Maxwell Named Head Football Coach at Hoosac Valley

CHESHIRE, Mass. – The new head football coach at Hoosac Valley Regional High School brings ties to the program’s past and a passion about continuing the success the Hurricanes have achieved in recent years.

 

Marshall Maxwell is returning to his alma mater this fall, the school announced on Wednesday morning.

 

The 1994 Hoosac Valley graduate was a member of the 1992 Super Bowl Championship team and both played and coached under legendary coach Joe Alcaro. He went on to a successful career in the Division II University of New Haven program, where he twice was named all-ECAC.

 

But on Tuesday morning, Maxwell’s first thought was about all the non-football success that came from his involvement with the sport.

 

“That [Hoosac Valley] program, in the early ‘90s, did so much for me,” Maxwell said. “I may have been on a wayward path when I was a freshman at Hoosac Valley. Joe Alcaro being right in the school and the head football coach got me on the correct path.

 

“There was such an amount of pride being part of that program.”

 

Today, Maxwell works in the Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office.

 

He was a defensive assistant for 10 years at Williams College in addition to coaching in the Hurricanes program, and he currently is the varsity boys lacrosse coach at McCann Tech.

 

“The Hoosac Valley program really set me up for the next step when I went to college and played football, not only athletically … but also academically,” Maxwell said. “The school district put me in a good position to go away to college. I was in a prime position to thrive.

 

“From the academic standpoint, I can’t give back to the community. I’m not a teacher. But, athletically, it feels good to give back to the kids in the community, especially the football program.”

 

Maxwell inherits a program that, under previous head coach Mike Bostwick, went to the Division 8 State Semi-Finals last fall.

 

Hoosac Valley Athletic Director Jeff Puleri said there was no shortage of candidates to choose from when the search committee started looking at resumes.

 

““We were blessed with an outstanding pool of talented candidates, one that made our job as a committee difficult,” Puleri said in a news release announcing the hiring.  “The talented pool speaks volumes about the Hurricane Football program and the passion it brings to the entire Adams/Cheshire community.”

Maxwell said that he has been thinking about returning to the football sideline for some time, and now is the right time for him to make the move.

 

“It was always pulling at me,” he said. “Last year, on a handful of days, I helped [McCann Tech coach] John LeClair with a couple of practices. I was always involved with conversations with local high school coaches. It’s been a yearning.

 

“I’m finally in a position with my personal life with my family – one of my children is out of high school, my son’s a junior at McCann – where my time is freeing up and I can give it the time and attention that being a head football coach demands.”

 

Maxwell acknowledged the elephant in the room for a lot of high school sports in Berkshire County, particularly football: declining numbers.

 

But he said he is fortunate to have strong connections to the successful youth program in Adams/Cheshire and is ready to continue the work of building the sport.

 

“Jeremy Levesque is the vice president of the youth league,” Maxwell said. “He was on the staff with Mike Bostwick, and I have every intention of keeping him if he wants to remain on the staff. He’s a great all-around guy, willing to do anything for the program from the youth league to the high school level.

 

“[Former Hoosac Valley varsity coach] Dayne Poirot is the president of the youth league. I coached him when he was a player at Hoosac. I know the love he has for the Hoosac Valley program and Adams/Cheshire football in general. … He’s a guy I’ve been good friends with for two and a half decades.”

 

Maxwell said that he has his first meeting with Hoosac Valley’s returning players on Thursday afternoon. The good news is that he is not a stranger to many of them.

 

“A lot of them know me simply from being the McCann coach for lacrosse,” he said. “It will be good to sit down and talk with them. They know me just from that. They don’t know me as a Hoosac Valley football alum and the love I have for that program.

 

“I’m excited about it. I’m going to go and show them: This is who I am, this is what my core values are and this is why I’m here.”