Football

John Gendron returned to BSU in 2023 for his third stint on the Bears’ coaching staff and will serve as the assistant defensive coordinator and the linebackers coach. Gendron also spent three seasons on the football staff as the linebackers coach in 2004 and 2005, and again in 2012.

While at Bridgewater State, the Bears cut their points per game allowed from 30.4 in 2003 to 17.4 in 2004.  The following year, Bridgewater ranked 15th in Division III in rush defense (88.0 ypg) and 20th in scoring defense (15.5 ppg) en route to a 9-1 record and the ECAC Northeast Bowl championship.

Most recently, Gendron was an assistant coach at MASCAC rival UMass Dartmouth where he was a linebackers coach for the Corsairs in 2021 and 2022. He was also an assistant coach at Division I Bryant University where he served as the tight ends coach for three seasons from 2009 to 2011.

A health and physical education teacher as well as the department chair at East Providence High School, Gendron was previously a three-year offensive assistant at the University of Rhode Island from 2006 to 2008.

With extensive high school coaching experience at both East Providence High School and Seekonk High School, Gendron was the offensive coordinator for East Providence's back-to-back state championships in 2002 and 2003.  A 1999 inductee into the Seekonk High School Athletic Hall of Fame, Gendron played quarterback for Seekonk, earning Southeastern Massachusetts Conference All-League honors in 1977.

A 1982 graduate of URI with a degree in health and physical education, Gendron was a four-year reserve quarterback for the Rams. In 1996, he earned his Masters Degree in physical education from Ball State.