BEVERLY, Mass. — Endicott football assistant head coach Matthew Popino (Metuchen, N.J.) has been named the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Division II/III Assistant Coach of the Year, as announced by the organization earlier today.
Popino guided the Gulls to historic heights this season as the program's defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.
Under his tutelage, Endicott won a program-record-tying 10 games and produced the first undefeated regular season in program history / the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) era.
The Gulls also entered the national rankings for the first time in the 20-year existence of the program (2003-2022) behind one of the nation's best defenses, soaring as high as No. 22 in the rankings during the season.
Popino's defensive unit currently ranks top-5 among its Division III peers in defensive touchdowns (1st, 1st in CCC, 7 TDs), fumbles recovered (1st, 1st, 17), scoring defense (5th, 1st, 7.5 PPG), team sacks (5th, 1st, 3.73) turnover margin (1st, 1st, 2.18), and turnovers gained (5th, 1st, 31).
Other notable rankings for the squad include red zone defense (18th, 1st, .600), team passing efficiency defense (15th, 1st, 95.84), total defense (16th, 1st, 242.0), and third down conversion percentage defense (14th, 1st, .277).
"I couldn't be happier for Matt. He has worked so hard every day to achieve this accomplishment, and I can't think of anyone who deserves it more," said Endicott head coach Paul McGonagle.
Aside from the program's national rankings, Popino played a major role in the development of 10 CCC All-Conference selections this season highlighted by Hector Johnson (Worcester, Mass.) who received Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year honors.
Johnson is just the second student-athlete in league history to win both awards during the same season and the first to do so for Endicott.
All-CCC First Team selections under Popino's mentorship included Johnson, Tyler Davis (Bethel, Conn.), Colin Meropoulos (Monroe, Conn.), Jackson DeAngelo (North Reading, Mass.), and Joe Tirrell (Franklin, Mass.).
Meanwhile, the All-CCC Second Team squad consisted of Alfino Davis (Cranston, R.I.), Michael LeFebre (Methuen, Mass.), Michael Canney (Dracut, Mass.), Matthew Licciardi (East Greenwich, R.I.), and Zachariah Twardosky (Merrimack, N.H.).
The 10 defensive All-Conference honorees doubled the next-highest program in the league and also helped the Gulls compile a CCC record 20 selections in total.
"I had the pleasure of playing for Coach Pop not just as my defensive coordinator, but as my position coach for the past two years and as a graduating player. He's the type of coach that makes it a little harder knowing I'll never have the chance to play for him again. On Saturdays, everyone got to see the sacks, interceptions, and TFLs on the field. But what nobody sees is the 80-hour work weeks of watching film and drawing up every scheme possible to get our guys in the best possible position to succeed," said senior defensive back Tyler Davis (Bethel, Conn.).
"His dedication speaks for itself when it was a normal occurrence for me to be getting a phone call from him at 10:00 or 11:00 at night on a Tuesday saying 'I'm just leaving the office now but I wanted to get your thoughts on this coverage' and then spend another half hour talking about it with me on the phone. There's not one guy on our defense who doubts the fact that on Saturdays our defensive coordinator is going to be better and more prepared than the offensive coordinator standing on the other sideline. Aside from his dedication, I can't say enough about what coach Pop has done to take our mentality defensively to the next level. We'll win a game 49-7 and everyone on the defense is pissed off that we gave up seven. I think that mentality is what made us so good as a defense this year and while a lot of guys have really embraced that mentality, Coach Pop is the one that set that standard."
Since his arrival in 2019, Popino has been elevated from linebackers coach (2019-20) and defensive coordinator/secondary coach (2021) prior to his current role as assistant head coach/defensive coordinator/defensive backs.
Endicott's defenses have ranked first in two different seasons among its CCC peers in points per game during that span.
Popino joined the Endicott coaching staff after a three-year stint at Rutgers University.
While at Rutgers, Popino rapidly rose through the coaching ranks of the program serving in four different positions (defensive intern, player development, defensive quality control - linebackers, defensive line graduate assistant) during his time in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
In his role as the defensive quality control — linebackers coach, Popino assisted the linebackers coach in weekly game planning, scouting reports, scripting practices, and recruiting. He also assisted the defense in weekly breakdowns, charting plays, and drawing cards while creating reports with Pro Football Focus to find opponent tendencies.
Popino's other coaching experiences include Fitchburg State University — where he served as the linebackers coach, video coordinator, and academic coordinator from 2015-16 — and Worcester State University for two years from 2013-15 (assistant defensive backs coach).
Popino also played at Worcester State University for two seasons as a tight end, guard, and center.
He graduated from the university in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and later completed his Master of Science in Applied Communications from Fitchburg State University in 2017.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)
