Chris Evans, the new head coach of the Stoughton High School football team. Photo: Courtesy Stoughton High school
STOUGHTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — For the first time in more than three decades, there's a new coach calling plays at Stoughton High School.
Long-time Head Coach Greg Burke's last game at Stoughton was this past Thanksgiving. He's retired after calling the shots since 1990 and a earning a place in the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association Hall Of Fame.
Enter Chris Evans. He was named head coach on Wednesday. The school counselor has worked as an assistant coach for the last eight years, and told WBZ NewsRadio he has some mighty big shoes to fill.
"He's a phenomenal person, he's been a great asset to me, a great mentor, and really just a foundational cornerstone piece of this community," he said on Thursday.
Evans says one of the challenges now will be to balance between giving time on the field to the underclassmen who have been with the team, and getting new players involved. "It's going to be a balancing act between building on the successes of that core group that we're bringing back, while also figuring out how to build that sustainable numbers model," he said.
The new head coach says recruiters from Division I and II colleges have shown interest in the team's seniors. Evans said one of his main goals is to prepare his players for their time off the field.
"That's not just in the classroom, that's not just in the community, that's building those life skills that will translate to when they're in the real world," he said.
Whether it's football or something else, Evans said it's important for high school students to be engaged in something they enjoy. "Something that gives them some level of belonging here at school, because the 7:45-2:15 school day, that can be really tough," Evans said.
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