When Rams head coach Tony Caviglia first came to Fresno City College, no one could have predicted he would have the career that he has had. With 134 career victories, Caviglia is just three wins away from passing legendary FCC football coach Clare Slaughter to become the winningest coach in FCC football history.

Caviglia came to FCC 17 years ago as an already established and successful coach having been an assistant at Purdue and Ohio State as well as head coach of Chabot College. He came to Fresno with the plan to not only to win games but also help student athletes transfer.

“I just wanted to put a good program together where kids would come into the program motivated to transfer, have enough units to transfer,” he said.
What Caviglia is on the cusp of doing was thought to be very improbable when he began his tenure. Former FCC sports publicist Woody Wilk remembers the attitudes that many had of Clare’s record.

“Many thought Clare’s record was unreachable. But, here we are ‘only’ 37 years later,” Wilk said.

Caviglia came into the 2015 regular season with a record of 130-46 and so far his team has a record of 4-4 with two games remaining. Those 134 wins have helped him accomplish some pretty special things. In his 16 completed seasons as coach, his teams have won nine conference championships, including five straight from 2009-2013 and have qualified for postseason play every season, which he has a remarkable record in at 61-19.

He did all this while maintaining the integrity of the football program that has been established over 67 years by teaching young men how to play football correctly.

“I wanted as a coaching staff to teach them how to play the game of football the way it is supposed to be played,” Caviglia said. “I wanted to put a product on the field that Fresno City could be proud of.”

Since he is so close to the record Caviglia reflected on what he thinks it will be like when he passes Slaughter.

“I think that it will be special moment. It means I’ve been here a long time,” he said. “These wins aren’t about me, these wins are about the coaches and the players each and every year for 17 years that were a part of this program that put the time and effort and work, their blood, sweat and tears out on the field to play the game we all love.”
“So it’s really our record; it’s not my record,” Caviglia added. “There have been a lot of great players and people that have come through this program; they’re all going to share this record also.”

That’s that attitude that Caviglia has, remaining humble and always quick to point out how others have contributed to the program’s success, including both his players and his coaches.

“Our coaching staff and the coaches that have been here, they’re all stand up guys who place the players interest at the forefront,” he said. “So just our consistency and a great coaching staff. Rick Scheidt, our defensive coordinator, has been here the whole time and he has a big role in the success of our program.”

Still with all that he has accomplished on the field, Caviglia is more proud of how successful his former players become later in life, both academically and professionally.

“I am very proud of my players who transfer and get their degrees. It beats any win or loss. We’ve had countless players in the NFL that play football for a living, but when a player gets his degree and has become successful at whatever endeavor they choose,” he said. “Then they come back maybe with their children and come to a game and stop by the office, that makes me more proud than anything.”

As far as accomplishments that relate solely to football, Caviglia is most proud of the great alumni he has been able to coach as they come through the program.

“I also am very proud of our wall of fame. The wall of fame is a tradition of our football program. It’s really unique and special to Fresno City College football,” he said. “The wall of fame is really a product of the players that come through this program and become productive after they left.”
Still there is one thing that Caviglia has yet to accomplish, and that is to win a state championship.

“That’s always been one of our goals, to do that. We just haven’t been able to reach that point.”

When Caviglia retires, whenever that may be, he doesn’t just want to be remembered for the number of football games that he won but the impact that his program has had on the lives of the young men that he coached by instilling values as a foundation of his regimen for success.

“I prepared young men how to succeed in life and win,” Caviglia said. “Gave them confidence that they could do whatever they put their mind to and I want these guys to carry with them the things they learned at our football program, and I know they do, for the rest of their lives.”