Championship coach Gene Matsook steps away after 39 years at Rochester

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, December 14, 2024 | 12:20 AM

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Gene Matsook was hesitant to take the Rochester job when his brother resigned, unsure at first whether he wanted to run the football program himself.

That was 25 years ago.

“I didn’t know if I wanted it,” he said. “They said, ‘You’re the guy. You’re the guy.’ I said, ‘I don’t want it. I don’t want it.’”

He said yes, of course.

And in the quarter century since, Matsook coached Rochester to more than 200 wins, four WPIAL titles and two state championships, bettering even his brother’s impressive resume. But after 39 years with the program overall, the first 14 as an assistant, Matsook has resigned.

“I’ve been contemplating it for the last three or four years,” he said. “Kids are always asking you to stay one more year. I figured once I got to 25 years, that would be a good number to go out on.”

His career record is 221-78.

Matsook came to Rochester as an assistant coach for his brother, Dan, who coached the Rams from 1986-99. They built a powerhouse program in those 14 seasons, winning 111 games, three WPIAL titles and one state championship in 1998.

When his brother resigned as coach after the 1999 season, Gene Matsook took over and led the program to even greater heights.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to follow Danny,” he said. “I was satisfied with the 14 years. We won a couple of titles. They said, ‘You’ve got to take it.’ The funny thing was, we started 1-2. Everyone was asking, ‘Why did they hire this guy?’”

Any doubts about him were surely short-lived.

His first season as a head coach finished with 12 consecutive wins, a WPIAL title and a 21-14 victory over Southern Columbia in the PIAA Class A final in 2000.

“It was just amazing,” he said. “It’s kind of funny how it started.”

The Rams repeated as WPIAL and PIAA champions in 2001, this time with a perfect 16-0 record. They added two more WPIAL titles in 2002 and ’04. In his 39 years combined, Matsook celebrated seven WPIAL titles and three state titles.

He had the Rams in the WPIAL finals as recently as 2018.

“It was a great run,” Matsook said. “We were the dominant team in the early 2000s, and then Clairton kind of took over after that.”

Rochester won four WPIAL titles in a five-season span and reached the finals six times in seven years. The Rams were there for the final year of championship games at Three Rivers Stadium and the first year at then-Heinz Field.

The team qualified for the playoffs in 21 of Matsook’s 25 seasons as coach. The Rams went 3-7 overall this season but reached the postseason with a 3-3 mark in the Big 7.

“Every year with us was a great year,” he said. “Whether we won a championship or we didn’t, those kids were special. Those kids worked their tails off to try to be good. They were dedicated.”

For the first time in almost four decades, the 61-year-old Matsook won’t be leading Rochester practices next fall. But he stopped short of calling this his retirement from football all together.

“You always keep your doors open,” he said. “Do I want to be a head coach? No. … Maybe I can be a consultant somewhere or maybe help a younger coach at another program.

“Who knows? I might go to the college level. Right now, I just want to sit back and relax and enjoy retirement a little bit.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Rochester