Tony Caputo: A Coach’s Legacy
Tony Caputo may be retiring from coaching, but his impact on his players and the university will remain.
With a 73–66 win against Frostburg State on February 14th, Tony Caputo coached his last home game for Southern Virginia University’s men’s basketball. Before the game, he was honored by the University for his work and contributions over two decades of coaching.
Caputo first heard of Southern Virginia in the fall of 1997, when he was the head men’s basketball coach at Hurricane High School in Hurricane, Utah. He received a letter from the recently established college about recruiting his players for their new basketball program. He was one of the few to respond, and began to build a relationship with them. Shortly after, he was granted a sabbatical from his teaching job and was offered a position at Southern Virginia. Caputo, his wife, Tammy, and their four children made the journey from Utah to Virginia in 1998. They soon discovered they loved Virginia, and decided to stay.
Southern Virginia invited Caputo to to be the head men’s soccer coach, the assistant men’s basketball coach and the acting director of continuing education. He also went on to coach men’s tennis. During the years 1998–2000 and 2011–2012 he was the men’s soccer head coach.
He was the assistant coach for the men’s basketball team from 1998–2006 and 2008–2011. From 2008–2015 he was the men’s tennis head coach. He has been the head coach for the men’s basketball team since 2012. He has coached a total of 31 seasons at the university.
Caputo led the men’s soccer team to winning the 2000 NSCAA national championship. Under his lead the men’s basketball 2010–11 team won their first USCAA national championship , and with his coaching the men’s tennis 2011–12 team went 15–1.
These seasons were the most memorable to Caputo. Not just because they were so successful — it was the close bond between the players of men’s soccer team and the tennis team’s strength to overcome obstacles that made those seasons so special. Winning the basketball championship is especially unforgettable to him. “I’m a coach, but I’m a basketball coach first, ” Caputo remarked. It was his thirtieth year coaching the sport, and it was his sixth time competing at this championship. The win was overwhelming, and well deserved.
“I’m a coach, but I’m a basketball coach first.”
Southern Virginia has had many wins thanks to Caputo. He attributes his success to enjoying every aspect of coaching, from the practices and games to recruiting and traveling with the teams. “[Success] comes through when you really love doing something,” he said. He appreciates every day and looks forward to whatever challenge comes his way.
The passion Caputo had for coaching showed through his dedication. In the 20 years he coached, he only missed six days of work. He spent three of those days recovering from back surgery that should have kept him at home for multiple weeks. “It never felt like I was going to work,” he said.
He also stresses that his accomplishments were not just his, but the team’s. “There are different kinds of coaches. There’s authoritarian coaches, there’s kind of more democratic coaches. I probably lean a little more towards democratic coaches. I liked to work with the players…We were successful together,” he explained.
Brandon Caputo, guard for the Knights and Caputo’s son, has observed this in action. “The coaching he does on the court is a very small percentage of the work he puts in to be as successful as he can. He dedicates much more time to planning, recruiting, and on and off court development of current players…He is a great example of being part of a team by never putting himself first in anything that he does, ” he said.
In his 20 years here, Caputo has not only made a difference on the court and fields, but off them as well. Bennett Candland, a forward for the Knights, said of Caputo, “He has influenced me outside of basketball by giving me a lot of opportunities at this university. He helped bring me here and has helped me through my time here as a student.”
Coaching wasn’t just a job to Caputo. For him, it was an opportunity to help players develop outside of the sport. A self-described people person, Caputo knows how to listen to and understand those who come his way. He strives to make sure that those who are struggling are supported and helped.
Thanks in part to his personal attention, eight of the fourteen players of the current basketball team are on the Provost’s or President’s list. He made the time to sit down with individual players weekly to keep them on track and responsible. He encouraged players to thrive in all parts of life and to take advantage of the opportunities they have.
When asked what he’ll miss most about coaching he didn’t hesitate. “The players. It’s about them and their progress,” he replied. As he has cultivated relationships with his past and current players, he has loved to watch them grow and learn in sports, school, the gospel, and in life. As he talks about them, he easily recalls the names, stories, and stats of players he’s coached throughout the years.
Caputo will not be leaving the school entirely. He will continue to serve as the director of the admissions department in order to bring more students to the university and to be there for those who are attending. Caputo has held various positions in the admissions department. He previously served as the dean of admissions from 1999–2008, a period during which the school’s population size tripled.
When recruiting students, Caputo looks for ways to make them feel at home and happy at Southern Virginia. “I try to mold them [potential students] to the experience here and if I think they’re a good fit I’m going to let them know…I hope that we do it differently than most schools,” he said. For Caputo, students are “not just a number.”
To the players he has coached over the years, he would like them to know, “I love them, I care about them, and I did my very best for them through all the years and that I’m always there for them, now and in the future.”
“I love them, I care about them, and I did my very best for them through all the years and that I’m always there for them, now and in the future.”
