Rye’s football season is still hours away from kicking off, but coach Dino Garr’s focus and attention to detail is already in mid-season form.
You don’t get 375 coaching wins – the most in New York high school history – by luck. You earn them by being prepared.
“Our game zero this year is against Cornwall Central at home,” Garr said of the season opener, which kicks off at 7 tonight in Nugent Stadium. “That is the only game that matters. They’re an excellent team, and I’m certain they’d like to make up for the loss we handed them last year in the state semifinals. We’ve got a few new faces and a lot of work to do. But we’re going to be ready.”
Coming off an undefeated 2025 season (14-0) that culminated in the program’s, and Garr’s, fifth state championship, expectations for 2026 will be deservedly high.
Winning is contagious. Rye High School’s athletic department, and the football team in particular, support that unscientific fact. Every year, the school seems to come down with a case of “section championship-a-tosis,” acquiring more trophies than the year before. But is it sustainable?
“I’d certainly like to think so, and I think our football program’s record over the last 20 years or so proves that it is,” said Garr, who is set to begin his 51st season on the sidelines. “We graduated some special players last year on offense and defense, no question about it. But as is always the case, the next group now has their turn.”
Four of this year’s senior captains were starters last year: Charlie Brady, Jagger Fenton, Benji Kaplan, and Luke Denvir.
“They were elected for those jobs by their teammates,” Garr said. “They’re great athletes, great kids, and they have the potential to become great leaders.”
Rye’s 2026 football team is not the 2025 football team. This team has yet to play a game. But the current crop of Garnets intends to do what prior generations have done: win.
“We have a ton of talent coming back this year, and so many guys on the team are close friends who have been playing football together for a long time,” said Brady, who takes over as starting quarterback. “We’re all fully aware of what we did last year and that we graduated some tremendous players, but this is a new season.”
The Garnets, who have won 34 of their past 35 games, are no strangers to having a target on their backs.
“Every team we play this year will want to beat a state champion,” Brady said. “We’re used to that in Rye. We’ve got some really good athletes on this team, and I know we’re all looking forward to getting after it.”
Last season, Rye won its six postseason games by a combined margin of 225-93 for its first state title since 2023 and first undefeated campaign since 2008.
“2025 was unquestionably a special season,” Garr said. “It was our eighth trip as a program to the state championship game. People may not remember that. We lost the first three times we played in that game, including the first season New York had a state championship tournament in 1993. Before that, if you won the section, that was the last game of the season.”
Now, when Rye wins the section, it’s just getting started. After beating Somers 40-17, the Garnets won all three state tournament games by two-plus touchdowns.
“Last year, as the clock was winding down in the fourth quarter of the championship game against Brighton, I felt mostly satisfaction,” Garr said of the 28-14 win at the JMA Wireless Dome at Syracuse. “I was thrilled for all our players and of course our seniors. We were able to fulfill many of the goals we had set.
“Every season is a struggle every week. We play so many good teams, kids get injured. That’s the nature of the game we chose to coach and play. But last year, somehow, all our hard work, from both players and coaches, paid off.”
After Cornwall, Rye will face Clarkstown South (Sept. 10) on the road. Challenging games against Mount Vernon (Sept. 25) and familiar foe Somers (Oct. 2) await. And Rye hosts archrival Harrison on Oct. 17 at Nugent Stadium.
It’s a long, difficult path to the championship at the Dome in Syracuse, but rising to the challenge and getting the most out of his players is what keeps Garr coming back.
“Around this time of year, my wife always says she can tell a new season is coming,” Garr said. “I’m watching film, and I’m talking with my coaches almost every day. I’m a little anxious. I love tending to my vegetables and fruit trees — I’m Italian — and visiting our kids and grandchildren. I do. But I miss being with my players. August is an exciting time of year for Rye football.”
