Redwood Empire journalist sits down for dinner with legendary boys basketball coach Tom Bonfigli (who retired last March after his last game at St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma) and they covered a variety of subjects.
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The Redwood Empire portion of the CIF North Coast Section is large in area. It goes from the Golden Gate Bridge 350 miles north to the Oregon border and encompassing Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa, Lake, Humboldt, Del Norte, and some schools in Solano County, and while that huge geographical area has less than three percent of the state’s population it has been blessed with some of the all-time greatest coaches in the state in multiple sports.
Two weeks ago, we did a feature on Middletown football head coach Bill Foltmer, who will retire at the end of this season as either the No. 1 or No. 2 winningest active coach in state history. In that story, we mentioned current Ukiah football head coach and former Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) state championship winning head coach Paul Cronin, who with his team’s victory two weeks ago over Montgomery (Santa Rosa) got him career win No. 233 and moved him past former Montgomery head coach Jason Franci as the all-time leader in the North Bay portion of the Redwood Empire.
If it looks like retired all-time top 10 boys hoops state coaching wins leader Tom Bonfigli is sitting in a restaurant in this photo, yes he is. Photo: Harold Abend / Cal-Hi Sports.
A legendary coach that kind of got lost in the shuffle is
Tom Bonfigli or “The Bonfather” as they affectionately named him during his final coaching stint from 2021-2024 at St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma.
Other than locally in Petaluma, not much fanfare accompanied his retirement, and the fact that when he did finally decide to depart the coaching ranks he had notched 869 career victories.
It’s been 44 years since Bonfigli first graced the bench as a head coach in 1981 at his alma mater Cardinal Newman where he was a 1971 graduate. Bonfigli accumulated his coaching wins mostly at Newman, where he won 591 games in two stints. The first stint was for 14 years before being let go over his battles with alcohol, a battle he’s been winning with over 30 years of sobriety.
Back in January, at a celebration of his achievements that drew over 300 attendees, from politicos to ex-players from all three schools, fellow coaches, current players, and family and friends, in what was a sea of hundreds of red T-Shirts that had “The Bonfather” and a caricature of Bonfigli on the front, when it was time to speak the first two things Bonfigli wanted to talk about was his faith and recovery.
“I’ve been open about that for years,” said Bonfigli at the time about his battles with alcohol and involvement with recovery. “I feel that sharing my experience, strength and hope with others about my program of recovery and talking about how I approach it one day at a time, is one of the most important things I can do.”
A devout Catholic who attends mass almost every day, Bonfigli got a second chance from the church when he entered recovery, and the next season he was at the helm of Justin-Siena in Napa. Bonfigli was at Justin-Siena for 12 seasons and won 225 games before he got word that they wanted him to come home. His second stint at Cardinal Newman after being rehired was for 12 seasons before deciding to take the St. Vincent de Paul job for three years as a segway into retirement.
Like a lot of great coaches that have lasted as long as Bonfigli, it goes beyond the wins and losses.
“It’s never been just about winning games,” Bonfigli remarked. “For me, the most important thing is knowing you’ve made a difference in the life of a child. That’s why I became a teacher and a coach.”
Besides the coaching victories Bonfigli has garnered the following accolades.
– In the 44 seasons Bonfigli coached he has won 25 more games 21 times.
– Bonfigli has won 30 or more game four times, including his 1989 team he called his “best ever” that went 31-4 and defeated Archbishop Mitty-San Jose 62-57 in the CIF Northern Regional Division IV title game.
– Along with a North Coast Section D4 runner-up finish to Salesian (Richmond), his 2013 Cardinal Newman team also won the CIF Northern Regional Division IV championship.
– There have been two CIFNCS championships, both at Cardinal Newman in 1992 and 1993.
– He has 16 league titles and a total of 59 playoff wins combined at the NCS and CIF level.
– Bonfigli was named the 2022 CIF North Coast Section Honor Coach, twice named the Division IV State Coach of the Year, a five-time Coach of the Year in the Redwood Empire, and a 12-time league coach of the year.
As quiet as it’s been kept, the 869 career coaching wins currently has Bonfigli holding down the No. 6 spot all time according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book State Boys Basketball Coaching Leaders list.
Since retiring with a 26-4 record last season and a CIFNCS Division 5 semifinal finish, Bonfigli had been promising another dinner with yours truly at La Gare in Santa Rosa, his favorite restaurant, and he recently fulfilled his promise.
Not including game coverage or roundups, we’ve penned 17 feature stories on Bonfigli. There were prior stories to 2014 but the “My Dinner With Tom Bonfigli” that came on the heels of his winning the 2013 NorCal D4 title, and at a time when according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book he was the No. 15 all-time winningest coach in the state and eighth on the active list, takes the cake.
The 2013 story was the first of two “My Dinner With Tom Bonfigli” features that mimicked the 1981 movie “My Dinner with Andre.” That first time after a 3-hour dinner talking basketball the whole time we closed the restaurant but not before what I called in the story “a dinner that was longer then a basketball game, and that ended far too soon.”
Tom Bonfigli is shown coaching at Cardinal Newman during 2017 season. Photo: Prep2Prep.com.
All 17 features can’t be mentioned but some others included when he won 700 and then 800 games, and when he got win No. 830 to pass his nemesis Lou Cvijanovich, who defeated his Cardinal Newman team in the CIF 1989 Division IV state championship. Another was penned after he won No. 844 to pass legendary Mike Phelps (Alameda St. Joseph and Oakland Bishop O’Dowd) as the No. 2 all-time winningest coach in the NCS behind Don Lippi and his 914 career wins.
However, Lippi coached 23 years combined outside the NCS, so in reality Bonfigli has won more games in the NCS than any other coach, and its going to be a while until someone passes him. The active coach closest to him is Bill Mellis of Salesian with 641 career wins. Salesian is a 25-30 wins a year type of team so if Mellis sticks around it should be around nine to 10 years before he supplants Bonfigli.
This feature story No. 18 is meant as a tribute to “The Bonfather” and almost assuredly will be the last, although Bonfigli isn’t totally retiring. With no basketball to distract him, Bonfigli has upped his duties to teaching five classes at St. Vincent de Paul, honors economics, academic economics, business, and Old Testament and New Testament.
Bonfigli plans on attending games but remarked “I don’t miss it.”
When he did make the decision to retire, he consulted his brother Jerry Bonfigli, who has assisted him for 42 years, and is currently the associate athletic director at St. Vincent de Paul.
“I prayed on it and it was time,” Bonfigli said near the end of dinner. “Other than a state championship what else is there to accomplish.”
“Jerry and I talked about it and we’re getting older, and things are changing in the game,” Bonfigli continued. “I decided to try teaching without basketball.”
Stepping away from coaching will also allow him to spend more time and do some travelling with his wife of 10 years, Valerie.
Fittingly, at the conclusion of the January festivities, and in his final remarks, Bonfigli closed with reference to his deep faith.
“When I get to heaven, and I hope to make it, when I meet the Mother Mary, all I want her to say is ‘Job well done, my son.’”
If the positive impact of the man they call “The Bonfather” has had on the lives of thousands of young people he has touched in five decades he’s dedicated to teaching and coaching isn’t a job well done, then what is?
The bottom line is that yes indeed it is a job well done for high school basketball coach and educator Tom Bonfigli.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
