Paul Funk built D-Y football into a winner. His impact went beyond the gridiron.

Paul Funk was a man of many titles.

Funk, who died at 51 after suffering a heart attack on April 15, was the principal at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, and he was set to become the principal at Duxbury High School in July. He added the title of "doctor" to his name when he earned a doctorate in educational leadership at Northeastern University.

But "coach" might be the title that best described Funk.

When he was a candidate to become D-Y's head football coach in 2001, his desire for the role was immediately evident.

“A guy who was passionate about coaching, working with kids and building a program,” said Bob Huff, D-Y's athletic director from 1981-2009, of Funk. “It just came out in the way he spoke. He was obviously knowledgeable about the game of football. When he was done with his interview, everyone on the committee looked at each other and said, ‘That’s the guy.’”

More: League MVP and more: Cape High School Gymnastics All-Scholastics Team

The Dennis-Yarmouth High School community paid respects to a beloved coach Saturday.

On Saturday, students, teachers, faculty and the community at large paid their respects to Funk.

The football field was lined in black. Funk had filled the school’s stadium, nicknamed the “Lagoon,” one more time. The scoreboard glowed out onto a somber day, the final tally, 37-7.

Mourners filed through a tent set up at mid-field to pay their respect to his family at his wake. Precisely at 9 a.m., student athletes, kept in step by the school’s percussion team, marched down the track past a memorial of Funk’s coaching jacket and headset on the mid-field bench. Entering the tent, Funk's wife, Heather, greeted the teams, followed by members of the public, making their way past his casket draped with a flag reading “Fridays are for the Lagoon.”

Leaving the field, a large group of students lingered around the snack bar watching the proceedings in silence. In the end zone, Matthew Lane gave a long hug to his teammate Daryan Thompson. 37-7 was their score, members of the 2017 Super Bowl Championship team led by the beloved coach.

Funk transformed D-Y football, taking the once-struggling team to repeated state championships.

In 2001, Funk took over the struggling Dolphins football program. The team opted to play a schedule of mostly junior varsity games during his first season. D-Y won its eight JV games that first season and lost its two varsity games. The next season, the Dolphins played an all-varsity schedule and finished 5-5.

Then the Dolphins became one of the premier programs on Cape Cod and in the state.

Funk led the team to state championship appearances in 2011, 2013 and 2017. The Dolphins were victorious in 2011 (35-0 victory over Wakefield) and 2017 (37-7 triumph over West Springfield). That 2017 appearance in the Division 5 Super Bowl is the last time a team from Cape Cod reached that stage.

Joe Jamiel was also on the committee that hired Funk, and later ended up being his offensive coordinator.

“Football-wise, we were complete opposites, and that’s why we worked so well together,” Jamiel said. “He was overly conservative and I was overly aggressive, so it was fun because we would have to meet in the middle.”

“The first one (Super Bowl) was special because of where we came from as a JV program,” Jamiel said. “D-Y hadn’t won three games in 10 years. It was really emotional and a great feeling. After that, honestly, we expected to go back. The other two were special for me because I had a son play on each one.”

One of Funk's players ended up in professional football, with the XFL.

Jamiel's son, Andrew, now plays in the XFL, a professional football league, for the Orlando Guardians. During his time under Funk, he was named the Massachusetts Division 4 Player of the Year in 2016. He set a school record with 26 touchdowns as a senior and finished his career with 47 trips to paydirt. In his final season, he accounted for 2,705 yards.

“My boys grew up with him because they would always be around the practices at a young age,” Joe Jamiel said. “He always used to tell me, ‘The hardest workers I’ve ever had were Andrew and Geoffrey (Jamiel). Nobody outworks those two.’”

During Funk’s first championship in 2011, Geoffrey Jamiel was on the sideline, but not as a player. He was the waterboy.

“When I got to high school my freshman year (2017), I ended up being blessed to play and start under him (Funk) and it was a dream come true," said Geoffrey Jamiel. "I grew up watching him and the first year I got to play for him, we won the state championship. It was kind of surreal.”

