Lenoir-Rhyne Alum On Coaching Staff For Super Bowl-Bound Giants

HICKORY, N.C. - The New York Football Giants will take the field in Glendale, Ariz., on Sunday, Feb. 3, to engage the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. A Lenoir-Rhyne Bear, Michael Lee Pope, will be one of their leaders. Pope is in the eighth season of his second tour of duty as an Assistant Coach for the East Rutherford, N.J., team. This will be Pope's fourth Super Bowl coaching appearance.

A 1964 graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne, Pope was a three-sport star for the Bears. He was a member of the 1960 NAIA National Championship Football Team. He was named Team MVP as a co-captain in 1963. That same season, he received the Lee Kirby "Team Before Self" Award.

Beyond his accomplishments on the gridiron, Pope played baseball for three years (1961-63) and ran track for two years (1963-64) as a Bear. He was inducted into the Lenoir-Rhyne Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, for both his achievements at L-R and in the NFL.

Pope is in his 25th consecutive year as an NFL assistant and entered the league in 1983 with the Giants. He spent nine seasons with the team under legendary Head Coach Bill Parcells (1983-91). While he was with the Giants, they won Super Bowls XXI and XXV.

After his first stint with the New York, Pope spent two years with the Cincinnati Bengals (1992-93), three seasons with the New England Patriots (1994-96) and three years with the Washington Redskins (1997-99). The 1996 Patriots reached Super Bowl XXXI, falling to the Green Bay Packers.

The 2000 season marked Pope's return to East Rutherford. He has served as the Giants' Tight Ends Coach since that time. When Tom Coughlin became Head Coach in 2004, Pope was the only Giants' assistant retained as part of the new staff. "He is the best tight ends coach in football," Coughlin said.

Pope is a Monroe, N.C., native and is married to the former Lee Lambie (L-R class of 1966). The couple has two sons, Travus and Daron, both of whom are in the financial services industry.