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12/08/2013 11:00 PMIf you are familiar with high school athletics, chances are you're familiar with the name and the ways of girls' volleyball and basketball Coach Joe Grippo. Joe's presence has been made clear everywhere, whether it's his booming voice echoing from the court, the conference and state banners hung in The Morgan School's gymnasium or, more recently, his name added to the elite list of those inducted into the Connecticut Volleyball Hall of Fame.
"There had to be about 100 people or so from Clinton [at the induction on Nov. 26] and I was told there's never been that many people there to support someone being inducted," says Joe of his special night. "I know I've done a good job as a coach and I've given kids an opportunity to be successful, but when I looked at the people and athletes in that room, they're the reason why I've been so successful. I really equate coaching and teaching as the same thing. Coaching is teaching athletics and I look at it as if I'm teaching honors volleyball and basketball."
Born and bred in New London, Joe played basketball and graduated from St. Bernard before earning his undergraduate degree and master's in math at Providence College. It was during his junior year of high school that Joe got his feet wet with coaching Little League and Minor League baseball in New London for close to a decade. Joe earned his first teaching job at Eliot Middle School in Clinton in 1978 and also took on his first high school coaching stint when he became the junior varsity boys' hoops coach in Old Saybrook that same year. Four years later, he took over the Morgan girls' basketball squad as head coach and, in 1983, Joe not only became a math teacher at Morgan, but also began his legendary coaching stretch with a struggling Huskies' volleyball program.
"It's mind-boggling to think about that first volleyball practice I ever ran. I got talked into coaching volleyball by two of my basketball captains and, the first day we showed up to practice, it took us an hour and 45 minutes to figure out how to set up the net," says Joe, who also coached Morgan softball for two years and was an assistant for that program with Ed Hidek and current coach Sal Fiorillo. "From there to where it's gone is really something special. I went to Debbie Chin's camps and clinics, I listened to what she said and her ideas about volleyball, and I incorporated it into what I do. I watched video, talked to other coaches and, once I got a feel for it, I went with the strategy of putting defense first. We went 0-16 my first year and three games [into the second season]."
The rest is history. Joe did his homework and is now responsible for one of the elite volleyball programs in the state as, in his coaching tenure, he's amassed a 579-93 record and led his teams to 22 straight (24 total) Shoreline Conference titles, 12 state championships (the most recent one this fall), five undefeated seasons, and seven state runner-up campaigns. Joe's "intense" coaching style is what he believes helped his teams get there.
"My coaching style kind of evolved. My father always had to have everything perfect and I think I took that and made it part of me as far as coaching goes. When I was in high school, my varsity coach was laid back and I remember thinking that as a team, we played better for our assistant coach because of his intense style," says Joe, who retired from teaching at Morgan at the end of the 2013 school year. "I'm intense; I do get after my kids. The kids want to improve and excel and I don't get how being laid back can help them do that. I do believe, though, that once we get to the state tournament that there's already so much pressure to win and the intensity of the tournament itself will get them to play hard so I try to tone down the intensity."
Joe hasn't only had success on the volleyball court. As the girls' basketball head coach at Morgan, he's accumulated a 525-211 record and led the Huskies to six Shoreline championships, two state championships, and two runner-up seasons.
"Let me start off stating that Joe Grippo is one of the finest teachers I have had the pleasure to know. I have had the chance to see him in action in the classroom—he brings the same intensity to teaching that he brings to the sports arena. As he is determined to help each athlete reach her full potential, he is just as determined to help every student who enters his classroom be a success in the study of mathematics," says longtime friend and former colleague Bill Barney. "Students trust Joe. They know that he has only their best interests in dealing with them. Their welfare was always at the center of his actions and they knew it."
Even with such staggering numbers of success, Joe finds the most gratifying part of the job to be the impact he's made on his players and community.
"I coach for the kids and the competition. Looking at the kids come in as awkward freshmen and then finally learning and making a play, just seeing how they understand how much it meant to me—just watching the kids progress and get better and better is what does it for me," says Joe. "Our community here is unmatched, too. The night of the state championship game you can see volleyball has become a Morgan thing and a family thing. It's kind of driven the school and is a positive thing happening that's about being successful. Coming home from winning states, we were met by the Clinton police and fire department driving down Rt. 81 and people were on the side of the road cheering. It feels good to be part of something that has so many years of excellence at Morgan."