Editor’s Note: Will Nahan, the head football coach who also teaches health and PE, was recently named Randolph High School’s Teacher of the Year. Among his other accolades, Coach Nahan was also named the 2022 Morris County Football Association Coach of the Year and the Lou Rettino High School Coach of the Week (for Week 8 of the 2022 season) by the New York Giants. RHS Senior James Fusco, who recently completed four years of playing football for the high school, shared his thoughts on his treasured football coach and mentor with Rampage.

I have known Coach Nahan for about four years now. Freshman year, Coach Nahan introduced himself to our team, and honestly, it was the scariest experience for me. I was 5’4” and around 125 pounds. Standing in front of our whole team was a 6’0 230-pound man. I thought I would have the worst time during football, because from the looks of him, I thought we were in for heavy training and a lot of yelling during the season.

I quickly learned that I could not have been more wrong. Coach Nahan is the most personable man I know, and he truly has knowledge that no other teacher in the school has. Early on, before he was even my coach, I learned that his main goal was not only to make us better football players, but also to make us better men.

Personally, I feel that I fulfilled this goal, both on and off the field, beyond what I had even thought possible at first. From the lessons Coach Nahan teaches us, to the advice he gives us and the positive attitude he holds us accountable for every single day, Coach Nahan has had a tremendous impact on our team. The best part about him is that his message not only spreads throughout the football team, but transfers into the classroom as well. This year, I’ve had the pleasure of having him as a teacher in gym and health, and I have yet to hear other students say one bad thing about him in school.

On top of his many responsibilities at RHS, Coach Nahan recently had a baby. Everyone knows how difficult it is for the first couple of months when a child is born. Any average person I know would make excuses for why they can’t show up to work, or why they can’t make a practice.

Not Coach Nahan. Coach would make sure everything scheduled for the day was completed on time. It was so cool to see Coach Nahan, now a father, being able to balance his whole day, and keep everyone he knows happy. Adapting his attitude from just changing a diaper to leading a great day of practice encompasses many of his morals and teachings. He teaches leadership, kindness and best of all, how to keep it real.

I was honored to have Coach Nahan as my football coach, and I am proud to say he is a role model for every single person on our team, coaches included. The positive effect that he’s had on me is unmatched by any other person I know, and I am sure I will apply all the lessons that I have learned to the rest of my life. It was great to see all his work pay off when he won Coach of the Year during the season. It was even better seeing that others recognized the work that he put in within the classroom, being awarded Teacher of the Year.

Thank you, Coach, for being someone that I look up to, and someone I strive to be like in the future.