Trey Lovell scores in overtime, Franklin teammate Will Klawson shows sportsmanship against Belmont
Trey Lovell scores in overtime, Franklin teammate Will Klawson shows sportsmanship against Belmont in MIAA football playoffs
MetroWest Daily News
Nick Goldman is in a good position to learn from one of the state’s best mentors and even works in the same office that Fran Bositis once occupied.
Goldman and Bositis shared the same sideline for nine seasons as the latter led Franklin Boys Soccer for an incredible 53 years. The former was 21 when he first joined the team in 2013 and thought Bositis might be ready to retire soon.
“That was before I knew who Fran was,” Goldman said recently. “After getting to know him and knowing he was far from finished, I was just very fortunate to be able to learn from him.”
The former Franklin JV (9 years) and Nipmuc varsity (2 years) coach was named to succeed Bositis when he announced his retirement in May. Goldman, father of a 5-week-old daughter, Madison, is only Franklin’s third coach since Gordon McClay started the program in 1970.
Bositis, who won 532 games in his career, laid the foundation on which Goldman now wants to continue to build.
“I’ve had a lot of conversations with Fran,” Goldman said. “I know how he liked to do things. I know his values and his style, and those things are really important. I feel like I’m starting from a really good starting point with the program he’s built over the last 50 years.”
Goldman, who grew up in South Windsor, Connecticut, played football at Endicott College, where he also earned his teaching certificate. He is a physical education teacher at Horace Mann Middle School in Franklin and works in Bositis’ former office.
Milestone victory: Legendary Franklin football coach Fran Bositis earns his 500th career win
The most important value he learned from Bositis is loyalty.
“The most important thing is the way he taught the game and life lessons through the game,” Goldman said. “You have to put the players first and show them that you care about them as individuals and want the best for them on and off the field. I want that to be at the forefront.”
Franklin’s captains are seniors Garrett Scagliarini, Matt Honekamp and Wyatt Herndon, who all played under Goldman as freshmen. That familiarity will help in the transition from legend to rookie.
“I don’t have to start from scratch and redo everything. It’s mostly about building and tweaking,” Goldman said. “My goal is to play really good football. I want us to have more possession than the other team in every game and I’m really confident we have the guys who can do that. And if we don’t have it, we’ll work hard to get it back.”
Franklin entered the postseason last fall undefeated (13-0-5) before losing to eventual Division 1 finalist Needham in the quarterfinals. The contest was Bositis’ last game. The torch is in Goldman’s hands and he expects his team to continue to play with fire.
“I hope our identity as a team stays the same: that we work hard every day, that we’re consistent — and the teams we play against worry about that,” he said. “That we don’t give up, that we’re in every game. Those are things I hope stay true, and I feel like they’re already true for Franklin football.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @TimDumas.
