Tom Grippa, the head football coach at Milford High School, is the 2023 season winner of the Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award.
The Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award has been given annually by the Bengals since 2002. It honors outstanding high school football coaches in the region and includes a $10,000 Bengals donation to Milford High School's athletic department. The Bengals honored Grippa with an on-field recognition during Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Grippa completed his seventh season at the helm of the Milford football program in 2023. He led the Eagles to an 11-1 record, which included an Eastern Cincinnati Conference title and the school's first undefeated regular season since 1957. Milford made its sixth consecutive appearance in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Playoffs, where it advanced to the regional quarterfinals. Grippa was named the ECC Coach of the Year for the first time, and 14 Eagles players earned all-conference honors.
Grippa is a 1978 graduate of The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, and has coached at the high school level for over three decades. He holds a 226-125 all-time coaching record, including a 51-26 mark as Milford's head coach. He additionally serves as a physical education teacher at Milford Junior High School.
He and his wife, Kathy, have three children, Joe, Jimmy and Nicole.
Grippa is the 23rd winner of the Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award. Previous winners have been Andre Parker of Princeton High School (2022 season), Mike Orlando of McNicholas ('21), Chris Schmidt of New Bremen ('20), Aaron Hancock of Wyoming ('19), Andy Olds of Kings ('18), Eddie Eviston of Covington Catholic ('17), Noel Rash of Beechwood ('16), Dan McSurley of Clinton-Massie ('15), Nate Moore of La Salle ('14), Tim Goodwin of Marion (Ohio) Local ('13), Tom Crosby of Mariemont ('12), Bruce Kozerski of Covington Holy Cross ('11), Steve Klonne of Moeller ('10), Troy Everhart of Winton Woods ('09), Dale Mueller of Fort Thomas Highlands ('08), Jeff Giesting of Anderson ('07), Scott Datillo of Sycamore ('06), Steve Specht of St. Xavier ('05), Charles "Doc" Gamble of Withrow ('04), Doug Ramsey of Elder ('03), and Vince Suriano of Anderson and Mike Martin of Taft ('02 co-winners).
