Ankeny Centennial co-head football coach Jerry Pezzetti will be inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Tuesday night at Prairie Meadows.
Pezzetti, Iowa’s all-time winningest coach with 435 career victories, will be one of 41 inductees from across the nation in the 2022 Hall of Fame class.
“I’m proud to be part of it,” said Pezzetti.
Pezzetti began his legendary coaching career at Murray High School in 1961. A year later, he took over the program at his alma mater, Melcher-Dallas.
Pezzetti became the head coach at Ankeny in 1969. He stayed in that position for more than four decades, leading the Hawks to a state title in 1997 and another one in 2012 in the school’s final season as one varsity program.
When Ankeny Centennial opened in 2013, Pezzetti moved across town and was named the Jaguars’ co-head coach along with his son, Ryan. The Pezzettis have twice led the Jaguars to the state semifinals, where they lost to eventual champion Dowling Catholic in both 2016 and 2017.