After graduating from Asbury Park High School in 1963, where he was senior class president and a three-year letterwinner in football, basketball and baseball, Angelo “Nubby” Napolitano matriculated south to the University of Chattanooga (now known as the UTC) to play college football. Once he landed in southeast Tennessee, it became his new home.

In the classroom, Nubby earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education, leading to a long and distinguished career in education and coaching. He later received a master’s degree in school administration from UTC and an educational specialist degree from Tennessee Technological University.

On the football field, he was the first (and only) player in university history to lead the team in receptions and receiving yards in three consecutive seasons (1966-68). He earned Little All-American honors in 1968 and was inducted into the UTC Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996. He also received the Joe Morrison Award in 2002, given to a UTC constituent who has achieved notable life accomplishments.

Off the field, he met the love of his life, Jill Cremer; they were married in 1969 and have two children (Amy and Jack) and three grandchildren (Cooper, Cade and Emma Cate).

Napolitano spent 41 years as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, athletic director and vocational director before retiring in 2010. As an administrator, he started the Performance Learning Center—a unique program that provided individual computer-based instruction to high school students who were at least two years behind their entry-grade level; as a result, 95% of the students graduated on time.

He also had a 20-year career as a football, basketball, baseball and golf coach. His 1976 Kirkman High School football team went undefeated during the regular season, earning him A.C. “Scrappy” Moore Chattanooga-area Coach of the Year accolades. He was inducted into the Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1977 for his playing and coaching success.

Following his work in the education field, Nubby went on to spend 12 years as a real estate agent. He retired in 2022 as a multi-million-dollar producer in residential/commercial sales.

He has served on the board of the Chattanooga branch of the Ronald McDonald House and was a two-term president of the UTC Alumni Association.

“Treat others as you wish to be treated.”