John Sperrazza laments not being able to attend his college alma mater’s football games anymore. He played quarterback at Northeastern from 2005-08 and then watched the school drop the sport completely in 2009.
The 37-year-old acknowledges feeling “robbed” by that development, saying, “Getting back (together) with the guys (you played with) is kind of like going back in time and going into the locker room (again).”
If a traditional college Homecoming isn’t in the cards anymore, at least Sperrazza is coming home now in a very real sense. An Easton resident since 2016, Sperrazza was named the new head coach of the Oliver Ames High football program in town. He replaces Ed DeWitt, who left the Tigers to take the Quincy High job in March.
Sperrazza inherits a team that went 1-9 this past fall and was 4-7 in 2022. He isn’t used to losing, having done two separate stints as an assistant at powerhouse Mansfield under legendary coach Mike Redding. The Hornets, who compete (like OA) in the rough-and-tumble Hockomock League, were Division 2 state champs in 2019. That was the most recent of the eight crowns that they’ve won under Redding, who’s been in charge since 1988. One of the other titles came in 2003 with Sperrazza at QB. Those Hornets went 13-0 and generally are regarded as the best team in school history.
At least that’s what Sperrazza says.
“Personally, I can’t ever pick my favorite team because I’ll make more enemies than friends,” Redding said with a laugh. “But they’re definitely in the conversation. They were a dominant group. Most games were over at halftime. I’m not going to argue with his claim at all.”
Redding remembers Sperrazza as a strong-armed QB who was so good that he forced the Hornets to switch to the shotgun and open up the offense. “We threw the ball a lot more than we had been doing because of his talent,” Redding said.
Redding came back to Mansfield as an assistant in 2009 before detouring to Milford in 2013 for a three-year hitch as an assistant under former Hornets assistant Joe Todd. Redding returned to Mansfield in 2016 and gradually became a valued member of the offensive brain trust, concocting game plans with Redding and working with the offensive line.
“For us it’s a big loss for our offense,” Redding said of Sperrazza moving on, “but we’re obviously thrilled for him to have the opportunity to be the head coach. It’s a great fit (with Oliver Ames). They’ve got the potential to be good (there with him in charge). He’s a little overdue to a get a head-coaching position.”
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Sperrazza said he had been thinking about striking out on his own for the last few years and decided that OA was a good match. He and his wife Alie, a teacher at Easton Middle School, have three children under the age of 6 — Zachary, Anna and Antonia — all of whom one day will attend Oliver Ames. “This was an opportunity to go (back) to where we live and build something up,” Sperrazza said, “so that hopefully when my kids get to high school they can have the same experience I had at Mansfield High, where Friday nights under the lights were very special.”
Sperrazza said he plans to double up as the offensive coordinator at OA. He hasn’t filled out his staff yet and acknowledges that being in charge of everything as the head guy will be a big change. Still …
“It’s the same being a quarterback as being a head coach – you gotta lead by example,” he said. “When you’re in the huddle, you have 10 sets of eyes looking at you. They’ve got to believe in you. It’s the same as being a head coach.”
OA will kick off the 2024 season by hosting Archbishop Williams on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. Week 6 will feature another Homecoming of sorts as Sperrazza brings his new program back to Mansfield to face the Hornets on Friday, Oct. 18. Mansfield beat OA, 49-0, last season and by a 35-0 score in 2022.
“We want to keep it competitive and give it everything we’ve got,” Sperrazza said. “That’s the plan. Mansfield is a great program, and that’s our goal – to one day be like them and have that sustained success. It’s going to take a lot of time and effort and energy. But I’m excited. It’s a (tall) task. It’s a big goal. But I’m going to attack it with everything I have.”