More: History makers and more: Cape Cod Times High School Wrestling All-Scholastic Team

'He just knew how to motivate us and push us to the next level.'

Michael Dunn was a freshman on the first Super Bowl-winning team, which went 13-0 in 2011. He lined up all over the field for the Dolphins, spending time at quarterback, running back, receiver, linebacker, cornerback and safety.

“Coach (Funk) had a really good way of preparing us for everything, and just making sure we knew our assignments,” Dunn said. “He was just the ultimate competitor and he hated losing. He just knew how to motivate us and push us to the next level. It was an unbelievable experience winning that game (in 2011). He wanted us to win, not for him, but for us and the whole community.”

Chris Marsh was a freshman on Funk’s first football team. Marsh said Funk came in and reinvigorated the community and set the tone for the work they were going to do.

“The expectations of hard work and discipline were clear and he held you to that standard,” said Marsh, who now coaches the football and baseball teams at D-Y. “We worked really hard to turn the program around and we had some success. You knew that when you played for him, you were going to be prepared on Fridays and Saturdays. I don’t think anybody prepared more than he did.”

Funk's legacy lives on: Former player takes over as D-Y head coach.

Marshfield took over as head coach of the D-Y football program in 2020. He's now trying to do what Funk once did and turn the Dolphins back into a contender. The lessons he learned playing for coaches like Funk, Joe Jamiel and Tom Campbell are now giving him a strong foundation to build on.

“When I took over, I wanted to continue that tradition," said Marsh. "To me, I still see it as our program that we built, and Funk was the guy that really steered that ship. I’m just trying to continue the things they built and continue that culture and tradition.”

More: National qualifier and champs: Cape High School Boys Track & Field All-Scholastic Team

Funk also coached Dennis-Yarmouth baseball.

Funk also coached D-Y baseball from 2003-2014. He took over for Huff, he was in the dugout from 1978-2002.

“He worked with me as a volunteer for the baseball team, and I saw the work he had done with the football team, and again, I knew he was the right guy,” Huff said.

The D-Y baseball team picked up an emotional win over St. John Paul II, 11-1, on Tuesday.

“That meant a lot. He was a tremendous baseball coach and player,” Marsh said. “He loved seeing our kids having success on the field, so to be able to go out and get the win especially, that meant a lot because that’s exactly how he would have liked to see that happen.”

More: Scorers, shooters and other stars: 25 Cape Cod high school boys lacrosse players to watch

'He brought the best out of a lot of kids.'

Erik Bohlin was brought onto the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphin Youth Football Association, Inc., which was created by Joe Jamiel in 1997, by Funk and Jamiel, before eventually helping out at the varsity level. The program would routinely have youth coaches and players go to the high school to watch varsity practices.

“He was a man that never demanded respect. He would just walk into a room, and respect was just given,” Bohlin said. “He brought the best out of a lot of kids. He was definitely a no-nonsense guy, which a majority of the kids embraced. He was able to pull kids toward him and react in a positive way.”

Funk's influence and impact went beyond the gridiron and diamond.

Dru Sisson is the current D-Y girls volleyball coach. When the Dolphins reached the South Sectional finals in 2019 for the first time, she received some sage advice from Funk.

Enjoy the moment.

"You just do what you can to put your foot forward and know that you prepared the team as well as you can,” Sisson recalled of Funk's message. “Just understand that you are the last two teams in the South and if you win that, you're going to be one of the last four teams in the entire state of this division.”

More: State Qualifiers and more: Cape High School Girls Track & Field All-Scholastic Team

The Dolphins went on to beat Duxbury in a five-set thriller and advanced to the state semifinals where they lost to Danvers. D-Y has advanced to the state finals in every tournament since that breakthrough game.

“A lot of his lessons were valuable and just the support I felt every year (from Funk). He never had high expectations and never made me feel like I wasn’t doing a good job as a coach if we weren’t successful and winning,” Sisson said.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Paul Funk epitomized what it meant to be a coach