Schools
VIDEO: Bridgewater-Raritan's 1st Coach Wins 600th
44 years of coaching has brought victories and more for Norm Hewitt.
When talking to baseball coach Norm Hewitt, he made one thing clear: His players and the game at hand was more important than the thought of his compiled wins.
"Coaches don't win games, players win games," Hewitt said.
Coaching for more than four decades, Hewitt gives most to the credit to his wife, Peg, who is been at his side "since I was 15 years old."
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Hewitt, a grad, beat his alma mater last week to earn his
The Hewitts have been married for 44 years and Norm said he would not be in coaching had it not been for his wife.
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"I was out of coaching for three years after I got out of college," Hewitt said. "Peg said 'I know you love the game and I want to see you back in it.' If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be doing it."
Hewitt also gave credit to his father, Norm Sr. "for giving me the love of the game" and his high school coach at Watchung Hills, Frank Mattulo. Both Hewitt and Mattulo are in the Watchung Hills Hall of Fame.
In 1969, Hewitt began coaching at Hillsborough right out of college.
"Hillsborough was just starting out and they gave me a chance," Hewitt said. "And our first varsity win was against Rutgers Prep. We didn't have a full varsity program the first year because we only had ninth-, 10th- and 11th-graders."
Hewitt coached at Hillsborough for 11 years and left to coach at Drew University, taking them to its first NCAA bid. Hewitt pointed out that the Madison school received its second NCAA bid this past year.
The following year, Hewitt went to Rutgers as a pitching coach and stayed on for two years. Up for the head coach's job at Rutgers, Hewitt was passed over and he left baseball.
When he returned three later with his wife's urging, Hewitt went to Bridgewater West and became the first baseball coach at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. Hewitt remained at Bridgewater until 1999 when he returned to Hillsborough to "try to restore some of the history we used to have."
Hewitt spoke at length about his players and the relationships he's forged with them over the years.
"I have a photo of one of my players having a catch with President George Bush on the tarmac, he played for me at Drew," Hewitt said. "I don't know how many doctors and lawyers I had that stay in touch with me. That is the reward of coaching, not coming out and saying I won so many games."
