 |
 Little
brothers often receive items that were once the possession of their
older siblings, be it clothing, a car, a baseball mitt or a bike.
But Gene Matsook received a rather unique hand-me-down from his
brother, Dan, in 2000. He succeeded his brother as the head football
coach at Rochester High School.
Gene Matsook made the most of his
new possession, turning the Rams into a statewide power. Since
taking over as Rochester’s coach, Matsook has led the Rams to two
state championships, four WPIAL championships and six Big 7
Conference titles. The Rams have also been the PIAA runner-up twice,
and made two other appearances in WPIAL title games. Eighty percent
of his players have gone on to play college football, including
seven at the NCAA Division I or I-AA level. Three of his players
have been selected to play in the prestigious Big 33 Game and three
other were chosen for the East-West All Star game.
Through his first
nine seasons as the Rams’ head coach, Matsook has won an impressive
eighty-one percent of his games (100-22), including a 49-10 mark in
Big 7 Conference play. He is 34-7 in playoff games (WPIAL and PIAA)
and 27-5 in the WPIAL playoffs. The Rams have advanced to at least
the semifinal round of the WPIAL playoffs in eight seasons and have
accumulated 10-or-more wins in a season seven times. With the
success have come the accolades. Matsook was the Associated Press
Class A Coach of the Year in 2004; the Pennsylvania State Football
Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2001; The Big 7
Conference Coach of the Year in 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2006; The MAC
Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2000, 2004 and 2005; and
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Class A Coach of the Year in 2000,
2001, 2002 and 2004. Matsook was the head coach of the winning
Pennsylvania team in the 2003 Penn-Ohio Stateline Classic and was
the assistant coach in the 2005 East-West All Star game. Matsook
served as president of the MAC Coaches Association from 2007-2008
and has been a guest speaker at many banquets including a speech at
Purdue University. He was also inducted into the Lawrence County
Hall of Fame in 2007. A 1981 graduate of Shenango High School,
Matsook was a three-sport letterman in football, basketball and
baseball for the Wildcats. After playing football for a year at
Thiel College, Matsook transferred to Slippery Rock University,
where he earned a degree in Health and Physical Education. While he
has made a name for himself coaching football, he also found success
as a basketball coach at Freedom High School from 1994-1998, leading
the Bulldogs to the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons.
Prior to becoming Rochester’s head football coach, Matsook was a
Rams assistant from 1986-1999, the last five as offensive
coordinator. Matsook joins his brother,
Dan, as a member of the
Beaver County Hall of Fame. Matsook lives in Rochester with his
wife, Bernadette, and teaches at Freedom Area Middle School. |
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