Byline: David Lee Morgan Jr.
Jan. 8--BOARDMAN -- Brian Kopp of Boardman has a successful career.
Actually, a few. He's a 36-year-old father of six daughters (the oldest is 7) and a partner in the law firm of Betras, Maruca, Kopp, Harshman & Bernard in Youngstown. He was an assistant football coach at Austintown Fitch High School the past eight seasons and now is a sports agent for DeBartolo Sports and Entertainment, based in Tampa, Fla. Kopp headed out to Glendale, Ariz., for the BCS National Championship Game tonight between Ohio State and Florida on business after recently becoming a certified sports agent. For Kopp, all of his success in his business and personal endeavors can be tied to his time working with Jim Tressel at Youngstown State University, when Tressel was the head football coach and athletic director. In October 1995, Kopp passed the bar exam and completed his master's degree in sports administration from Ohio University. He had an interview with the San Francisco 49ers' administrative staff but eventually was hired to work an internship at Youngstown State. 'Originally, YSU asked me to help with contracts for the new stadium boxes, primarily, but then I started working with NCAA compliance rules,' Kopp said. The job meant working closely with Tressel. But before that, he knew Tressel because Kopp's dad, John Kopp, was a longtime head football coach at Youngstown Woodrow Wilson High School. 'I knew coach Tressel from when I was playing for my dad in high school,' Kopp said. 'Coach Tressel used to come into the school all the time when my dad was coaching because (Tressel) did a great job of locking down the Youngstown area when it came to recruiting.' Meanwhile, Kopp's duties at Youngstown State included meeting with Tressel on a regular basis regarding various compliance issues, and that's when Kopp started observing Tressel's attention to detail and winning attitude. 'What I noticed most was that the more coach Tressel had on his plate, the more detail-oriented he was,' Kopp said. 'Everyone knows that coach Tressel has a knack for inspiring those who played for him or coached for him to achieve great things, on and off the field. That wasn't limited to just those players or coaches. In the time I got to know coach Tressel in high school and working at YSU with him, I saw the way he did things, and it was impressive.' Successful law career Kopp is a sports agent, but it hasn't stopped him from continuing his law career, which is well-respected. He won his first medical malpractice trial in 1998 at age 28. In 2000, he tried and won a case at age 30, and the local lawyers in the Youngstown area named him Trial Lawyer of the Year.
And in 2004, at age 34, Kopp won a case against a major trucking company that was one of the largest verdicts of its kind in the history of Mahoning County. Kopp said Tressel's positive influence during the years helped him succeed as a lawyer in Northeast Ohio. 'I remember telling coach Tressel I wanted to be a trial lawyer, and he always talked about reaching your full potential and developing your skill sets so that I could become a successful trial lawyer,' Kopp said. 'That's something that always stuck with me.' Kopp's achievements as an attorney caught the eye of Chuck Saulino, president of DeBartolo Sports and Entertainment. The company was founded by Youngstown native Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the former owner of five-time Super Bowl champion 49ers and two-time NHL Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
DeBartolo met Kopp through Saulino. 'Mr. DeBartolo fell in love with Brian, absolutely fell in love with him,' said Saulino, also a Youngstown native, who has known DeBartolo for 25 years. 'Brian is a family man, respectful and loyal. He's actually a miniature Jim Tressel. Brian exemplifies honor, and we're so lucky and proud to have him as part of the DeBartolo family.' After Kopp took and passed the test in Washington, D.C., to become a certified sports agent last year, DeBartolo jumped at the chance to hire Kopp. 'Brian is without question one of the brightest young men I've ever been around,' DeBartolo said during a telephone interview from Tampa. DeBartolo is listed as the 242nd most wealthy American on the Forbes Top 400 list, with a fortune estimated at $1.5 billion. 'I can't tell you how hard Brian works. and maybe because he's so enthusiastic and so smart, he makes it look easy, but it's not. He gets things done when other people would have failed.' Federal League ties Kopp's tenacity in the business world has carried to his coaching duties. He is a former high school and college starting quarterback. And since 1999, he has been the quarterbacks coach at Fitch. Kopp said coaching has been in his blood since he was a young boy. 'One of the things you can't escape in my family is football,' he said. His brother Neal was the head coach at Fitch this past season, his dad was the defensive coordinator and another brother, Dan, was the freshman head coach for the Falcons. 'We grew up in a house where once the dinner table was cleared, my dad put the projector on the table and started breaking down film,' Brian Kopp added. In 2004, Fitch went 9-1 overall and won the Federal League title. The Falcons, however, lost in the first round of the state playoffs to coach Ted Ginn Sr.'s Glenville Tarblooders. This past season, Fitch was 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the league, and Kopp told an interesting story about the Buchtel game, which was played at Fitch. Kopp's wife, Lori, was pregnant with their now 3-month-old twins, Ava and Audrey. Kopp's other daughters are Julia (7), Ally (6), Olivia (5) and Emma (2). 'Lori went into early labor 2 1/2 weeks before that (Buchtel) game and was hospitalized',' Brian Kopp said.
'They were able to stop the labor, but she was on bed rest. The night they were going to release her was the night we were going to play Buchtel at home on Fox Sports Ohio, which was televised live. The doctor said he could release Lori that day, and I explained to him that we were playing Buchtel and asked if he could hold her for one more day, which he agreed.' Lori Kopp said: 'I knew what was going on when Brian came and told me they weren't going to let me go home until Saturday, instead of Friday. I just went along with it. I thought it would be best if I just waited until Saturday.' Mutual love and support What can you say about a mother who is home most of the day raising six young daughters? 'Seriously, Lori is the ultimate team player,' Brian said about his wife. The two met at Division III Bethany College, in West Virginia, where she was a starting point guard on the basketball team and he was a starting quarterback. 'I don't know what more to say. Lori is all about family, and that's all that really matters.' Lori said: 'Brian does everything that he can do when he is here. Other than his work-related things, he doesn't do any other extracurricular things. He's not a golfer, he's not in any clubs, he doesn't do anything else.' 'He's a great trial lawyer, but I think being a sports agent fits his personality the best,' she added. 'His long-term goal down the line was to get involved in sports because that's what he wanted to do. That's where his heart is at, and I truly believe he'll be successful.' David Lee Morgan Jr. can be reached at 330-996-3824 or dlmorgan@thebeaconjournal.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio
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