Coach Art Brady
Art Brady was an extremely successful coach at Glen Rock High School for three decades, initially in football and baseball and then leading the school’s golf team to multiple Group State Championships.
Art Brady joined the Glen Rock High School faculty as a Physical Education/Health Education teacher in September 1968 and became an Assistant Coach for the football team in 1970 (with Head Coach Hall of Fame Inductee Alan Deaett) and continued in that position until the mid-1970s. In the early 1970s, he also became an Assistant (and Junior Varsity) Coach for the baseball team (with Head Coach Hall of Fame Inductee Carl Zaisser).
In the spring of 1977, when Coach Zaisser resigned as Head Coach of the baseball team, Art became the Head Coach and continued in that position until Hall of Fame Inductee Tom Wilson became Head Coach in 1985.
During those eight years, Glen Rock baseball enjoyed several very successful seasons. The 1980 Team had a 16-10 record and The Ridgewood News named Art All-Suburban, Coach of the Year. The 1981 Team had one of the school’s most successful seasons: a 21-9 final record; a B-PSL Carpenter Championship; and reached the Group 1, Sectional Championship. The 1982 Team won a B-PSL Carpenter Co-Championship and had a final record of 17-10. In May 1984, Art coached his 100th victory with the baseball team.
In 1993, Art was made Head Coach of the school’s re-established golf program. In the 1960s, Glen Rock High School enjoyed considerable success in golf. However, in the early 1970s, as part of a cost cutting move, Glen Rock eliminated its golf team. In 1993, Art convinced the school to resume having a golf team and immediately built one of the most dominant programs in school history. In that very first season, Glen Rock won the B-PSL Championship – an accomplishment that it would repeat in each of the next ten years. By the end of the second season, Glen Rock golf teams were competing with the top teams in Bergen County and New Jersey. In 1994, the team posted a 21-4 record and Art was named Bergen County Coach of the Year (by The Bergen Record). In 1996, Glen Rock won the Groups 1 & 2 and Parochial B, Bergen County Championship.
During the 1997 season, Art became the first and possibly still only coach in the history of Bergen County sports to be a member of the Century Club in two sports in the same season, having previously coached Glen Rock baseball to over 100 victories and having now coached Glen Rock golf to over 100 victories.
In 2000, Glen Rock finished its regular season with a 28-1 record (with its only loss to ultimate Group 3, North Jersey Champion Ramapo) and won the Group 1, North Jersey Championship and finished second in the Group 1, State Championship, only two strokes behind the winning team. In 2001, Glen Rock finished that season with a 31-4 record and repeated as Group 1, North Jersey Champions and then finished third in the Group 1, State Championship.
In 2002, the Hall of Fame Inducted 2002 Golf Team finished its regular season with a 23-1 record and won the school’s third consecutive Group 1, North Jersey Championship and then won the Group 1, State Championship. The team also finished third among the 24 teams representing all of the schools in the state and finished first among the 8 teams representing all of the schools from Bergen County. Finally, at the Groups 1 & 2, Bergen County Tournament, Glen Rock finished second – its best finish ever – and only one shot away from the first place team.
At the end of the season, the team was ranked as the #2 team in North Jersey and Art was named All-North Jersey Coach of the Year.
Glen Rock’s 2003 Golf Team came very close to duplicating the 2002 Team’s success. Glen Rock finished its regular season with a 23-0 record and the B-PSL Championship. In the State Championship, it failed to win its fourth consecutive Group 1, North Jersey Championship but then won the Group 1, State Championship. At the subsequent Bergen County Tournament, Glen Rock won the Groups 1 & 2 Championship – its first time ever – and nearly won the All Groups title, finishing tied for second overall and only four strokes behind the overall champion.
At the end of the season, the team was again ranked #2 in North Jersey,
Art retired after the 2003 season. Thanks to him, the program continued to enjoy considerable success.
Art grew up in Newark, New Jersey and was a multisport star athlete in high school (at St. Benedict’s Prep and then at Vailsburg) and then in college (Seton Hall University). He passed away in 2017.