, West Orange and Passaic Valley. 

Norwood eventually became the head coach in 1987 and served in that role for 13 seasons. The NHC disbanded and Scott became part of the new Super Football Conference in 2009. 

In his first year as head coach, the Scotties had some major challenges. Because of higher academic requirements, they only had 19 players who mostly played “iron man” football, as they played both offense and defense and finished with a 1-8 record.

The next season, Norwood and his staff started a rigorous weight-training program, which attracted more than 30 players. The program paid dividends, as the team improved and finished with a 4-5 record.

Norwood’s best season was in 1993, led by tailback Tyrone Coleman, who scored 16 touchdowns, and captain and offensive lineman Wayne Stackhouse, the current vice president of the East Orange Board of Education. The Scotties were one of just four teams that made the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state playoffs. Unfortunately, Coleman was injured in practice and missed the playoffs. The Scotties lost to top-seeded Randolph in the semifinals for their only loss of the season. The Scotties beat Orange on Thanksgiving in the final game of the season to finish 9-1.

The next five years were uneventful, said Norwood, but his players and staff never quit.

“I remember my final year,” said Norwood. “All of our games were away games, except the Thanksgiving game, because they were rebuilding the stadium. We played against Orange High School on our practice field behind Clifford Scott. The game was scoreless through four quarters. Gerald Wilkins ran a ‘Z counter’ from our wing-T set and scored as time expired. You think we won the Super Bowl. The excitement was vivid.”

Norwood, 73, said he will always have a special place in his heart for Clifford Scott.

“Every coach and player wants to win, but you play with who you have,” said Norwood. “Not having any sons, my players became my surrogate sons; love getting them to become fine young men.”

Notes – The other Essex County Football Coaches Hall of Fame inductees were current Bloomfield assistant coach Ed Capozzi; Stanley “Tony” Woods, a longtime assistant coach at his alma mater, Seton Hall Prep, in West Orange, West Side and Weequahic; and John Allen, a former head coach at Vailsburg, Essex Catholic and Seton Hall Prep.

Clifford Scott and East Orange High School merged into East Orange Campus High School on the campus of the former Upsala College in September 2002.

  Clifford Scott High School