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5 things
you didn’t know about
Frank DeFelice
By Lloyd Benson
Photo: Owen O’Rourke
Frank DeFelice had no desire
to come to Swampscott when Stan
Bondelevitch called him in 1965. In fact,
the resident of the hardscrabble streets
of Winthrop couldn’t think of a place he’d
rather go less. The 25-year-old DeFelice
thought the Swampscott athletic program
was filled with soft kids, well-coached
but not tough. To him, Swampscott
kids played on grass, not cement, and
DeFelice was far from enamored with
the flamboyant “Bondy.”
The offer was for a three-day-a-week
substitute teaching job in physical
education. It was only at the urging of his
mother, Eleanor, that DeFelice agreed to
take the job. It wasn’t as if he had much
else to do at the time. DeFelice was
coaching and playing semi-pro football for
the Boston Steamrollers. “Please, Frank,”
Eleanor pleaded, “take it for me.” He did.
Three days became five. Then came
Bondelevitch’s request for him to stay on
through Thanksgiving, followed by an offer
to come on full-time the following year.
DeFelice accepted.
In those early years DeFelice was
young, physically imposing, brusque, direct
and determined to leave his mark on the
kids from Swampscott. Every intimidating
word was unfiltered. He had one way to
do things – his way.
Over time DeFelice came to be
synonymous with athletics in Swampscott
and he moved to town with his wife, Susan,
in 1977. People began to notice that he
made average players good, good players
very good, and very good players great.
He coached baseball in Swampscott
from 1966-71 and 1977-2005, winning 465
games, a state championship and three
sectional titles. In 2002 DeFelice was
elected to the Massachusetts Baseball
Coaches Hall of Fame. For years he served
under Bondelevitch as line coach, including
on the team that won the first MIAA Super
Bowl championship, in 1972.
When Bondy left for Bishop Fenwick,
DeFelice replaced him as head coach. He
went on to coach at Boston College and
was on the sidelines at the Orange Bowl as
an assistant coach for his alma mater when
Doug Flutie threw his famous Hail Mary
pass in 1984. DeFelice has coached football
and baseball at Merrimack College, Bentley
University and Endicott College, where he
remains an assistant baseball coach. Along
the way, he worked for former Big Blue
great Barry Gallup at Northeastern.
So, what don't you know about
Frank DeFelice?
1. He is a
world-class gardener.
As the weather gets warm, you’ll most
likely find DeFelice lovingly tending his
tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, eggplant,
zucchini and basil in his backyard. I can
vouch for the tomatoes.
2. When Frank was a
young boy growing up in
East Boston, if he were late for dinner,
his folks would go looking for him at the
“train barn” down the street. From those
early days, DeFelice was always enamored
with trains and he remains an avid train
modeler. Some would say it is because he
always gets to be the engineer.
3. Frank and Susan are
regular Communicants at
St. John’s Church.
His faith is important to DeFelice, but more
so is the sense of family he finds in church.
“I love seeing kids I coached, and their
kids and grandkids. We love this town
and the people in it,” he said.
4. Though best known for
baseball and football, DeFelice
also coached JV basketball for the Big Blue.
While varsity coach Dick Lynch was known
as a master strategist and tactician,
DeFelice’s methods were a tad different.
There was the time he put all of his players
in a big circle around midcourt and rolled a
ball into the middle. “First one to come out
with the ball starts on Friday,” he shouted.
Mayhem.
5. He and Susan are workout
warriors and can be found most
days at the Jewish Community Center
in Marblehead. “A great way to stay in
shape. A second home,” he said.
And here’s one more you may or
may not know. Frank DeFelice, now 76, is
constitutionally incapable of speaking an
untruth. You may disagree with him, but
you’re always going to get the truth
as he sees it. From time to time it may
have landed him in trouble, but never
at the expense of his integrity. n
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