40 Years of Verbs: Ivy League Champions

7/29/2025

In his 39 years at Princeton, Steve Verbit has been a part of eight Ivy League titles (1989, 1992, 1995, 2006, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2021). In this section, Ivy Champions share their favorite stories and memories of him.

I have said many times how fortunate I have been to grow up with great parents, brother, teachers, coaches and friends - Verbs is at the top of that list. The opportunity to play for Verbs when I was in college was an experience - he was tough but fair and cared deeply for his players. As I moved on to the business world, we always stayed in touch. He went from coach, to mentor, to friend. And as great as he was as a coach, he is a better friend. My most recent extended visit with Verbs was sitting in my Dallas home office before Archie's 50th. On that winter evening, Verbs distilled life lessons and pearls of wisdom for a full two hours. Deep conversations with Verbs are not just a conversation - they are an experience. Thanks Verbs for everything and congrats on 40 great years.

Favorite Memory: There are too many stories to mention and not enough room here for the "Worlds Greatest Guest" but I will ALWAYS remember that often times annoying voice during our light workouts the day after a game. Banged up still hurting from the game the day before - there is Verbs yelling in Kazan and My ear “Kazan / Renna - I am going to run with you guys today because I don't want to break a sweat.”

Jim Renna '94 - 1992 Ivy League Champion

One of my favorite memories involving Coach Verbit has nothing to do with Princeton Football, in fact it came about only because Princeton didn't have a football season during the COVID pandemic. Without an Ivy League football season during the fall of 2020, Coach Verbit had some rare free time so he came down to the Jersey Shore to run a flag football clinic with the Sea Girt Rec program that his grandson was participating in. It just so happened that my sons were signed up for the same clinic and I was able to work with Coach on teaching a group of young boys how to run, throw, catch, and be athletic. Given the stories that I heard about Verbs from the DBs on our teams, to say that I was anxious to see how his style would translate to the young guys was an understatement!

I have to just say it... he was awesome. He held their attention, led them in fun and age-appropriate drills, and had me running all over the field setting up cones. It was a blast, definitely one of the few highlights of the pandemic for me and a rare opportunity for one of us to be on the same side of the whistle as Coach Verbs.

Nick Brophy '94 - 1992 Ivy League Champion

I played offense, so Verbs never coached me per se, but I got to watch him coach the defense when we scrimmaged, and he was tough as nails. He coached and expected excellence, and during my years, he got just that. Those defenses were incredible, and he got the best out of some really great players.

CJ Brucato '95 - 1992 Ivy League Champion

Coach Verbs is someone who has aged like fine wine as a coach, mentor, friend. Nobody loves Princeton football more.

Favorite Memory: Verbs and Tosches came to visit me during my senior year at high school in Summit, N.J, even though I had already been accepted at Princeton. Summit was en route to an 0-23 season in hoops. In this particular travesty of a game, I lit up the scoreboard with three points, four rebounds and five fouls. I had lost 20 pounds and was now a 215 pound future offensive guard. Verbs and Tosches said it was the worst sporting event they had ever attended and had second thoughts of recruiting me. Sorry, too late, Verbs! I’m glad it all worked out. Lots of love and thank you for your dedication the last 40 years!

Carter Westfall ‘96 - 1995 Ivy League Champion

Verbs demanded the best from every player--defense or offense. It was not easy nor fun to meet his expectations. It was not easy nor fun to beat his DBs in practice because you knew what was coming and those DBs were your boys!

Only later in life do you understand and appreciate that the expectations were based in what he knew was inside of you and not a measurement against others. Potential is the most dangerous trait because it can emerge or remain dormant. Verbs wanted every player's potential to materialize on the field and in turn materialize in the classroom and in life.

I am a better husband, father, friend and business leader because Verbs did not allow potential to hide inside players. He wanted our best because we had the best to offer. We are better for it. I took time (decades!) to appreciate the delivery!

Favorite Memory: My favorite Verbs story was only a few years ago when he was recruiting a player from my hometown and high school. Verbs had a little time to kill so I invited him to my house. He takes a seat in my living room, looks around and softly utters in his Verbs way "not too bad Roly. I should come here more often." I knew then that although he remains my Coach for life he was now in my circle of my friends. I love that guy!

