National Football Foundation

The president and founder of the NFF Greater Morris County Chapter in New Jersey, former football player and coach Matt Sellitto expanded upon his 30 years of giving back to amateur football by launching a second NFF chapter in 2018 in Collier County, Florida.
 
Sellitto earned first team all-conference honors while playing guard at Wesley College (Del.) from 1966-67. He was inducted into the Wesley College Hall of Fame in 2010. Sellitto earned a bachelor’s degree in international business from Central Connecticut State University in 1970 and his MBA from Montclair State University in 1975.
 
Sellitto taught business law and marketing classes at Millburn High School in New Jersey from 1971-2001 and was a member of the football coaching staff from 1971-77, serving as head coach for the 1976 and 1977 seasons. He then served as offensive coordinator at Seton Hall University from 1978-80. An entrepreneur, Sellitto created a development business in 1982, which he presided over until his retirement.
 
In 2002, Sellitto helped create the Matthew C. Sellitto Foundation in memory of his eldest son, Matthew, who at age 23 was lost in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Rather than wallow in his loss, Sellitto channeled his energy and strength of character into a determination to fight terrorism. The Matthew C. Sellitto Foundation awards scholarships annually to deserving young people based on financial need, academic excellence, school participation and community service. After the sudden death of Sellitto’s other son, Jonathan, in 2017, the Foundation is currently in the process of establishing an awards’ program in the area of culinary arts.
 
Sellitto joined the NFF in 1985 as vice president of the Essex County Chapter in New Jersey. In 1995, he recognized the need to establish a new chapter in neighboring Morris County, launching and serving as president of the Greater Morris County Chapter ever since. The chapter has become a hallmark of the community, annually recognizing more than 30 student-athletes at its annual banquet and hosting a highly successful Sports Nut Night, which draws over 200 people every year. For his work with the chapter, he was honored with an NFF Chapter Leadership Award in 2004, and he now becomes just the second person in the 31-year history of the awards to twice claim the honor.
 
Spending his winters in Naples, Florida, Sellitto again saw the need to support high school football in a local community, and he launched the NFF Collier County Chapter in 2018. The new chapter is already a success, awarding $16,000 in scholarships at its inaugural banquet. Sellitto will continue to serve as president of both NFF chapters, becoming one of only two people to ever simultaneously lead two chapters.  
 
“The NFF has kept me close to the game I played and coached,” said Sellitto. “The game itself gave me the foundation to meet the challenges I have had to face in life, especially with the loss of both of my sons. The game taught me so much and prepared me to meet these horrific challenges. After getting knocked down, get back up, brush yourself off and get back in the game. Without this training, I don’t think I could have ever moved forward.”
 
Sellitto lives with his wife, Loreen, in Naples, and he enjoys spending his free time volunteering and giving back to the community.