Holbrook/Avon's new head football coach is embracing his unexpected opportunity
HOLBROOK – Mike Walsh is a man of two things: mystery and football.
None of his players on the Holbrook/Avon football team know his age, despite their attempts at asking. “Part of the mystique,” said Walsh, who declined to pull the curtain back to The Enterprise.
What we do know about Walsh’s age is that he coached with Blue Hills’ Vincent G. Hickey and Dennis-Yarmouth’s Howard Heleen, two coaches who were inducted into the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame ... before any of Walsh’s current players were born.
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Those aren’t the only Hall of Fame coaches Walsh has been around. Walsh spent time on Jim Kelliher’s staff at Abington and played for Bob Bancroft at Whitman-Hanson.
His father, David Walsh, is another Hall of Famer and coached Norwell to an EMass Super Bowl title in 1986. It was while serving as a volunteer coach at two-a-days on his dad’s staff before heading off to college that Mike realized coaching was what he wanted to do.
“You just take a little bit from each one,” Walsh said of his mentors.
Being a head coach was not Walsh’s anticipated role until about three weeks ago. Walsh spent the last two seasons as Brendan Case’s offensive coordinator for Holbrook/Avon. Case stepped down as football coach and athletic director earlier this month to take over as the dean of students at Barnstable High School, which is closer to his home in Marston Mills.
There’s a lot of momentum around the program that Walsh inherits. From 2013-2019, the Bulldogs went 10-58. They’ve almost matched that seven-year win total in the last two seasons, going 3-2 in the Fall II 2021 season and then 6-4 last fall. With around 30 players at varsity practice on Friday, and about 20 middle-schoolers set to join in when school starts, the program looks to be in healthiest position in years.
"Brendan got all that stuff started,” said Walsh of the middle-school numbers. “We’ve got great numbers today and it’s all because we started that program two years ago. We’re just going to continue on what he started and do the best we can.”
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That improvement seems directly tied to when Case and Walsh joined the program before the Fall II season. The Bulldogs have come a long way in a short time.
“It means we’re really committed to winning,” said senior Rolans St. Jean. “We put in the hard work to get to where we are now. Compared to my freshmen year when I started, we weren’t really taken seriously. To be honest, we were one of the worst teams in the state.”
“It shows we all want to work and we all want to win,” said senior Sam Hobart. “The coaching staff with Mr. Walsh, he’s been kicking our butts making sure we try to get better every day.”
This will be Walsh’s first time as a head coach. He estimated that he’s been coaching football for about 25 seasons. The offense that he employs today is a 'doctored-up' version of the one he used while coaching for his father.
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“I’m kind of a keep-it-simple coach,” said Walsh. “It’s basically eight or nine plays out of different formations. We keep it simple, so that way when you get a kid who has never played before, you can teach him how to do it. You lose a little bit maybe on the explosiveness but I’ve had success with it for 25 years.
“I’ve been doing this for so long I don’t need my name in lights, but I’ll take it.”
Breaking down the roster
The Bulldogs return a lot of talent on the offensive side, led by senior running back and linebacker Daveon Scott. In eight games last season, Scott ran for 1,295 yards and 12 touchdowns while also leading the team in tackles. He was the Mayflower League Comprehensive Division's MVP last season.
“He’s relentless, man,” said junior quarterback Chuck Luarasi of Scott. “He’s always striving for success, always striving to score a touchdown, that’s why we feed him the ball so much.”
In front of Scott are a bunch of returning starters on the offensive line. Nick Lounge (tackle), Johann Rodriguez (center) and Justin Jerome (guard) are all back along with tight ends Jordan Cioffi and Thomas Irbe.
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“They make it very easy,” said Scott of finding running lanes behind his veteran line.
The Bulldogs will be cycling in some new players in the backfield with Scott. Brady Sheehan, a Second Team All-Scholastic last season, and Marlo Narcisse have both graduated. Nick Chong, Marquis Dobay Lindsay and Cameron Campbell all could be in the mix for carries.
“There’s a lot of potential in the backfield for them to cook and me to help them cook,” said Luarasi.
Although the Bulldogs are far from an air-raid team, Walsh has a lot of confidence in his quarterback.
“Chuck, at quarterback, he’s kind of like a second coach on the field,” said Walsh. “He gets the offense, he knows what’s going on. Towards the end of the year we were just firing off the ball and got into a nice rhythm.”
Last season, Luarasi and the Bulldogs often caught teams sleeping on the pass.
“It’s pretty easy to hand off the ball in the backfield and feed Daveon the ball as much as possible,” said Luarasi. “Running this offense, the defense isn’t going to expect a pass and every time we roll out and do a bootleg or anything like that I’m always out there getting the pass completed to Jordan (Cioffi), that’s my guy. (Last year) we got a couple of completions deep down field, a couple of touchdowns.”
The defense is more of a question mark for the Bulldogs. Holbrook/Avon was hit harder by graduation on the defensive side, but there are some returners. Irbe and St. Jean are the safeties, while Jerome is back on the defensive line.
Senior Ethan Carey-Prendable is a first-year player, but he’s got the potential to make an impact wherever he lines up.
“It’s just my senior year, I figured I’m somewhat athletic so I figured I’d give it a try,” said Carey-Prendable. “I have friends on the team. I’ll just come help them out and fill whatever role they need and help Coach Walsh.”
“Full head of steam, we have a young team but our team is really good,” said senior Christian Laboy, another potential contributor.
The coaching staff
There’s plenty of familiarity with the coaching staff. Hallam Holmes returns as the defensive coordinator. Former Holbrook/Avon quarterbacks Bill Curtis and Jack Parent are also on the staff.
“The kids identify with them because they know what it’s like at Holbrook/Avon,” said Walsh of the former players now coaching. “It wasn’t this way when they were there. They didn’t have the numbers that we have so they’re really liking all the positivity that’s going on. Hopefully the growth of the program can keep going.”
Luarasi sat behind Curtis for three years.
“He persevered, by Thanksgiving he had 15 guys (on the team),” said Luarasi of Curtis. “You can’t do anything with that, and I was a part of those 15. He really taught me how to persevere and make sure I’m a good leader no matter what happens to the team.”
Luarasi’s older brother, Andrew, was also at practice helping out. Andrew Luarasi was a three-year starter at center for the Bulldogs.
The climb continues
Holbrook/Avon’s recent success has been a bright spot in the school. Along with growing interest in players, community support noticeably increased last season.
The Bulldogs had some thrilling wins last season, despite missing the playoffs. In a 16-14 win over Tri-County, Sheehan threw a 23-yard TD pass to Cioffi on a halfback option with 30 seconds to tie the game, and Scott added the winning 2-point conversion. There was a double-overtime win over Wareham to open the season and a thrilling overtime loss against South Shore Tech on Thanksgiving Eve.
“They’re really good kids, they work hard,” said Walsh. “It’s hot and they’ve been working hard. We had a winning season, we’re kind of building on that. It was really fun, we had a couple of overtime games. All the middle school kids showed, we had a lot of fans. It’s like it should be in high school football and Brendan (Case) started all that up.”
Holbrook/Avon kicks off the season on Sept. 16 at Wareham before a stretch of five consecutive home games.
“This season means a lot to us, we’re ready to work, all of us,” said Jerome. “Hopefully after we leave it keeps going up.”
“Having people come out and selling out games, more cheerleaders coming, I think it’s building,” said Chuck Luarasi. “Building more community for the school and the town brings people together and that’s the most beautiful thing about it.”
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Previewing Holbrook/Avon's 2022 high school football season
