NORTH ANDOVER – Sometimes the best job in the world, which is how John Dubzinski termed his gig as head coach for the North Andover High football team the last decade, has to take a back seat.
Dubzinski, who guided his team to back-to-back Merrimack Valley Conference titles in 2017 and 2018, and a Div. 2 state championship in 2018, says he needs a break to focus on family.
“It’s been a life-long dream being a high school football coach at a school like North Andover High,” said Dubzinski, also a history teacher at the school.
“I know it sounds cliché, but the commitment is massive and it’s important I spend more time with my family,” he said, noting his two children, James (11) and Anna. “To do the job right, it’s a full-time job, including summers. My kids are at important ages of their lives where I need to be around and available more.”
Dubzinski comes from elite football coach stock. His dad and grandfather were both coaching legends in the central Mass., area, including Leominster and Gardner.
He got his start as an assistant with his dad, before becoming head coach at Arlington High from 2011 through 2014 before getting the “plum” job in North Andover.
“The community support in North Andover is through the roof,” he said. “Expectations are high, which I like. It keeps you on your toes. But the kids are great. The youth program in town is great, too. You get great kids who are willing to play for the kid next to them. That doesn’t always happen.”
Those championship teams, led by the likes of Jake McElroy, Gabe DeSouza, Freddy Gabin and Darren Watson, was by far the best collection of talent he had over his decade run.
But beyond talent, there was a camaraderie that keyed the 6-0 Super Bowl win over two-time defending champion and undefeated King Philip that put them over the top.
“I’ll never forget when Darren Watson, who I thought was one of the best running backs in the state, came up to me and said Freddy (Gabin) should play running back and he’d play wideout,” recalled Dubzinski. “That doesn’t happen.”
After the state title win, DeSouza waxed poetic on his coach.
“Coach Dubz has been a father figure to me,” said Scarlet Knights star Gabe DeSouza. “Coach and his family are some of the best people that have ever come into my life. It would take me days to describe everything they have done for me. He will always be my guy.”
Dubzinski said he will remain a teacher at the high school, as will his wife, who teaches first grade at the Sargent School in town.
Would he ever consider returning to the field some day?
“If at some point, my kids are older and everyone is doing well? Maybe,” said Dubzinski. “But this is something I need to do for my family.”
As for the next coach, Dubzinski said that person will be luckier than lucky.
“That next person would inherit great kids and a great athletic director in Steve Nugent, who is so organized and supportive,” said Dubzinski. “The only drawback, if it is a drawback, there is not going to be an easy game on the schedule.”