Winchester High School Begins Search for New Football Coach

The Winchester football team will have a new coach next fall as Paul Sobolewski stepped down after five years as the head football coach of the Sachems.

Sobolewski, who was 5-6 last year and 30-25 overall with the Sachems, said he was most proud of this team's academic record. He pointed to 19 players who have come through the program and played college football at schools like Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby and Middlebury.

"Education always came first with our coaching staff," Sobolewski said. "In five years every player was academically eligible, and we became a pipeline for the NESCAC. One of the things I told the kids when I took over was that hard-working students make hard-working athletes."

Sobolewski also had some impressive accomplishments on the field, including some memorable comebacks. In his first year, the team came back from 11 points down against Wakefield in the final 4 1/2 minutes to win 41-40, and in the first game of 2008 the Sachems trailed Swampscott 29-17 and came back to win 30-29.

"We taught our kids that it's never over, and you just don' quit until the final whistle," Sobolewski said.

His finest season at the helm came last year, when Winchester lost two of its first three games but won it's final eight in a row to finish 9-2.

This year the Sachems started 2-6 but won then won their last three, including a 19-14 Thanksgiving Day victory against rival Woburn. The Sachems have won 10 straight games in November dating back to the 2009 season.

"Another thing I'm proud of with our coaching staff, every year we seem to get better as the season goes on," Sobolewski said. "We continue to work hard all season to make sure we're playing our best football at the end of the year."

Sobolewski didn't want to discuss the circumstances surrounding his departure, though he did release this statement:

"I’m disappointed that I will not be the head football coach at Winchester HS going forward. I’m very appreciative of the support I’ve received from my players and their parents, and want to thank them and my coaching staff I’m proud of the accomplishments we had both on and off the field during my tenure in Winchester
I’m especially proud to see so many of my players continuing to play in some of the best colleges in New England. They are great examples of what we tried to build in our program.

“I hope to have the opportunity in the future to coach again and build another program like we did in Winchester."

According to Winchester Athletic Director, Brian Carroll, the school hopes to have the position filled by the end of March. Carroll said that the program will be looking for someone outside of Winchester to coach the team, but at the same time, the new coach will also be someone who will unite the community.

Sobolewski submitted his letter of resignation on Feb. 17, but according to Superintendent William McAlduff, the letter was dated, Feb. 3. While it’s the school’s policy not to discuss personnel matters, McAlduff did express his disappointment with some of the comments Sobolewski has said regarding his departure.

“We know that Paul was upset and we wish him the best of luck,” McAlduff said. “It’s unfortunate that upon his leaving he decided to make some comments about the school. Paul had five good years here and it’s time to move on.”

McAlduff said that the search for a new coach will begin this week, and an advisory committee will be set up to aid in the search.