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HIGH SCHOOL COACH LOOKS BACK AT SEASON
The man is Sal Morello and the decision was to become the new football coach at Middletown High School. Morello recently reflected on the whirlwind year that took him from the head coach at Cromwell High, through a tough resignation, to the Blue Dragons head job and he concluded that everything worked out.
"I really didn't know what to expect, " he said. "I didn't know the kids and they were coming off a tough year. I just figured I would be myself, be positive and be demanding at the same time. As I look back on the year now,world cup jerseys cheap, I'm very happy with how things went. The kids bought into what I was saying; I had their attention from day one. They bought into a new way of doing things and they bought into my ideas.
"That was a pleasant surprise. Usually it takes time when a new coach comes in, but they were there from the beginning. We had bumps along the way, every team does. Learning a new system was hard for them as it is for any team, but they picked it up sooner than I thought they might. But it took a while. Fortunately, we avoided any outside distractions and that helped. "
Morello said the positive work ethic and attitude have continued into the offseason as 35 40 football players are in the weight room four days a week,world cup cricket jerseys.
"They are trying to get better and I love that,world cup shop.com, " Morello said.
Morello said the highlight of the season actually came in a loss.
"We were down 21 0 to Xavier, yet the kids fought for 48 minutes, " he said. "We cut the lead to 21 14 and made a game of it against the best team in the state. That was very satisfying, especially when you look how far we came. In our first game against Hall [a 41 14 loss], they quit. But by season's end, against a tremendous team,world cup jerseys cheap china, they kept on playing hard. That was great to see. "
Morello said he was very impressed with how hard his team worked to be prepared.
"As the season went on we were prepared for every game, " he said. "Yeah,world cup baby clothes, we lost the game to Conard, which was a very good football team, but not because we weren't prepared. We just didn't finish; we certainly had opportunities. "
Middletown outgained Conard and outplayed the Chieftains in just about every phase of the game except on the scoreboard. Conard, a Class LL playoff team, won the game 14 6 despite MHS driving inside the 25 yard line six times.
So what does the future look like?
"I'm very encouraged, " said Morello, who lives in Wethersfield with his wife Niki and their 19 month old daughter Peyton. "We had a lot of sophomores and we played a lot of them this past season. Next year we have only 11 seniors and a ton of kids who will be juniors. I also think there's a lot of talent on the freshman team.
"Now they are going to have to work hard. We have potential,world cup 2010 germany jersey black, but that's a word I hate to use because it means you haven't done anything yet. I'm very cautious using that word. "
He said that he challenged his team in what he called a year of transition and they responded with a 7 3 record, losing only to three Class LL teams, all of which went to the playoffs.
"My long term goal is to have a playoff contending team every year, " he said, which is something he accomplished at Cromwell. "And the second thing is to have 80 plus young men in the program every season. "
This past fall the Blue Dragons finished with 84 in the program, one of whom was a young lady, Sarah Strickland.
Morello, 41, said that the job of head football coach is much more than coaching a fall sport.
"I am right now working very hard to get my senior players into a college that is right for them, " he said. That's absolutely a priority. I did it at Cromwell and one of the great rewards of my time there is I have had many kids do great things beyond high school. This is the real reward and it's one of the reasons I want to stay in this profession for a long time. "
But Morello also said that there is another component to the job, a real teaching component.
"I want our players involved in the community, " he said. "I want the people of Middletown to be proud of our kids and here are ways we are going to do that. I want my kids working with the youth football program,world cup custom jerseys, the Middletown Tigers. I told my kids they come to our games and they look up to us.
"I want my kids doing community service, I want them to be seen downtown and in other places doing things for others and I want them doing it wearing their football jerseys. I tell my players that it isn't enough to be good players, they have to be good people. That's the most important thing. "
Morello, who still coaches the junior varsity girls basketball team at Cromwell, said that winding up at Middletown was an emotional and maybe not the smoothest transition that's ever happened.
"When I resigned at Cromwell it was because I had to devote time to getting my degree [at Springfield College] and to get certified as a teacher, " he said. "A head coach has to be with his team all the time,world cup jerseys canada, at study hall, at practice, all the time. But 2008 and 2009 were hard on me as I couldn't balance both. So when I resigned, that was the reason.
"But after a time, it became obvious my wife and I that we needed to supplement our income. "
Morello had an offer to be an assistant coach at another Central Connecticut Conference high school, but then the Middletown High job opened up.
"I couldn't pass it up, " said Morello, who is an MHS alumnus, Class of 1987. "If I didn't go for it, it would be probably 10 years before it opened again. So I applied and this year I had to balance school and coaching. But I did it and now that's behind me. "
One final thing he had to do was talk to his players at Cromwell,world cup jerseys china. He said that Cromwell coach Lou Bronk game him the opportunity to talk to the Panthers and Morello did that.
"I had to go back,world cup jerseys.com, look them in the eye and explain what happened, " he said. "I think they understood. I still feel a strong connection to Cromwell; I coached a lot of those kids. But now I'm here. ".{huiweigji4-26}
