Chris Malleo, a resident of Ponte Vedra Beach, can now add author to his list of accomplishments.
Malleo just released his first book, “The Chairleader,” a story about a remarkable young man named Frankie who changed his life forever.
“It’s an incredible true story, and it’s something that has been on my heart for a really long time.” said Malleo.
After graduating from Northwestern University, Malleo moved back to his home state of New Jersey to take over a struggling high school football program. After becoming the head football coach at The Peddie School, he wanted to hire some of his own coaches to help him grow his vision for the team. He posted a job listing and got a lot of responses and resumes back.
One response, which came at 8:30 p.m. the Friday before the interview, stood out to Malleo. The email said this candidate had no prior football coaching experience, but he wanted to learn.
Malleo decided to take the interview, and when he walked outside to meet the interviewee he was greeted by Frankie, a wheelchair bound young man with nonverbal cerebral palsy. That initial interview took about 2 ½ hours as Frankie’s form of communication is using an alphabet board which is located on the front of his wheelchair.
Malleo had his reservations, but he chose to focus on Frankie’s strengths.
“I switched my frame of mind to all the reasons that this couldn’t work to all the reasons that it could,” he said.
Football is a fast paced game so Malleo and his new hire had to come up with their own unique forms of communication.
“We learned on the fly different ways to communicate really quickly,” he said.
Malleo and Frankie coached together for four years at The Peddie School and in that time, they sent 48 students to play college football and four of their players went on to the NFL. They made a great team, and Malleo said he could not have done it without Frankie.
“There are very few people who have had a greater influence on my life than Frankie,” Malleo said.
“The Chairleader” started off as just a dream written on a whiteboard. However, over time Malleo realized that he had to tell Frankie’s story.
“Frankie is an absolute incredible human being, and the world needs to hear his story,” he said.
Malleo wrote several different versions of the book, but he was not satisfied until he changed his mindset.
“I came to a point where I stopped writing for an audience, and I just wrote what was on my heart,” he said.
Malleo and Frankie talk every day, and it’s a friendship that neither one can live without.
“He changed my life forever,” Malleo said.
“The Chairleader” is available to order on Amazon.
