Anthony Nalen knows turning the fortunes of the Saugus football program is not an easy one, but it's an endeavor he'll willing to take.
Saugus school officially announced this morning that Nalen was hired the school's new head coach, replacing Mike Broderick. Nalen wasn't sure he wanted to leave his current duties as Randolph High head football coach, but was sold by Saugus administrators.
“They told me about the direction they want the program to go on and that fit in perfectly with what I wanted to do as a football coach,” said Nalen, who lives in Malden with his fiance and four children. “The possibility of a new high school, a good conference (Northeastern Conference) and the opportunity to go up against quality coaches – the overall picture was very appealing.”
Nalen played high school football at Pope John where he earned All-Scholastic honors in 2005. The co-MVP of the Catholic Central Small, Nalen threw for 1,596 yards and 21 touchdowns, while rushing for 634 yards and seven touchdowns in leading the Tigers to a nine-win season for the second time in school history.
Shortly after graduating from Springfield College, Nalen got into coaching. He has served as head coach at Matignon, Blackstone-Millville, Bishop Connolly and Randolph. The last three coaching jobs put some additional pressure on the Nalen family.
“It was definitely stressful, living in Malden and traveling down there,” Nalen said. “I was able to get a teaching job in Holbrook, so that helped a little, but it still was stressful. At Randolph, we practiced from 5-7:30 and most nights, I wasn't getting home until 9-9:30.”
As for rebuilding the program, it won't happen overnight. Saugus has only won 44 games in the last 13 years and only once in that time have the Sachems won as many as seven games.
“I think we have to bridge the gap between the high school and the middle school to make sure we are keeping the quality kids here,” Nalen said. “We also need to work to get the numbers up and build some depth. It's out job to make sure the kids are buying in and believing in what the coaching staff is preaching to them.”