Medford native James Rabbitt has 10 years of experience in coaching football under his belt. When the fall season rolls around, he’ll begin a new chapter in his coaching career when he tackles the lead role of the new football program at KIPP Academy.
Rabbitt comes to KIPP after a stint as Arlington Catholic’s offensive coordinator. Prior to that, Rabbitt served as the defensive coordinator at Minuteman and held a stint as the freshman and junior varsity coach at Marian, where he began his coaching career in 2007.
In his playing days, Rabbitt was a two-year standout wide receiver at Arlington Catholic. A Medford Pop Warner product, Rabbitt played his college football at Framingham State.
Through his 10 years in coaching, Rabbitt has learned the ins and outs of what it takes to lead a football team and teach the sport.
“Coaching is an extension of teaching,” Rabbitt said. “It’s finding ways to connect to student athletes in a different light and it allows them to see you in a different light. Coaching is a way to build men and women of character, and football allows that.”
After taking on different roles throughout his coaching career, Rabbitt feels he’s prepared to lead a new football program at KIPP.
“I think over the last 10 years of coaching I’ve built up to that responsibility,” Rabbitt said. “I’ve taken on bigger roles as I’ve moved up. We’re brought closer together as a team because we’re all in this unfamiliar spot together in building a new program.”
The Panthers, in their inaugural season, will compete in the Commonwealth Athletic Small Division, along with Tech. KIPP will play its home games at Manning Field.
Rabbitt, who lives in Lynn, knows there’s a strong football tradition built by the four other high school football teams in the city. The Medford native has coached against Lynn teams and has always come away impressed with them.
“I’ve been a citizen of Lynn for almost two years,” Rabbitt said. “I grew up in Medford, so it was always Medford-Malden and Classical-English, those were the two big rivalries.”
“Coaching at Arlington Catholic, I always knew how good St. Mary’s was,” Rabbit added. “Coaching at Minuteman, I knew how good Tech was. In spearheading the program at KIPP, I knew we were jumping into a strong football culture and our kids wanted that. Our kids deserved to be a part of that culture.”
As for what he looks to bring to the Panthers, Rabbitt’s hopeful that his energetic coaching style will help KIPP reach new heights. As a new program, the Panthers are aiming to keep up with the strong football culture that has already been established in Lynn.
“I think it’s energy and passion, and a willingness to achieve something that’s different,” Rabbitt said. “We’re looking to accomplish something that nobody’s accomplished before. I think my energy fosters that for our 46 players. They’re the new team in town. Hopefully my energy and the experience I have in coaching can help them achieve that.”
Rabbitt’s main goal for the upcoming season, and moving forward, is to find a balance between building a competitive program and one that produces student athletes of positive character. If the Panthers can achieve that, Rabbitt said, they’ll be able to look back on the season as a positive one.
“Our main goal is to help increase the positive culture in our school,” Rabbitt said. “We want to keep kids in the building and build men of character. Of course, we want to win every game but our goal is to compete hard and put an effort on the field that Lynn, our community and our families can be proud of. We want to be leading examples in the school and to stand out as ideal student athletes at KIPP.”
Joining Rabbitt on the inaugural KIPP coaching staff are assistants Anthony Grimaldi, KIPP’s Athletic Director, Pete Ganchar, Joseph Jacobi, Melvin Lark and Daniel O’Connor. The Panthers began their preseason practices last week in anticipation of the season opener against Atlantis Charter on September 7.
“So far we’re working hard,” Rabbitt said. “This is the first time for every student athlete of the team playing high school football. We’re getting used to the curve.
“The energy and passion are there,” Rabbitt added. “We’re just looking to make it over that curve of building a football program from scratch. We’re in a good place.”
