Is thrilled with the opportunity and seeks to keep up the success of the program
By JIM SOUTHMAYD
WAKEFIELD — New Wakefield Memorial High varsity football head coach Steve Cummings is happy to have been named to the position and now he looks forward to getting himself further acquainted with the Wakefield community.
Cummings, 36, was named the Warrior head coach last week to replace Mike Boyages who retired after 18 years at the helm. Cummings was an assistant coach with Boyages having been the defensive coordinator the last four years.
“I’m was so excited when Mr. (Rich) Metropolous told me I had been given the position,” said Cummings. “When I found out Mike was retiring, I knew I wanted to go for the head coach’s job. Wakefield is a great community and I’ve been happy here the past seven years.”
Cummings was one of nine applicants chosen to be interviewed by the screening committee. He was one of three applicants moved to the final round of interviews. Metropolis and an assistant principal conducted the final round of interviews.
The screening committee consisted of seven members. There were three community members — a parent, the president of the Warrior Club and a community member. The committee also had three faculty members— two teachers (one a former freshman football coach and the other a physical education teacher) and the athletic trainer. The committee was headed up by one of Wakefield’s assistant principals.
After the final round of interviews, Cummings was awarded the position.
Boyages, WMHS Director of Athletics and Student Activities, was not involved in the hiring or screening process. He did have a comment on Cummings being named his successor.
“Steve will do an outstanding job as our new head coach. As an assistant coach of mine, I couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with than Steve,” said Boyages. “He has a great work ethic, enthusiasm and knowledge of the game and will bring outstanding leadership to the program. With Steve being an educator at Wakefield High, I know he will stress the importance of academics and good citizenship to his players. I wish him the very best of luck and look forward to following the team next season.”
Cummings knows he has some big shoes to fill with the success the Warriors have enjoyed under Boyages’ leadership.
“I take over a program that has been successful with Mike and Coach (Ray) Boghos before him,” said Cummings. “It’s surreal to being in charge.”
The challenge for Cummings will be to keep up the success that his predecessors had. Cummings is thrilled to have the new turf Landrigan Field and a new weight training room to keep up and build on the success the program’s had over the past two decades.
“The one thing about being the head coach I’ve been told is that you are more recognizable,” said Cummings. “I’m working on putting together my coaching staff. I want to see who wants to return and who doesn’t. I do want people who are in it for the kids and the program.”
Cummings played at Marshfield High School for legendary coach Lou Silva who is still there. While attending Marshfield, the 1995 Rams’ team won the Div. 3B Super Bowl Cummings’ senior year. After attending high school, Cummings attended Framingham State University from 1996-2000 and was named captain his senior year.
After his senior year, Cummings stayed at FSU for some graduate work and was one of the assistant coaches for the Rams, coaching the offensive line. It was at that point that the Marshfield native realized that he wanted to go into coaching.
“I had a lot of fun and it was a great experience,” said Cummings.
Cummings then went on to coach football and Canton and Sharon high schools. He also worked for a year at Salem State University where he helped out by mostly breaking down game film.
In 2008, Cummings was named the freshman coach at WMHS and held that position for three years and led the ninth grade program to an undefeated 9-0 season in 2010. After that, Cummings was promoted to the varsity where he served as defensive coordinator until being named the new head coach.
Cummings teaches at WMHS as well and has been a math teacher since ‘08.
Cummings, who is currently a Burlington resident, admitted it was a tough process being interviewed by the screening committee and that he had to answer a lot of questions. But in the end, Cummings impressed the committee and administrators enough that he was appointed to the position.
Cummings is happy to know what his role is now. He wasn’t sure if he was going to the head coach or would stay at defensive coordinator. If another head coach had been named, Cummings didn’t know if he would even be asked to return. Now, he knows what his title is and he is ready to move forward in his new role.
“Being the head football coach is a year round job. Everywhere people know who you are when you’re in public,” said Cummings. “I plan on going to the Pop Warner registration to introduce myself and work with the Pop Warner program. Mike told me that when you’re an assistant, you can concentrate on just the Xs and Os. But when you’re the head coach, you have a lot more to to do.”
Cummings is looking forward to being the head coach in a program that had over 100 kids participating between the varsity, JV and freshman levels. He also looks forward to the atmosphere that is present on Friday nights with the strong turnouts, particularly at Landrigan Field.
“I can’t think of a better place to be to coach. I’m happy to be here and I’ll work to do things we need to do to be successful when Aug. 24 comes around,” said Cummings.
