Recruiting Areas: South Worcester County, Connecticut (860), North New Jersey
Twitter: @CoachPop2015

2023 Hansen Ratings DIII Defensive Coordinator of the Year
2023 Hansen Ratings DIII All-Region I Defensive Coordinator of the Year/First Team
2022 Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Division II/III Assistant Coach of the Year
2022 & 2023 FootballScoop Division III Coordinator of the Year award finalist
2022 Hansen Ratings DIII All-Region 1 Defensive Coordinator Second Team

Matthew Popino enters his fifth season with the Endicott football program in 2023. Popino was officially promoted to assistant head coach in August 2022 and later associate head coach in August 2023.

The 2021 campaign marked Popino's first season as the program's defensive coordinator after being promoted from linebackers coach (2019-20) and special teams coordinator (2020) during his time at The Nest.

Last season (11 games), Popino's defense allowed 19.5 points per game, led the conference in tackles per game (76.0), tied for the league lead in takeaways (24), and paced the rest of the conference in sacks (30).

In 2019, Popino aided Endicott in receiving No. 1 conference rankings in points per game allowed (18.4), points allowed (202), interceptions (18), defensive touchdowns (2), and blocked kicks (9). The Gulls were the only team in the conference to allow less than 20.0 points per game and the only team to give up 210 points or less.

Nationally, Endicott ranked No. 2 in blocked kicks, No. 15 in blocked punts, No. 9 in interceptions, No. 65 in red zone defense, No. 42 in scoring defense, No. 41 in team passing efficiency defense (110.07), No. 21 in turnover margin (1.00), and No. 25 in turnovers gained (25).

Popino joined the Endicott coaching staff after a three-year stint at Rutgers University. While at Rutgers, he 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.

Meanwhile, 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, and graduated from the university in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. He also completed his Master of Science in Applied Communications from Fitchburg State University in 2017.