Known as "The Commissioner," Vincent J. Reilly is considered the godfather of modern football officiating in the State of Connecticut. So influential has he been in the development of the CFOA and officiating in general, the State Board named its Distinguished Service Award in his honor. Every year, the six member boards of the CFOA choose a member or alumnus that has done much to contribute to the association and officiating with the Vincent J. Reilly Award. The New Haven Football Officials Association, the group that Reilly oversaw for more than 40 years, first as the prep school assigning commissioner then as the general assignment commission, changed its name in his honor. From the 1940s through 2002, Reilly was a member of the group, seeing officiating go from only the referee having a whistle, and horns used to signal fouls, to five-man officiating crews with complex rules and mechanics. Through it all, Reilly could be a taskmaster and pater familias, making sure the officials he put out on the field were ready to go. He was a founder of the state board, and served as a delegate from New Haven through 2002, when he stepped down from all duties. He helped guide the state board and shepherd it through some difficult times, but always with the intent of gaining respect for the member associations and the officials they represented. He was a strong advocate of the state clinic concept and worked tirelessly to get five officials on the field when that became an issue in the 1990s. Though he retired from field work well before the state playoffs were established, he was considered a top-notch referee on the prep and high school levels and was a member of the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Football Officials and a founding member of the Connecticut Chapter. For more than 30 years he worked collegiate hockey and counted two national championship games as his accomplishments. He was the ECAC hockey assigner for more than 20 years, and was honored by that group for his service. Among the awards he received was the Officials' Award from the Gene Casey-New Haven Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, New Haven Gridiron Club Officials Award, several public service awards and coaching honors. Prior to his officiating career, he coached several Industrial League and sandlot teams in football, basketball and baseball.