Errol Dreyfuss always had his eye on students, whether pestering them to wear their I.D. badges or cruising in his golf cart with his flowing salt-and-pepper hair dancing in the wind. He was as well-known to students as Shaq is to Miami.

Because Dreyfuss was so well known, students can’t help but notice his absence. He retired after the 2004-2005 school year.

“He’s probably somewhere in Scotland working on his golf game,” said senior Eric Kaplan, who has been on the golf team since freshman year. Scotland is where golf originated during the 16th century.

“He’s not as cutthroat on the course but he was still not easy to deal with.” Kaplan said. In fact, Kaplan admired Coach Dreyfuss because he was stern.

“If the team’s results were less than his expectations, we would feel the heat. I appreciated the way he pushed us to be perfectionists. He took it too far sometimes, even when we performed well. He taught me so much though so it was for the best,” Kaplan said.

Opinions of Dreyfuss vary, however. “If you can’t beat me, don’t teach me,” senior Shane Hodson, a golfer, said. “Dreyfuss wasn’t bad, but he would make a better assistant coach. I think he lacked the general knowledge of the game to be an effective coach. His motivation to win was not the problem—it was his lack of resources to win that held us back.”

Among other things, Dreyfuss taught Hodson how to deal with conflicting personalities. “He busted my a-- when he saw me in school. He expected more of me as his student athlete.”

Dreyfuss wasn’t completely stone-cold, however.

Senior Bruno Chiurliza said, “People didn’t like Dreyfus because he got them in trouble. Everyone is going to say the same thing about Mr. Aristide.” Chiurliza had no personal relationship with Dreyfuss; however he did have a single conflict with him.

In his sophomore year, SADD members were gathered around the year’s wrecked car with their faces painted and their mouths shut, not a word was uttered from them that day as is tradition.

“I was bored, so I ran up and I drop kicked the car and ran away,” Chiurliza said. With that, the entire club, faces painted, went on a manhunt for Chiurliza. They stopped their silence and started their cursing.

“The black makeup was especially frightening.” Chiurliza had to change his shirt and hair in order to avoid them. Security caught him in class, and Chiurliza had to answer to Dreyfuss.

“I was so scared of him from hearsay, but Dreyfuss just laughed it off and told me to apologize to SADD. He’s really not a bad guy at all.”

Even when Kaplan posted Dreyfuss’ J-Date profile, which was personal information not intended for student eyes, Dreyfuss remained unflustered. “I didn’t admit it to him, but he knew it was me,” Kaplan said.

Filling his shoes this year is Administrative Assistant Wallace Aristide; however, it appears he will have a tough act to follow.