Sunday morning at Everett Stadium Chuck Leo was doing what he has done for the better part of five decades: instructing youths about the finer points of football.
Leo, Crimson Tide Pop Warner’s director of football, is leading instructional clinics on Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon at Everett Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Leo is beginning his 42nd consecutive year of affiliation with Everett Pop Warner football. It can be stated without reservation that he is the Bill Belichick of Pop Warner football with the winning percentage to match.
Leo is part of a leadership team and coaching staff that has assured amazing stability and consistency in the Everett organization.
“That’s been so important to the strength and vitality of our organization,” credited Leo. “Our president, Brian Diamond, has been involved for 30 years. And then you have great volunteers like Mike and Jeanne Vitukevich, Lisa Sylvester, George Castiello, Colleen Leo, Frank Cafarella, Brian Arrington, Pat Thistle, Victor Ruiz, and Diane Groux, who have been working hard for Everett Pop Warner for many years.”
Leo said he remembers Brian Diamond as a very good football player.
“Brian was on my first team,” recalled Leo. “I was an assistant coach on the ‘D’ level when I was 18.”
The universal feeling among Pop Warner coaches in the region is that Everett teams play the games with sportsmanship at all times and Crimson Tide Pop Warner is a warm and welcoming host when their teams enter Everett Stadium.
This season all Everett teams will be wearing new uniforms featuring black and red colors with gold helmets. Like the high school team, Everett had worn San Francisco 49ers-style uniforms in recent years.
“All the new uniforms just came in,” said Chuck. “They’re all black with red pinstripes with a little gold here and there. And “Crimson Tide” is on the front.”
Asked about Everett’s prospects for the 2020 season, divisions, Chuck said modestly, “We’re always pretty competitive. We’ll be fine. We’ve got good coaches. We have a good group of guys that coach.”
The Leo Family tradition
Chuck Leo played varsity baseball at Everett High School, graduating in 1978. Surprisingly, he did not play football for the Crimson.
“I wasn’t big back then – I was small when I was in high school. I grew six inches after high school,” said Chuck.
Gennaro Leo, son of Chuck and Colleen Leo (who was a two-sport star at Saugus High School), began his football career in Everett Pop Warner. He was the 2001 Boston Globe Player of the Year at Everett High School, immortalizing his legacy with the “Leo Leap” that resulted in an 8-7 victory over Bridgewater-Raynham in the Super Bowl. Gennaro went on to excel academically and athletically at Trinity College where he studied Finance, Economics and Italian.
“Gennaro lives in Denver and works for CAA ICON,” related Chuck. “He just finished building a stadium in Rome.”
Daughter Taylor Leo is an Everett teacher and cheerleading coach and, of course, a proud graduate of Everett Pop Warner.
“I have a grandson, Mance Leo McKinney (son of Taylor and Timmance McKinney) – Mance is 16 months old and he loves all sports,” said Chuck.
Can someone please get Mance McKinney to commit now to Everett?
We’re certain Mance will have a superb Pop Warner mentor in his grandpa: the incomparable Chuck Leo.