Guinipero family's Daniel Hand football legacy is helping fuel Pomperaug's revival

Pomperaug senior captain Jack Guinipero, left, stands with his father and assistant coach John Guinipero, after a high school football practice on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, at Edward Arum Athletic Field in Southbury. (Kevin Roberts/Hearst Connecticut Media) SOUTHBURY - Look at Pomperaug football rosters over the past couple of seasons and you'll see a last name long associated with success at Daniel Hand.

>Jack Guinipero is a senior captain and running back, or A-back in flexbone parlance, on this year's Pomperaug team. His younger brother, Chase Guinipero, is a freshman for the Panthers. Their father, John Guinipero, is an assistant coach for Pomperaug. He's also a member of Hand's 1989 state championship team.

>Last year, Dane Guinipero was a senior at Pomperaug. His father, and John's younger brother, Dan Guinipero, was a solid receiver for Hand in the 1990s. Dan played with current Hand head football coach Erik Becker when both suited up for the Tigers. When Jack went to summer camps at Yale University and Wesleyan University, he got to meet former Hand head football coaches Larry Ciotti and Steve Filippone.

>"We're all connected. (Jack) got to meet all those guys. It's a family affair," John said after Wednesday's practice at the Edward Arum Athletic Field.

>Now, the Guiniperos are trying to help lead Pomperaug, which was 5-5 last season and 3-7 the year before, back to some glory days of its own. The Panthers were 2-0 entering Friday night's South-West Conference showdown with Newtown.

>"Dane had a great year, he was All-SWC," Jack said. "I want to do the same, if not hopefully exceed him. My father was all-state, I hope to get that one day."

>Dan was an All-Southern Connecticut Conference selection in football and was named to the New Haven Register's All-Area team in lacrosse as a senior in 1995.

>"Both John and Dan were great Hand players through the late '80s and early '90s. John was a key piece of coach Filippone's 1989 state championship team that beat Darien in the snow at SCSU," Becker said in an email Thursday. "Dan was an outstanding receiver on Top 10 teams in '93 and '94 that both were state runners-up."

>The old Hand connection has resurfaced at Pomperaug. Jack has been able to go on some college visits because of help from Becker and his coaching staff. Becker loves what he's seeing at Pomperaug.

>"Pomperaug is a proud program with solid roots (the late Coach Chuck Drury)," Becker said. "I am glad to see them and their boys be a part of the revival. The flexbone is a fascinating offense that fits them well."

>Tradition is a big thing for the Guinipero family.

>"The reason I picked No. 1 this year. I talked with my cousin when we went (on) vacation about carrying on his number. I said I wanted to carry on his number," Jack said. "I know I had No. 8 last year. That used to be the Guinipero thing, wear No. 88 or No. 89.

>"Since it's a new generation, we're going to make it No. 1. Once my brother (Chase) comes up through, he's going to wear the No. 1, and if I'm still in town or I'm old, I'll have my kids pick another number and they'll carry it on, too."

>Jack has done his part to get Pomperaug off to the 2-0 start, leading the Panthers in rushing with 127.5 yards per game.

>"I was a receiver all my life," Jack said. "The triple-option came, I became an A-back, and it has worked out well."

>"Once (former Joel Barlow head coach Ryan) Swift came here, I was looking at YouTube, I was all over the place," John said about his dive into the flexbone offense. "It becomes cultish. You start looking at it in all these different ways."

>John admitted to not being a good run blocker while he played at Hand.

>"I'm responsible for getting the receivers to stalk block now, which is kind of interesting," John said.

>Jack said to picture the playbook Swift has like the green notebook coach Red Beaulieu had in the Adam Sandler movie "The Waterboy." On a more serious note, Jack said being an A-back isn't much different than when he was a receiver.

>"I was a slot, so I'm only like four yards away from where I used to line up," Jack said. "I just get the ball, grab it on a toss, it's the same thing like I'm catching it."

>Jack did spend some time at running back in youth football, but he had some good people to learn from.

>"I had some good mentors coming up," Jack said. "Johnny (Gogas, 2026 graduate) when he was here was a good mentor to learn running back. Dane was too as a running back, and Gavin (Lynch), our fullback, was our big running back in youth football."

Guinipero family success at HandTake a look at the record books for Daniel Hand football and the name Guinipero pops up several times.

>Twice in 1990, John ran kickoffs back for touchdowns for Hand. He did it first in a 12-7 road win over Xavier at Palmer Field in Middletown, and ran another kickoff back for a score in a 13-12 nail-biter of a victory over Notre Dame-West Haven at Strong Field. Both kickoff returns for touchdowns spanned 89 yards.

>John's twin 89-yard kickoff return touchdowns are tied for second in program history. Only Tommy Lee (90 yards against Derby in 2005) has had a longer kickoff return for a score in program history.

>John was also a solid receiver for that 1990 Hand team. He had 47 pass receptions in 1990 and tallied 158 receiving yards in a 27-18 loss to Bunnell that season. The 47 receptions are tied for 10th in program history, and the 158 yards are eighth in program history. John graduated from Hand in 1991.

>Hand beat Darien 34-28 for the 1989 Class MM state championship in John's junior season. In that championship game, he caught a pass from Justin Spain and turned it into a 60-yard touchdown in the snow at Southern Connecticut State University. John has jokingly reminded Spain that he had to reach back to catch the pass, then turned upfield. He said Wednesday that the championship game in the snow is something he'll never forget.

>In 1993, Dan caught a short pass from Mark Gumkowski and turned it into a 67-yard touchdown during a 27-21 win for the Tigers over the Green Knights of Notre Dame-West Haven at Quigley Stadium. Dan graduated from Hand in 1995 after a New Haven Register All-Area Boys Lacrosse selection that spring.

>The Hand offense in those days was pretty straightforward, much like Pomperaug's flexbone.

>"Steve and Larry were like we're going to run this in practice 100 times to the right, 100 times to the left, and then we're going to run it in the game," John said with a laugh.

Passing on knowledgeJohn is far past his playing days and understands that.

>"Jack is a lot faster than I was," John said, then added to his son, who was standing next to him: "He's a better football player in general, don't let that go to your head."

>"He just loves the game, and as a father, just seeing your kid out there doing the best he possibly can, working his butt off, to being a leader as a captain this year."

>John tries to take what he learned from leaders like Ciotti, Filippone and high school teammates and pass it on to Jack and Chase.

>"I think with Jack and Chase, my two sons, it's always just talking about taking what the game gives you, which is putting your best foot forward, putting the effort in," John said. "When you do all the right things, good things happen, and you don't ever forget the relationships."

>Quoting college coaching legend Lou Holtz, John said: "Do what's right, work as hard as you can, and treat others the way you want to be treated."

>John moved to Southbury in 2007, and he had a conversation early on with legendary Pomperaug boys swimming coach Fran Pentino. It was about Chuck Drury and what a "really good individual" he was. John saw the lineage of Pomperaug football was already in place.

>Now, his son is trying to help bring back success to Panther football.

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