The Hanover High football team's new head coach is a familiar name. "He's earned it," said former coach Brian Kelliher. "He's ready for it."
The Hanover High football team didn't look far to find its new head coach.
Tyler Coady, the Hawks' former offensive coordinator, will take over for Brian Kelliher, who will stick around to scheme up the defense after three years serving as the head coach.
Kelliher cited a changing family dynamic for the role shift. His son, Jake, is a senior set to graduate from the school this spring.
Coady, 30, has been an assistant within the program since 2018. The 2014 Hanover High graduate went on to play cornerback at Division III Plymouth State in New Hampshire in college for two seasons. He now lives in Weymouth and teaches seventh-grade special education at Hanover Middle School.
"Tyler's going to bring a youthful energy to the program," said Kelliher. "He's prepared for the job and he's got a lot of excitement. He's been looking forward to the opportunity to bring his vision and his goals to the program. ... He's earned it. He's ready for it."
The move comes after Hanover's 7-4 campaign that concluded with a 28-26 defeat to Archbishop Williams in the Division 5 Elite Eight. Despite losing its expected starting quarterback Colin Arnold to injury in its second game of the season, the Hanover offense still eclipsed 40 points five times.
Coady credited ex-Hanover coach Chris Landolfi as "a huge inspiration" in coaching and teaching. Landolfi now serves as an assistant coach under his brother Mark at Archbishop Williams, which also has Coady's younger brother Sullivan on staff.
Coady's senior year of high school (2013-14) was Landolfi's first season as the head coach at Hanover. Coady, then more of a baseball player, didn't envision a future playing college football until Landolfi provided a late push.
Landolfi went 68-36 with a Division 3 Super Bowl win (2016) in his 10 seasons in charge. Kelliher went 26-10 with a Division 5 Super Bowl appearance (2023) in three seasons.
"I think (my goal is) just holding this team to the standard that we've had since I've been here," Coady said via phone after meeting with the team for the first time on Wednesday, April 29.
"He's been a great sounding board for me and I've learned a lot from him," Kelliher said of Coady. "He's done a great job directing our offense for the last few years and it really took a lot of pressure off of me. He really took control of that side of the ball. I didn't have a lot to do with it. It was his offense. It was his thing."
After the Hawks graduate top targets Brandon Errico (1,024 yards, 22 total TDs) and Sebastian Brown (1,165 yards, 15 TDs) in the offseason, Coady is prepared to design an offense around returning starting quarterback Max Morin, a rising senior, and senior running back Brendan Sacco, who the new coach views as "a big piece of our identity."
Hanover will also return four offensive lineman with starting experience: rising seniors Daniel McAvay, Nolan Ghostlaw (both three-year starters), Collin Fuller and Jayden Yoo.
Sacco, McAvay (center), Yoo (tackle), Ghostlaw and senior receiver/defensive back Kellan Balducci will serve as captains.
"We have a lot of guys that are going to compete," Coady said. "We need strength in numbers."
The team's coaching staff will likely otherwise remain intact from last season; Seamus Boutin (strength and conditioning), James Byrne (offense), Dab Ukwuani (defense) Matt Hughes (offensive linemen), Jon Nassif (linebackers), Lee Moses (strength and conditioning), Cam Hallett (freshmen) and Mike Rufo are all back. Former Hanover rugby standouts Colin and Aidan Boutin will help organize offseason workouts.
"We just want to keep things rolling," Coady said. "We want to pick up where we left off, win football games and give (the players) a great experience. We want them to do great things on and off the field."
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Tyler Coady hired to be new Hanover High football coach
Category: General Sports
