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Bryanna Perez BMHS PrideTime Editor Former Brien McMahon head football coach, AJ Albano, resigned from coaching leaving everyone in aw but he didn't give up. On January 24th, headlines all over twitter read, “Former McMahon head coach AJ Albano has been hired as defensive backs coach at New Canaan.”
Following the reports, a few students started commenting on their beliefs in regards to Albano's decision. There were rumors suggesting that Albano was betraying his team. What many don't understand is, to coach Albano, this wasn't a setup or a stab in the back.
 Coach Albano "I did not stop coaching McMahon because I was done coaching football. Unfortunately I didn't feel like I had an answer for why we were not doing very well. A few years back we had a couple of good seasons, we were doing good things, and winning football games. The last couple of seasons we have changed some things like our offense, defense, and practice. We really tried a lot of different methods to try and get better but I just ran out of answers. As a coach, at least for me, if I don't have the answers than I think its time for a change."
This was not the easiest decision Albano has had to make. Not only did he get offers from New Canaan, but other schools around the area as well. "It was not easy, believe me, it was not easy to leave the kids, I love them. Especially the seniors and upcoming seniors because we have spent so much time together. I love the coaches, they were some of my best friends. After taking some time and speaking to my wife, I just thought it would be a good place for me to go and coach," Albano explained. Although Albano is sad about leaving his family at McMahon he is very excited to start coaching and experiencing different things at New Canaan. "Before I came to McMahon I was a defensive coordinator so I was pretty much all defense. At New Canaan, I will be coaching all defense as well. I will be coaching the defensive backs and help out as much as possible." Albano maintains a very strict relationship between him and the football players at McMahon. "I will continue to root for them and cheer them on but I am not going to maintain a football relationship with them anymore. I'm going to maintain a professional relationship where I am the teacher and they're the students. I don't want them coming to me talking about the things going on in the locker room." One of the main reasons Albano chose New Canaan was because of the fact that they do not play McMahon in the FCIACS. "I wanted to make sure I didn't play against McMahon because I couldn't do that to the boys." One thing Albano wants people to understand is that 'change is not always a bad thing,' as he will continue to bleed red, white, and blue. "Once a senator always a senator really means a lot to me. Again, it was a very difficult decision for me to resign. I could have stayed if I wanted too, I had a talk with not only Mr. Madaffari but Mr. Hurwitz as well and they both supported me. When I told the team about my decision at our end of the season football banquet, I made sure to tell them I would be their biggest fan. McMahon still has a special place in my heart but like I said change is not always bad."  Photo taken by Christian Abraham
1 Comment
Lillian Anderssen
3/2/2018 03:44:44 pm
There are avoidable errors in grammar and in spelling, like the use of 'aw' to convey awe* that Albano is leaving. The word awe literally means either amazement/wonder or something that strikes intense fear or admiration into someone. I'd hope that the message that you were trying to communicate wasn't that students were initially struck with intense fear and wonder when he announced he was leaving. Maybe a better word could be 'surprise'? Disappointment? Consider an additional proof-read. Leave a Reply. |
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