Bob Zichelli warned his players on the Severna Park High School boys’ lacrosse team that he was going to be running late.
This was last March, and the Falcons were preparing to travel for their first road game of the season at West Potomac (Va.), as their quest for an eighth straight state title was just ramping up.
“He told us to be at [Severna Park] at 5 p.m., and it was like 5:15 or something like that,” said Jack Fish, a junior attackman at the time. “I remember everyone had all the gear outside waiting. And this bus driver is flying in, honking the horn.”
At the wheel of bus: Zichelli.
“I don’t know what he is doing on his AirPods. But he always has these AirPods in that are crooked,” Fish said. “There were the crooked AirPods, and we are like, ‘Oh my God! It’s Coach Z.'”
The entire team started cheering.
“It amped us up for sure. It hyped us up, definitely,” Fish said.
Zichelli is authoring one of the most unique stories in all of high school lacrosse.
He’s 66 years old and in his second season of his first varsity head-coaching gig, already with a state title under his belt. Severna Park beat Towson, 8-6, last May in the Class 3A championship game at Stevenson University.
And he serves as the team’s bus driver, logging every mile to and from away games.
Fans and personnel from opposing schools see him pull into the parking lot. Then, they see him on the sidelines, coaching the team during games. On more than one occasion last season, he was stopped by a curious person who asked, “Hey, aren’t you the bus driver?”
Zichelli laughs. He sees the oddity of it all. At this stage of his life, he never imagined that he would be here.
Severna Park needed a boys’ lacrosse coach after Dave Earl stepped down in the spring of 2023 after seven state-championship seasons. And the Falcons were having a hard time finding another coach. Potential candidates, including some who were familiar with the program, just weren’t in a position to take on the head-coaching responsibility.
Zichelli was 65. He had retired from his full-time job selling dormitory furniture to colleges. He drove a school bus part-time for Anne Arundel County Public Schools. And he was closely tied to Severna Park High School lacrosse after his seven children (five boys and two girls) all came through the program, many serving as team captains.
(Courtesy of Bob Zichelli)
Plus, he spent roughly a decade coaching in the program. He had been Severna Park’s junior varsity coach and a varsity assistant. He had also done some coaching in the community. But he had been out of coaching for more than a decade when this opportunity presented itself.
Zichelli saw Severna Park athletic director Dave Kauffman at the Anne Arundel County cross country championships in Annapolis in the fall of 2023. He had driven the Crofton High School team bus to the event.
And, naturally, Zichelli asked Kauffman about the state of the coaching search at Severna Park. It’s not often that a boys’ lacrosse program that has won seven consecutive state titles is searching hard for a head coach.
“He said, ‘Mr. Zichelli, we don’t have anybody,'” Zichelli recalled. “He said, ‘I’ve interviewed people, wives are pregnant, change of jobs, etc.’ And then he looked at me. And he kept looking, and he goes, ‘You used to coach, right?’ I go, ‘Yeah, I did.’ And he goes, ‘Wow.’
“I go, ‘I don’t know if I am your kind of candidate, Coach. I’m getting old.’ And then Dave Earl called me and goes, ‘You should apply. I’d like you to apply.’ And I did, and it worked out.”
Zichelli said he was initially reluctant to take the job. Ultimately, it was his children who convinced him to do it.
“I owed it to give back to the program,” he said. “All my kids got a chance to go to college, play in college, play different levels, my daughters and my sons. So, I had huge respect.”
Zichelli remembered the impact his coaches in his hometown of Montclair, N.J., had on him growing up.
“We were a lacrosse town,” he said. “And I know the effect my head coach, Mr. Tibbs, and our assistant coach, Coach Rob, had on our town, what they did for our town in creating a lacrosse community. And I see what effect Severna Park lacrosse has and has had on so many kids’ lives.”
Through a firm-but-fair, thoughtful and somewhat lighthearted approach — the players say he often makes fun of himself in practices — Zichelli is now leading young men who could be considered his grandchildren on state-championship runs.
Severna Park has another supremely talented team this season and could make a big push for a ninth consecutive state title.
“It’s almost like a full-circle moment,” Fish said. “It’s like he knows everyone, and it means a lot. You can tell that he is really invested in it because he shares a lot of personal stuff and tries to be a good mentor for the rest of the kids on the team. He tells us to look out for each other and gives us advice on not only lacrosse, but just gives us life advice. You know, check in on your loved ones.
“Him being my coach made me realize that I needed to be kinder to people because he is always so nice and generous.”
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Several Park High School and Bob Zichelli
Originally published April 16, 2025