Everett to play on without DiBiaso
UMass 64, Holy Cross 50 — Luwane Pipkins scored 13 points with two steals and four assists, helping the Minutemen (4-5) open up a big second-half lead and snap a four-game skid by routing the Crusaders (2-6) in Amherst.
Everett High football coach John DiBiaso walked into a room full of his players today and delivered one of the toughest speeches of his illustrious career — He is stepping down as the head coach.
DiBiaso will remain as the school’s head boys basketball coach and athletic director until the end of the school year.
“It was very difficult,” DiBiaso said. “I’ve spent 39 years of my life in this building and it is an emotional time.”
DiBiaso nearly stepped down last year after his team beat Xaverian, 21-7, to capture the Division 1 state title. He opted to return for one last year, a season which ended in the school’s 12th Super Bowl title, a 3510 rout over Xaverian.
“I really considered leaving when (Xaverian coach) Charlie Stevenson did last year,” DiBiaso said. “When you start thinking about leaving, then you know the time is coming soon.”
Whether this is the end for DiBiaso as a football coach remains to be seen. He was noncommittal in terms of his future, knowing full well there are rumors linking him to other jobs.
“I really don’t know what I am going to do next. Maybe I’ll step back and take some time off from football,” he said. “Right now, my mind is on coaching basketball.”
DiBiaso will not be part of the hiring process for his successor, but the next coach will inherit a great situation. A trio of AllScholastics — quarterback Jake Willcox and defensive backs Lewis Cine and Mike Sainristil — return, along with linemen Jalen Smith and Wilson Frederic.
“That was very, very important to me,” DiBiaso said. “The last thing I wanted was to leave the cupboard bare.”
DiBiaso spent his first 11 years coaching at St. Patrick’s (1982-87) and Weston (1988-91), leading the Wildcats to a Super Bowl title in 1991. He took over at his alma mater in 1992 and amassed an incredible 25233-0 record.
Frank Nuzzo played at Everett from 2000-03 as a fullback and was part of three Super Bowl champions. He said DiBiaso was not just a great coach, but a quality human being as well. “Coach Dib was the top guy in the community, he had a lot of credibility and was someone everybody looked up to,” Nuzzo said. “He always treated everybody fairly. He would treat the regular players the same way he treated the star players, and that’s why everyone respected him.”
There are many untold stories in the community of things DiBiaso did to help past and present players. Central Catholic coach Chuck Adamopoulos was witness to this a few minutes before his team faced Everett in the Div. 1 North final last month.
“A parent of one of his former players walked up to John and couldn’t stop thanking him for everything he did for his son,” Adamopoulos said. “To me, that said a lot about John and that’s why I always had the utmost respect for him as a coach and as a person.”
One of the schools Everett developed a friendly rivalry with was Xaverian. The teams began playing on a regular basis in 2006 and have met numerous times in the postseason.
“I always said in the 1990s that Brockton was the team we measured ourselves against,” Stevenson said. “But in the 2000s, Everett became our measuring stick. If we played well or beat Everett, then we knew we had a pretty good team. John and I are good friends and I enjoyed playing against his team. Now that we’re both retired from coaching, I can spend some time down at his place in Rhode Island and he can spend some time up at my place in New Hampshire.” As for DiBiaso’s legacy? “It doesn’t matter whether they think of me as a great coach,” DiBiaso said. “I’d much rather have them look at me as a great guy than a great coach.