Becker named fourth coach in Hand history

When he took the head football job at Haddam Killingworth 14 months ago, Erik Becker thought he’d coach there for the rest of his career. Only in a dream would he go somewhere else.

On Monday, Becker’s dream became reality when he was named the fourth head football coach in Hand football’s 50-year history.

“This is the only place I want to be,” said Becker, 43, who became a teacher at Hand at the start of the school year.

“I feel great there’s a fallacy that in life there’s such a thing as perfect timing. It’s all perfect timing. I always believe God puts me in the right spots. Whatever arch I followed to get back here, it’s been serendipitous. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to coach here and opportunity to serve the students at Hand.”

Becker takes over for his

mentor, Steve Filippone, Hand’s seven-time championship coach who had come out of retirement in February 2020 to coach the Tigers following the sudden resignation of Dave Mastroianni in February of 2020.

After guiding Hand’s 7-on-7 outfit during its COVID-modified fall season, Filippone resigned a second time in hopes of handing the keys over to a new generation as soon as possible. “Why put the future off for another year?” he said at the time.

Becker won the job over what Hand athletic director Craig Semple called “a great applicant pool” from over five different states. Hand eventually settled on seven finalists, “I’d say every single one of them could be a head coach anywhere,” Semple said.

“(Erik)’s got a great approach with the kids, he’s connected to the community and we saw his body of work first-hand. He’s impressive. He’s organized and he bleeds black-andgold. He’s in the building and will get to make connections with the kids every day.”

Filippone said he has maintained a special relationship with Becker, beginning when Becker’s father died during his senior year in 1995 and throughout Becker’s 12year tenure as his assistant coach — the last six as offensive coordinator.

“Coaching is all about trust, forming relationships and service,” Becker said. “That’s what coach Filippone’s meant to me. He’s been the most important man in my life since I was 14-years old. I don’t know if I would have gotten through that time without him.”

Filippone credits Becker for transforming Hand’s offense into a high-scoring machine which led to state championships in 2011 and 2012 and produced four consecutive all-state quarterbacks.

“Hand football is in his D-N-A,” Filippone said with emphasis. “This is not a job for him. It’s a way of life. Admittedly, the learning-curve is pretty steep coming from a place with 35-or-so players to Hand High School. But it’s not a job he’s unfamiliar with. He’s a great choice and he’ll be popular with alumni and with our players. Nobody understands our tradition better than Erik.”