Inducted in 2022
Prep Teacher & Coach (1988-Present)
Father of Two Prep Graduates

When we talk about legends, it is often a first instinct to leap to a litany of names from a stylized sepia-toned yesteryear: larger-than-life figures from some long-gone Golden Age. And to be sure, on the rosters of an institution as venerable as Fordham Prep, there are notable individuals who were already leaving their mark on our school, our Church, our country, and on nearly every field of human endeavor before we even had the convenience of electric lights.  After all, the Long Maroon Line runs strong and deep.

But not all legends are from long ago — and current Prep teacher and coach George Febles is certainly proof: a true legend in living color and in the here-and-now.  For over three decades, George has not only been a core member of the Prep Social Studies Department, but has become a prominent figure in the world of high school track -- both locally and on the national scene. Without a doubt, he is one of the greats; and the Prep is proud to number George Ignatius Febles among its own.

George was born in New York City in 1966, the son of Theresa Finnegan Febles, a registered nurse, and Ignacio George Febles, a teacher and CHSAA Hall of Fame coach himself with a national high school shuttle hurdle relay team record on his résumé.  George’s maternal grandparents, Patrick Finnegan and Anne Dolan Finnegan were pillars of their community, running Pat’s Grocery on Valentine Avenue and 188th Street for four decades: a bona fide neighborhood landmark.  And on his dad’s side, grandfather José Ignacio Febles was a medic in the second wave of the Invasion of Normandy, and his grandmother, Marta “Ma-Mere” Lara Febles, was a lifelong patroness of the arts and matriarch of the clan.  It should be of no surprise that George would grow up to be who he is today.  Obviously, the blood runs strong and deep

Growing up in the Bronx and Westchester with his four brothers and sisters — Barbara, Rosemarie, Matthew and Christopher — young George would first attend P.S. 33 on Jerome Avenue, then P.S. 25 in Yonkers, and finally St. Matthew’s in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York before heading into Manhattan to attend Xavier High School down on West 16th Street.  There he was an honors student and a four-year runner.  Graduating in 1983, Febles would trade in his Maroon and Blue for just Maroon and matriculate at Fordham, earning a bachelor’s in 1987 and a graduate degree in 1993.

George Febles began his career in Catholic secondary education in 1987 at the now-defunct Aquinas High School on East 182nd Street in the Bronx teaching US history and economics, coaching track, cross-country and volleyball along the way.  Even as a fledgling teacher and coach, George’s engaged calmness, playful patience, subtle wit, and strength of character won him the appreciation and affection of his students.  In return, George has always looked back fondly and gratefully for this formative time at Aquinas early on in his career.

In 1989, however, the call of Old Rose Hill and his appreciation for the Jesuit tradition was strong enough to lure a young Mr. Febles a few blocks north up Crotona Avenue to join the Fordham Prep Social Studies Department and Coaching Staff.  Straightaway, he began to leave his mark on the Prep boys.   For decades now, the clarity of George’s instruction and his passion for his subject have made him a standout on the Prep Faculty.  In the words of current student, Christopher Panchame, Class of 2023, “Mr Febles has an incredible presence when he is teaching.  He’s funny and thorough and makes you want to be attentive.  With Mr. Febles, history is not dead.  It’s living and real and relevant.”

As for the other facet of his Prep career, George Febles has proven himself to be an extraordinary steward of the school’s venerable Track and Field Program — an athletic endeavor that was born in 1895 and slowly grew into a local and regional powerhouse over the course of the 20th century.  A member of the Prep’s Track and Field Hall of Fame, as well as a 2015 inductee to the CHSAA Hall of Fame, Coach Febles has been honored time and time again — by the Daily News in 2003 and 2009, by the Armory Track and Field Center in 2016, and as the National Scholastic Athletics Foundation Coach of the Year in 2020. 

To quote one of his runners, Seamus O’Brien, Class of 2023: “Mr. Febles is an amazing coach.  It’s never just about winning with him.  It’s about showing us how to be the best possible versions of ourselves that we can be — in every aspect of our lives.  He’s an extraordinary role model  — an absolute legend.”

Generations of Prep trackmen would unquestionably agree.

As for the legend himself, in his typically humble and unassuming way, George appreciates but also graciously deflects any praise that is aimed in his direction.  Instead, he is always first to credit the hard work of the athletes themselves for the success of the program, as well as the dedication and professionalism of rest of the team’s coaching staff— not the least of whom is the assistant coach and retired former 16th Street teacher and 84th Street coach whom George Febles calls Dad.

Ever since his own Xavier days, George Ignatius Febles has found much in the classrooms and on the backfields of Catholic high schools: his pace, his stride, himself, camaraderie, a career, and the admiration of generations of young folks and their families.  But by his own estimation, there was one even greater gift that school life has given along the way: Nelsie Garcia, the brown-eyed girl with the beautiful smile whom he met in 1982 at a Jesuit Schools Championship Track Meet — she happened to be dating one of his teammates when they first ran into each other.  These things happen.

A social worker with undergraduate and graduate Maroon credentials of her own, Miss Garcia became Mrs. Febles in 1991.  Today, the Febleses are the parents of three: Krista, Paul, and Matthew.  Paul and Matthew are Prep graduates, Classes of ’15 and ’22 respectively, and Krista blazed the trail for her brothers at the University, graduating from Fordham in 2017.

It should be of no surprise that George and Nelsie have raised children who are kind and compassionate, bright and well-spoken, and immensely talented — whether on the track, in the classroom, or on the stage. Without a doubt, the blood — and true Maroon blood it is, at that: on both sides, even — runs strong and deep.