NEEDHAM – For the second year in a row, many of the state’s best and brightest football players were on display at the Massachusetts High School Football Media Day.
Players and coaches from 20 MIAA programs ventured to the Homewood Suites on Friday to discuss the 2026 season. The teams were split into two groups of 10, with each group getting 90 minutes with local and statewide media members.
The programs ranged from Cape Cod to Western Mass. and included several defending state champions, as well as multiple programs that could jump into that conversation this fall.
The day was put together by Recruiting Board’s Alex Agrella, who said that the response from the 2025 event was very positive.
“I’m so happy we were able to do it,” Agrella said. “The state needs it, I thought it was really important to bring this to Massachusetts and for year two I just wanted to make it better. I wanted to give the kids a great experience and an exclusive experience.”
The first media day was held outside at Needham High School and featured 16 programs. Agrella said the move inside was to not have weather impact the event and that staggering the times allowed teams to have greater exposure to media members.
Among the school’s in attendance was Central Catholic, which is coming off of an 8-4 season and returns key players like quarterback Caden Smith and lineman Brian Waller-Reitano. The Raiders will have a new coach, however, as John Dubzinski took over for John Sexton.
Dubzinski said that he is eager to get with the veteran group.
“It’s an honor and a privilege,” Dubzinski said of taking the position. “It’s been a combination of them helping me out with the transition as well as me coaching them. I can lean on them, they’ve been great.”
Smith said that the flow from 2025 was not interrupted by the coaching change and that the group is focused on building off the successful season.
“Same old, same old,” Smith said of the approach. “We’re trying not to change much, obviously a big change at head coach but we’re trying to bring back as many things from last year as we can culture-wise, team-wise. Keeping that culture was a huge part of our success last year.”
The team that ended the Raiders’ season in 2025, St. John’s Prep, has big plans for 2026. The Eagles reached the Div. 1 state championship game but fell to rival Xaverian. Head coach Brian St. Pierre said his squad has a long memory.
“I don’t think those things ever leave you,” St. Pierre said. “I think that was the motivation for the offseason, and we’ve had a great offseason. Hopefully we’ll bring that into the preseason and keep building on it.”
Star wide receiver Riley Selvais said the players have worked out hard all offseason and that the upcoming season has been on his mind since last season ended in December.
“It’s the time we wait for all year,” Selvais said. “It’s a blessing and we’ve been working hard all summer, so we’re excited and we can’t wait to get going to the first practice.”
St. John’s Prep is looking to snag the title, but defending champion Xaverian has no intention of giving it back. Head coach Al Fornaro said his team has put the last three seasons in the past and is focused on adding a fourth straight Agganis Trophy to the school’s case.
“What’s done is over, that was last year’s team,” Fornaro said of the mindset. “They want to set their own standard for the program.”
Quarterback Will Wood said the Hawks have focused a lot of the summer on instilling the program’s culture in the developing players.
“We want to make sure the young guys coming in understand the expectations and what we need to do to keep going,” Wood said. “I think adjusting to the speed of the game, especially for the underclassmen, is going to be a really important thing.”
Another notable coaching change came to defending Div. 3 champion King Phillip, which saw head coach Brian Lee step down after 21 seasons. New head coach Anthony Vizakis, who was previously an assistant coach, said he is excited for his opportunity.
“Big shoes to fill for sure,” Vizakis said. “But the opportunity was something that I really wanted. I wanted to coach this team, and filling in for Coach Lee is a great opportunity. I’m really excited about it.”
With the second event in the rearview mirror, Agrella said the goal for year three is even more exposure.
“I think next year we will do it bigger,” Agrella said. “I want to get more teams and maybe change the structure of it a bit but not too much. It’s just about getting a bigger venue space; that will be the goal.”
