A writer once described Bob Casullo this way:

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“He’s equal parts jackhammer, noon whistle and foghorn, all of it stuffed into a body that had been a beer barrel in another life.  Freight trains rumble more quietly through the night.  A tossed bowling ball is more subtle.”
 

Bob’s response? 
 

“I don’t disagree with that,” he said.  “I’m not offended by that at all.  You want to get my goat?  Tell me I can’t coach.”
 

That would have been folly because this man could coach.  Loudly, for sure.  But effectively.  And he proved it at every stop along the way of his brilliant 38-year career: From the high-school ranks (12 seasons with Henninger and Baldwinsville). . . to the college world (17 seasons with Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Michigan State) . . . to the grand football stage that is the NFL (9 seasons with the Raiders, Jets, Seahawks and Buccaneers).

More stats and such?  Try these:
 

*Casullo, the proud son of Little Falls, coached in one Section 3 title affair, in 10 college bowl games, in 15 NFL playoff contests and in two Super Bowls.

*He coached with, or worked for, the likes of Dick MacPherson, Nick Saban, Paul Pasqualoni, Al Davis, Jon Gruden, Herm Edwards, Mike Holmgren and George O’Leary.
 

*He coached in our town, including Baldwinsville, for 22 years.  And before that, he spent many of the Saturdays of his youth watching Ernie Davis and Floyd Little and John Mackey and Larry Csonka ramble at Archbold Stadium.

And Bob did all of that after having begun his post-college life out of SUNY-Brockport as a “blender,” blending floor wax, mouthwash, shampoo and the like at the A&P factory in Holly, just north of Rochester.
 

The word for that — for all of that almost unimaginable climb up football’s coaching ladder — is “remarkable.”
 

Casullo is 72 now and retired.  And when he does reflect on the circumstances of his professional life that included those 38 consecutive years of demonstrated staying power, he can shake his head.

“It’s hard to equate where I’ve been with where I come from,” he once said when asked of his career and, specifically, of those two Super Bowl adventures as a special-teams coach for the Raiders and Seahawks. 

“I mean, I used to think Utica was Manhattan.  I’m just a guy from a small town.  I’m Bob from Little Falls.”
 

And, oh, that guy could coach.  And he did it loud enough for everyone to hear.
 

For his accomplishments in coaching and contributions to his community, Bob Casullo becomes a member of the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2023.