2010 Coaches

Roger Grove – Since 1976 Roger

Grove has been a fixture on the Montgomery County football scene and an integral

part of winning football programs. For 27 years the West Chester University grad

was head football coach at Norristown High. During that tenure he compiled a

209-98-6 record during what many considered to be the heyday of Suburban One

football. His teams captured many league championships during that time. While

at Norristown, Grove received many honors, such as District One Coach of the

Year, but none higher than being inducted into the Pennsylvania State Football

Coaches Hall of Fame in 2002. Despite retiring from teaching in 2003, Grove

could not stay away from the game of football and joined the Neshaminy High

football staff as an assistant coach. He is responsible for coaching the

quarterbacks and receivers. Neshaminy has evolved into a football powerhouse in

recent years, compiling a 93-29 record in the last decade.

 Joe Iacovitti –

A soft-spoken man who avoided the spotlight, Joe Iacovitti let his football teams

and their winning records do the talking. After a successful stint as defensive

coordinator at Archbishop Kennedy High School in Conshohocken, Iacovitti moved

down the street to Plymouth Whitemarsh High in 1986 and immediately made his

mark. In his first year the Colonials went 9-1-1 and won a league championship.

Iacovitti continued to build the program and in the 1990s, despite often having

to do battle with as few as 35 players on a team, PW became a state powerhouse.

Of the 563 high schools in Pennsylvania, Iacovitti’s record of 94-20-2 was

eighth-best during the ‘90s. His teams won seven league championships and one

District One championship during the decade. In 1995 the Colonials were state

semi-finalists. In his 20-year head coaching tenure Iacovitti posted a 166-61-5

record, with 10 league championships. He retired from coaching and teaching in

2005 and now lives in Ocean City, New Jersey.

George Marinkov –

A gruff-speaking, cigar-chomping, wrinkle-clothed figure, George Marinkov was a

throw-back to another era. When he arrived at Methacton High in the early ‘60s

he had already made a stellar reputation as a high school player at Lebanon High

and an all-conference scat back at North Carolina State. He led the nation in

punt and kickoff returns in 1954. Unfortunately, he was not greeted by the same

level of talent at the new Methacton High. Marinkov braved the lean years and

went to work to build the Warriors into a consistent contender. He took over as

head football coach in 1974 and won six league championships. His crowning

achievement was a District One Championship in 1996. Six times Marinkov was

voted Coach of the Year. As a player he was inducted in the Pennsylvania

Football Hall of Fame in 1974. He also was elected to the National Football

Foundation College Hall of Fame. For 40 years Marinkov served Methacton High as

an assistant and head football coach. He also served as the Montgomery County

All-Star Coach in 1981, 1983 and 1990. Throw in short tenures as an assistant

wrestling coach and a head track coach and it becomes obvious that Marinkov had

coaching in his blood for most of his life.

2010 Community Coaches

Honor Roll Inductees

Audrey Verso

– In terms of longevity, Audrey Verso is easily the junior of all coaches

who have entered the Montgomery County Community Coaches Honor Roll. But in

terms of accomplishments, she ranks right up there with the best. She took a

bunch of recreation league girls and turned them into a powerful traveling

soccer team almost overnight. She was coaching in the Montgomery recreation

program when she and her husband moved to Souderton. They found a rudimentary

soccer program and immediately made a pledge to develop a first-class program.

Verso got involved building the traveling team program and last year the

Souderton Cyclones rose to a No. 16 ranking in the state. Now the Cyclones’

schedule is one that requires total commitment – from players and coaches. They

play year-round in tournaments, both indoor and out, as well fall and winter

leagues, training sessions and camps. Verso has been the catalyst to this growth.

Dave Coupe

– Dave Coupe learned a lot about coaching in his 30 years of involvement

with youth athletics. The one thing he did not learn was how to take a season

off. Coupe spent long, concurrent stints coaching baseball, basketball and

football in Plymouth Township. He started in 1980 with Plymouth Little League,

then later Senior League covering a span of 10 years. Then, in 1982, he got

involved with the PW Spartans football program and that became a 14-year term.

In 1986 he discovered what would become his lasting passion, taking the position

of assistant basketball coach at Epiphany of Our Lord. Two years later he

advanced to head coach and has been leading the CYO program ever since, capping

his reign with two Region 21 championships. Also, since 2000, he has served as

Commissioner of Boys Basketball for Region 21 CYO – 11 parishes in Montgomery

County. Coupe was honored in 2003 when he won the Bill O’Nell Award from the

National Federation of Youth Ministry, recognizing service to the youth of the

Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Chuck

Eppolitto

– Chuck Eppolito has been a staple in the Methacton baseball community

for more than 20 years. He has been intimately involved in both the business

side of running the Junior and Senior American Legion programs, as well as

coaching on the field. His organizational skills have long been recognized and

reflected in the efficiency that always marks the Methacton baseball programs.

His skills as a manager are evident in the consistent strength of the teams that

Methacton puts on the field. One of his greatest accomplishments has been the

continued recruitment of the former players who went through the Methacton

program, to come back and remain involved in the program so that there could be

a continuity of baseball instruction throughout the community. Much of the

success of Methacton Junior and Senior American Legion baseball is due to this

philosophy of continued involvement