This year, there are a total of three Springfield College alums associated with the two teams. The alums include David Gettleman '72, Director of Pro Personnel for the New York Giants; Steve Spagnuolo ’82, the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, and Mike Woicik G’80, the head strength and conditioning coach of the New England Patriots.
The National Football Conference champion Giants and American Football Conference champion Patriots will square off on Sunday, February 3, at 6 p.m. (EST) in Glendale, Az. in Super Bowl XLII. This past Sunday (Jan. 20), the Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers (23-20 in overtime) to win the NFC title, while the Patriots defeated the San Diego Chargers (21-12) to capture the AFC crown.
A native of Boston, Gettleman is Director of Pro Personnel for the Giants. He graduated from Springfield College in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in physical education. An offensive tackle, Gettleman played football at the College under Head Coach Ted Dunn. Gettleman then moved on to Southern Connecticut State University, where he earned his master's degree.
Spagnuolo played football at Springfield College under Head Coach Howard Vandersea. Spagnuolo was a two-year starter at wide receiver, and received the school’s Male Scholar-Athlete Award as a senior in 1982. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He went on to receive his master’s degree in sport management from UMass in 1983.
Spagnuolo’s first taste of NFL experience came in 1983 when he served as an intern with the Washington Redskins under then-assistant general manager Charlie Casserly, now a member of the Springfield College Athletics Hall of Fame.
Spagnuolo is a native of Whitinsville, Mass. He graduated from Grafton High School, where he is a member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Spagnuolo was formerly a defensive coordinator on the college level at Connecticut and Maine. He also served as an assistant coach at Massachusetts, Lafayette, Rutgers, and Bowling Green.
After graduating from Boston College with a degree in history, Woicik began his strength and conditioning training at Springfield College in 1978. He served as a track coach and a weight room coordinator at the College from 1978 through 1980. He then received his master’s degree in physical education from Springfield College in 1980.
Upon graduation, Woicik went to Syracuse University, where he helped develop their strength and conditioning programs for the next decade. Woicik is just completing his eighteenth year in the NFL, including seven with the Dallas Cowboys (1990-97) and eight with the Patriots (since 2000).
As a coach, Woicik will be going to his seventh Super Bowl on Feb. 3. In the previous six, his teams won them all (three with Dallas, three with New England). While with the Cowboys, he was voted the NFL’s “Strength Coach of the Year” in 1992.
Woicik was born in Baltimore, but raised in Westwood, Mass. He starred at Westwood High School in football and track.
There are two more Springfield College-affiliated people involved with these two Super Bowl clubs. One is Sean Kupiec '04, who majored in athletic training at Springfield College, and who is now the lead fulltime athletic training intern with the New England Patriots. From Springfield College, Kupiec went on to receive his master's degree at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He is now completing his second season with the Patriots.
The New York Giants and Springfield College also teamed up last summer when the Giants hired Tim Rehm '08, an applied exercise science major from Waldwick, N.J., as an intern. A sprinter, Rehm is a captain of this year's indoor and outdoor track and field teams at Springfield College. He intends to continue his internship with the Giants this spring.
In 2007, Springfield College was represented by three alums on the sidelines in Super XLI. They included the Chicago Bears head strength and conditioning coach Rusty Jones ’76, G’86; his assistant coach Jim Arthur ’00, G’02; and Indianapolis Colts head strength and conditioning coach Jon Torine ’95.
Michael C. “Mike” DeLong ’74 enters his 32nd season as a head football coach in the fall of 2013. He enters his 30th year at Springfield College alone. For the past 28 years, he has been the head coach at Springfield, his alma mater. Mike had also been the head coach at Maine Maritime in Castine, Maine in 1979 and 1980. Read more.
