Veteran assistant coach Brian Anderson is now the head honcho for the Gloucester High football team. But he doesn’t plan on changing much schematically.
The Fishermen have a system that works for them; their players are familiarized with it, they’re bought in, and it’s largely what led to their winningest season in nearly a decade last fall.
“We’re right back in our traditional Wing-T offense,” said Anderson, a 2009 GHS graduate who won a Super Bowl with the Fishermen during his playing career. He most recently served as the team’s offensive coordinator before assuming head coaching duties ahead of the 2026 campaign.
While Anderson and his staff — which includes former head coach Dan O’Connor — plan to stick to their guns with the old school style rushing attack, they won’t have the luxury of deploying any of their top trio of backs from a season ago in Jaylen Severino, Thomas Cribbs and Joe Allen. All three have graduated, meaning a new flock of eager athletes are licking their chops in anticipation of an increased role.
Senior captain Cole Mosley-Wynn will assume starting quarterback duties and is certainly capable of churning his feet to move the chains — “He’s really taking command of the huddle and we expect big things out of him this year,” said Anderson. But he’ll also be handing the rock off to a handful of capable candidates looking for breakout seasons.
That includes speedster Nash Marshall, who is also a captain, as well as Elijah Brooks, a basketball standout who made an impact on the field last year as well.
Gloucester will benefit from having numerous athletes come back out for the football team after taking a year off, a reality that should provide a huge boost for the new-look roster.
“Within the backfield we’re still working out some of the newer returnees,” said Anderson. “Nico Alves (the NEC baseball MVP), Connor Oliveira and Will Aaron have been taking a lot of fullback reps; Nash and Elijah are taking first team reps at running back; and wingback is Connor Mahoney and Carlos Velazquez splitting the majority of first team reps. We’re excited about (Tyrone) Middleton fitting in, as well as some of the younger kids, too.
“It’s nice getting back some of these baseball and basketball players and adding some real athleticism to the backfield,” added Anderson.
As intriguing as the Fishermen’s busy backfield is, their top strength may be on the line.
Their entire strong side of the O-line is returning, with all-star senior captain Max Thomas leading the way alongside fellow senior captain and sack king Kaleb Allen. Junior Giuseppe Ferrara, who earned some starts towards the end of last season, also returns at strong guard.
“We have some good continuity with those guys that’s carried over from last year,” said Anderson.
Senior Connor Wagner and John Russo, as well as junior Jake Gucciardi, have garnered the majority of first team reps on the other side of the line, while Tanner Smith and Drew Rodolosi have been showing good things at split end.
Many of Gloucester’s offensive starters will also line up defensively. Anderson says there’s been a lot of competition within the secondary, with freshman Fode Kaba and senior Nick Whitten competing alongside Rodolosi and Velazquez.
There’s plenty of jostling for position and inner-competition amongst the defense, which certainly isn’t a bad thing for a team that’s looking to continue to trend in the right direction in the ever-competitive Northeastern Conference.
“The theme of our camp has been competition,” said Anderson. “We’re trying to get two deep at each position and have them work for it.”