Dom Amore: Joe Morrone’s grandson brings legendary UConn coach’s passion for soccer back home

Mitchell Taintor was born to play soccer, born into Connecticut’s royal family of the beautiful game . When you’re Joe Morrone’s grandson, soccer is bound to latch onto your soul, as it has latched onto his.

“My grandfather was at every single game of mine growing up, every single training,” Taintor says. “He was in the basement with me in February when it was snowing out, kicking the ball with me, trying to teach me all the things he knew. We were so close, we really bonded over soccer. I was one of nine of his grandchildren, and I was the only one who took on soccer and showed a liking for it.”

Morrone coached soccer at UConn from 1969 to ’96, winning the NCAA championship in 1981 with his sons Bill and Joe Jr., Taintor’s uncles, on the team. His daughter, Melissa Morrone Taintor , Mitchell’s mom, played for the UConn women’s team, an All-American who played in three Final Fours and is in the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame. .

“She was a baller back in the day and I was fortunate to benefit from that,” Taintor says, “and I still do. She has so much knowledge, and the learning never stops in this game.”

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Mitchell Taintor, 29, in his seventh season as a professional, is leaving his own mark on the game. The captain of San Antonio FC, he’s bringing the family crest back home to play Hartford Athletic in a USL Championship match Saturday night at Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford.

“When I was 8 years old, I wanted to be a professional soccer player,” Taintor says. “It was my dream. My parents couldn’t get me inside when the sun was going down. I was always playing, I wanted to win, I had the drive, I was competitive. I was a high-energy kid; I come from a high-energy family.”

The patriarch of the soccer clan, Joe Morrone was known for his rigor, passion, sometimes showing itself on the sidelines in the form clipboards shattered over his knee, but the martinet had a gentler side as the grandfather to a young player — at least to some degree.

“No tattoos, no earrings, no hair below the ears,” says Taintor, who, by recent photos, honors the last two of his grandfather’s dictums.

Mitchell’s parents put down some artificial turf from the local hardware store in the basement, and that’s where Taintor and his grandfather worked for hours on end on his skills.

“For him, the biggest thing was your effort and your attitude,” Taintor says. “If your effort and your attitude was right, you’re working hard, you’re going to make progress. We didn’t have much film, he was trying to teach me about body position, about my touch, technique, passing technique, dribbling, building fundamentals. He always said, ‘You’re never too good for the basics,’ and that always stuck with me.”

Taintor played at nearby E.O. Smith High in Storrs, where his mother played four years and never lost a game, and then played in the New England Revolution’s developmental academy, his grandfather, by then in his 70s, often driving him from Storrs to Massachusetts for the practices and games. Then he went to Rutgers, where he played four years, including a game at UConn in the Joseph J. Morrone Stadium in 2013, the last time he played in Connecticut.

Drafted by Toronto in the Major League Soccer Super Draft in the third round in 2016, Taintor has played for various pro teams. He joined San Antonio in 2021. The next season, he was a first-team all-leaguer, and the USL’s defensive player of the year for San Antonio’s 2022 championship team.

“Very good player, lot of respect for what he’s accomplished in the league,” Athletic coach Brendan Burke says. “Hard-nosed defender, decent with the ball. He’s done a really good job at San Antonio, he kind of fits their brand, he flings himself around. They’re an ultra-physical team and he steps up and fights for those guys every night.”

Taintor was a senior at Rutgers in 2015 when his grandfather, 79, died from pancreatic cancer.

“I remember this exactly,” he says. “We were playing a game at Monmouth and it was halftime, my grandfather wasn’t doing well. I just felt this pit in my stomach, felt real warm. I was thinking of him. I texted my mom at halftime. I didn’t see the response. I called after the game, and she told me he had passed away about an hour before. It was this weird feeling I had, this undeniable connection we had. We were just always connected, two peas in a pod, and I miss him a lot.”

Taintor, 6 feet 1, is known as a combative player, and in San Antonio’s culture, coach Alen Marcina gives him the freedom to play his type of game and let his passion show. That’s what he hopes fans take away from watching him play in Connecticut, the soccer spirit that came from his grandad..

“I hope they see someone from a small town, a small state, often overlooked,” Taintor says, “and someone who has worked very hard to get where they are, someone who’s been committed to something his whole life; had a dream. Plenty of people said no, didn’t believe in it. Everything can come true if you want it to. Effort and attitude, play with passion. It’s a player’s game, we have to make decisions on the field and that’s why we play sports, to feel something you don’t feel anywhere else.”

Taintor is healthy, feels like he is in the prime of his career and hopes to play several more seasons in a league that had grown since he began. Does one even need to ask what he’d like to do when he’s done playing?

“I feel like I have a lot to give in the game,” Taintor says, “but long-term, I want to coach in college. My grandfather did it for 30, 40 years, and I want to be the coach that kids have that makes an impact on who they are as people. The next generation, I want to develop them into winners, and I still want to compete and and win championships in whatever capacity that is. It’s a cool thing to do, it’s something that’s close to my heart.”

Here’s a guess: Coach Taintor may be a little more flexible when it comes to tattoos, earrings and facial hair, but if he’s holding a clipboard? Keep your distance.

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