Roly Acosta '96 - 1995 Ivy League Champion

Coach,

Congratulations on 40 years! Wow! Is there another college football coach in the country so hard working and loyal to one program?

I doubt it.

It all started for me back in 1993 when you came to visit Jesuit College Prep in Dallas and put your hand on my shoulder in Coach Pasqua’s office to evaluate my muscular development to determine if I was fit enough to play in your defensive backfield. Despite my small size, thank goodness my 8mm films were enough to convince you I was a playmaker and a hitter, and you allowed me the opportunity to pursue my aspirations of playing college football for my dream school, Princeton University, following in the footsteps of Joel Sharp and Trevor Crossen.

Then, the story took a turn when I showed up to camp in the Summer of 1993 out of shape and unable to complete our conditioning test in the time allotted, and after our first DB position meeting that night you offered me an invitation to quit playing football after my very first practice of summer camp. My dad had already left town, and you knew I wasn’t going anywhere, but you wanted to send a message to me to get my stuff together. I took that invitation as a challenge and never looked back. While it took me the rest of summer camp and then Spring Ball to prove I was everything you recruited me for, I will never forget you approaching me the day before the Cornell game that to tell me I would be starting at Free Safety as a sophomore over the senior we had on the roster.

Despite your demanding approach, which challenged our mental fortitude to the highest degree, the next three years were some of my most cherished years of my life. From the “Storm” calls at Penn to the Ivy League Championship drive back from Dartmouth, playing football at Princeton and proving you right in your recruitment of me, is one of my proudest accomplishments in life.

Since graduating Princeton, I can’t thank you enough for your friendship and overwhelming desire to provide me with the opportunity to stay so connected to the program. Whether it is helping raise funds for PFA, providing young alums with the opportunity to start a career in real estate in Dallas, attending Jason’s summer camp on campus, or hanging out with you at my 50th birthday party (man, you outdid yourself that night), being able to stay close to Princeton Football is something I feel so fortunate for. And my ability to do that, as well as so many other fellow alums, is 100% because of you.

Princeton Football, and our entire football alumni family, is so fortunate to have you as a coach and friend to the program. Your commitment and energy is unrivaled across college football and you are a simply a legend of the sport, and particularly our program. Thank you so much for the opportunity you provided me and for your continued commitment to our relationship in the 28 years since I graduated. I greatly treasure our friendship that will undoubtedly continue to stand the test of time!

Congrats on 40 Great years Coach!

Jimmy Archie '96 - 1995 Ivy League Champion

I played defensive line at Princeton from 2014 to 2019, and I was lucky to spend all five of those years with Coach Verbit.

I genuinely believe I spent more time in his office than in the library. We watched hours of film together. Not just of my own film, but of the guys I looked up to: Mike Catapano, Caraun Reid, the greats who came before me. Verbit coached me hard. He pushed me every single day. But what always stuck with me more than his coaching was how deeply he cared about me as a person.

In the fall of 2017, during my senior season, I tore my ACL in Week 6 at Harvard. It was brutal. I decided to come back for a fifth year and spent the next 10 months rehabbing, living off campus, grinding every day in the training room. By the time preseason camp started in 2018, I felt incredible. I was moving well, playing my best football, and more excited than ever for the season. Then, eight days before our opener at Butler, I took an awkward step in a one-on-one pass rush and felt my knee buckle again. The next day, I got the MRI results: another torn ACL.

Just like that, my career was over. I remember sitting in my car outside the imaging center, completely broken. Crying. Calling my family. I don’t remember who I talked to or what I was saying, but somehow Verbit heard, and he called me immediately. I still have the voicemail he left saved on my phone. His voice was full of emotion - he was crying too. And not because I wasn’t going to be on the field. He never even mentioned what my absence meant for the team or the season. He just talked to me as a person. He understood how hard I had worked, how much this meant to me, and how painful that moment was.

And then he went one step further. He reached out to Mike Catapano and Caraun Reid, knowing how much I admired them, and made sure they knew what happened. I got voicemails from both of them. That gesture meant more to me than I can describe. Verbs always makes sure that the Brotherhood is looking after one another.

Kurt Holuba '19 - 2016, 2018 Ivy League Champion