By Eric Avidon/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News


Thom Boerman was there near the beginning.

He was there when the Bentley football team wasn't yet varsity, when it played on the club level. He was there through the glory years, when Algonquin's Dallas Mall and Mark Eddy were making a mockery of Northeast-10 defenses. He was there last year, when the Falcons came back to the pack and, at 5-6, were merely mediocre.

The Maynard resident has been a coach at Bentley for 23 seasons, and is preparing for his 24th. But this one is different. Those first 23 years were all spent as an assistant, most working with the defensive backs and the last one as defensive coordinator. There were also 10 years as director of football operations to go along with his assistant coaching duties.

They were all spent under the leadership of Peter Yetten. Not this one, though. This time, Boerman is the head coach, promoted after Yetten retired last fall following 30 seasons.

He's making some changes now that he's the head coach, though keeping a measure of continuity on both sides of the ball as well.

"It's easy to say that because I was a defensive guy we'll keep things the same, but ... there will be a lot of differences," said Boerman. "We're keeping the same fundamental terminology, but we're changing to match our talent. On offense, Bentley has a reputation for a high-scoring offense - I don't know that we'll be able to put 40 points on someone like we used to because the league is better, so we'll make changes and be a bit more of a ball-control team.

"We had low rushing production last year, only about 50 yards per game, so we'll run more."

Boerman is prepared for head coaching, but it's a new experience. There are challenges, pressures he never faced as an assistant, and therein lies the crux of the jump from assistant to leader.

"I'm obviously responsible for everything now," said Boerman. "I had a piece of the responsibility pie before, but now I have to know more about everything. ... As an assistant I had the luxury of having an opinion, but as a head coach I'm the guy that's responsible.

"My decisions have to be the right ones."

But while there are new challenges, because of the past 23 years Boerman has a huge advantage over anyone from the outside who may have come to Bentley to carry on the tradition begun under Yetten. He has a familiarity with the university few others have, and it's been a tremendous advantage in the transition of the team from Yetten to Boerman.

"When I took the job (in December) I said it was the same train but with a new engineer," said Boerman. He added, "I'm fortunate that I was the director of football operations, so I'm very familiar with the administrative side of things - dealing with the registrar's office, the admissions department, the academic support staff. I've had my fingers on a lot over the years, and that part of the transition has been easy because I was in the system.

The strength of hiring someone who's been in-house for 23 years is that they know the college well.

A challenge, however, was hiring a staff, hiring people he thought would work well with one another but not knowing whether he was right until they all started to actually interact.

"I was able to hire guys that work well together," said Boerman. "The chemistry has been great, but that was the biggest challenge. I'm very lucky it's worked out the way it did."

Boerman plans to keep many things the same as they were under Yetten, but he realizes things have changed in the Northeast-10 and that the Falcons need to evolve if they're going to reclaim their place at the top. He's relinquished control of the defense, and the offense will be a bit different than it was under Yetten.

And while Boerman has the last word on anything that's planned for the team, his style will be to oversee while allowing the coordinators autonomy.

"I'll let the coordinators do their thing," he said. "I've given them a lot of responsibility to develop and design their systems and call their plays. I'm more of an overseer, a macro-manager. I delegate most things, but I do see what's going on. I don't like to look over people's shoulder, but I'll say something if I have a strong opinion.

"I've got great assistant coaches, and they've made my job so much easier. I take advantage of the fact that they're talented men."

Boerman's first on-field experience as head coach took place over the last couple of months as the Falcons went through spring practice. He asked one thing of his players, which was complete commitment. He got it, and because of what he saw he has high hopes for the coming season.

Bryant Johnson, who just a few short years ago was a star at Milford High, will lead the offense at quarterback, and the offensive line came together quickly.

"I'm not trying to be better than Peter Yetten, but I will be committed to the team and I expect the same commitment," said Boerman. "They've bought right in. They've attacked the weight room, and attendance has been 100 percent. They're so committed to getting the team going in the right direction.

"The quarterback is the key, and Bryant Johnson looked terrific in spring practice. ... I'm pleased with his progress. The offensive line is coming together with a new blocking scheme, and their production was good in the spring game. And I'm pleased that the defense has bought into a new system that's more complicated."

Though Boerman lives in Maynard and is readying for his 24th season as a coach at Bentley, he didn't begin his life in football nearby. Boerman grew up in Michigan and went to Ferris State to play linebacker and tight end. Knee injuries limited his college career, and four surgeries long before the easiness of today's procedures ultimately ended his playing days. Boerman joined the Navy after college, and after his service was complete he moved to Massachusetts to take a job in telecommunications.

He started coaching at Millbury High while working that job in telecom, serving as the offensive coordinator. Then Boerman got hired as an IT expert, and decided to reach out to Yetten and offer his services as an assistant coach.

Twenty-three years later, that simple act of getting in touch with Yetten has led to this moment, this new opportunity. That simple act now has Boerman head of his own team, hoping to carry on the tradition he helped begin while working alongside Yetten.

"I've been given a wonderful opportunity," said Boerman. "I'm blessed to work at a terrific university for my first head coaching job. I enjoy the kids, and I enjoy the assistant coaches, and it's good assistants that make a good head coach.

"I've been given the keys to a heckuva car. I just hope to do Peter Yetten and the kids justice."