The legendary soccer coach of Michigan High School, Al Falssa, dies at 92
The legendary soccer coach of the secondary school to Falssa died this weekend at 92 years after an incredible career of the main young people in Birmingham’s brother, Rice, for more than four decades.
Falssa began his career as a coach at the Royal Oak Shrine in 1960 before passing Brother Rice in 1969, where he stayed until 2013, guiding Brother Rice to nine state championships and retiring with a record in the state for the victories (430).
A surprising thing about Falssa’s career in Brother Rice was that he guided the program to his first state championship in 1977 and his last three during his last seasons in 2011, ’12 and ’13.
John Herrington, a training legend in his own right, was emotional when he learned of the news, having met Failssa for 45 years.
Herrington, the former chief coach in Farmington Hills Harrison, won 12 state championships and retired when the Harrison school closed in 2018 with 443 victories, exceeding the Falssa record.
“I met him when he was a young coach and admired everything he had done,” Herrington told The News. “I trained with him in the first star game in 1980 in Michigan State; he was the chief coach and I was an assistant.
“As we advanced in our careers and we could play it several times, it was always a great rivalry and I appreciated his knowledge of football. We became very good friends and talked in conventions and shared some things. It is really very sad to happen.”
Herrington admired the way he managed his players and stayed with the times.
“He was more than an XS and OS coach; it was great how he drove the children,” Herrington said. “I never saw a boy from Brother Rice who didn’t admire him and enjoyed playing for him.
“He would adapt to the times. Once he directed the spirit of desires, other times he played formation I and always had great defensive, he was always very disciplined.”
Herrington, 84, suffered a heart attack six weeks ago, but is still an assistant coach in North Farmington. He felt that failure would have continued training if it weren’t due to back problems.
Aaron Marshall trained Southfield A & T the State Championship of Division 1, a victory over Bryce Underwood and Belleville in 2023, becoming a chief coach in Brother Rice the following year.
The two older brothers of Marshall played for Falssa and Aaron was the boy of the team’s ball in the early 1990s before going to their field Marshal camps and then starting two years as Brother’s field of Brother Rice in 1998 and 1999.
“My older brothers Willis and Brian played in Brother Rice,” Marshall told The News. “The oldest graduated in the ’93, so in the ’92 I was the boy of the ball for the coach Falssa; that was my first interaction with him. From there I attended his Quarterback camps during the summer, all his clinics, and we developed a relationship since then.
“Of course, that’s why I went to Rice. It’s just a special guy. It is not easy to do what he did because no one had done it, state championships, he built a legendary program in Rice. It is definitely unique in a better and better high school coach I have seen. They will definitely miss him, but the traditions and legacy he built in Rice, we will do it better to continue and we will do it proud.”
Marshall said that one of the keys to Facassa’s success was that he convinced the players that they were playing for something bigger than them.
“(He said) nobody is bigger than the program and nobody is bigger than the team, and the boys played like that,” said Marshall. “They played for each other, the family, love, all those central values ​​that I think any successful team has. The children responded year after year. When he retired, he retired in three mobs.”
Fava retired with a record of 430-117-7. During his time as a coach, he sent more than 300 players to play at the University, with more than a dozen of the NFL. It was included in the Michigan Sports Hall in Fame in 1999, and in 2008 Michiganian of the year was appointed by Detroit’s news.
Willis Marshall is currently receiver coach at Brother Rice and Brian Marshall is the runner’s coach.
“It was much bigger than football and will definitely be strange, but its legacy will always be there,” said Brian Marshall, who played for Rice from 1994 to 97, leaving as leader of all time in yards by land (3,808) and TDS (40). “He taught you how to deal with adversity and always give your best moment and work the hardest. They all bought and that was shown in the program.
“He worried about all the players of that team, from the last guy on the list to the best. They all had a role and took care of us all.”
The personnel reporter Tony Paul contributed.