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AIPROPX ReportYahoo Sports · 1h ago
Longtime Pelham football coach Babaian brings championship caliber to Bedford
Tom Babaian already sees a similarity between his current state championship football team and his previous one.
Babaian, who built Pelham High School into a football power and spent the past two years as Pinkerton Academy’s offensive coordinator, is now the head coach of defending NHIAA Division I champion Bedford High School.
The Bulldogs, like Babaian’s Pelham players, are willing to work.
“It’s always a joy when you get to coach kids that want to get better and they’re not just happy to be there, which is great for me because that’s what I built my program on in Pelham and trying to build it here,” said Babaian, who was hired at Bedford in April.
Babaian stepped down at Pelham in 2023 following his 24th season as head coach and the program’s fourth straight state title (two in Division III, two in Division II). The Pythons were also on a 41-game winning streak that extended to 47 games before they lost to Trinity during the 2024 regular season.
Babaian, 56, succeeds Zach Matthews, who resigned earlier this year after winning three Division I titles (2022, 2023, 2025) over six seasons at Bedford. Matthews is now the head football coach and assistant athletic director at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia.
Every coach has their own approach and style, but from talking to people in town, Babaian feels that he and Matthews have a lot in common. For Bedford’s returning players, those commonalities between coaches have made the transition a smooth one.
Like Babaian’s Pelham teams, Bedford will be physical, disciplined and possess a high football IQ, he said.
“That’s the base of every football program I’ve been associated with that’s been good is we’re always tough and disciplined,” Babaian said. “I think that’s how you have to be if you want to be successful.”
Babaian, a Salem resident, will not operate exactly how he did while at Pelham, though. As Babaian put it, he learned from the master, legendary Pinkerton coach Brian O’Reilly, for the past two seasons.
O’Reilly is the state’s all-time winningest high school football coach and has led the Astros to 12 state titles since taking over the program during the 1978 season.
While Babaian was on staff at Pinkerton, the Astros won the 2024 Division I title and finished runner-up to Bedford last year.
Babaian, who also guided Pelham to consecutive Division V titles (2007, 2008), said O’Reilly taught him how to best approach running a big program day to day.
“Any time you get to work with someone like Brian O’Reilly — him or (Exeter coach) Bill Ball, somebody of that stature — it doesn’t matter how many years you’ve been coaching, you learn a lot,” Babaian said.
Bedford lost two prolific offensive players — running back Brody Helton and quarterback Bennett Matthews (Zach’s son) — to graduation, but the Bulldogs still have bountiful talent.
Bedford returns several experienced players, including Brayden Calkins, a senior captain and guard/linebacker, senior wide receiver/safety Brycen D’Urso, senior tight end/linebacker Camden Santos, senior tight end/defensive end Zane Beskar and junior running back/linebacker Cody Beyer.
The Bulldogs will look a lot different than last year’s title team this fall, but Babaian doesn’t want his players to focus on the past.
NHIAA football teams can begin practicing next Friday.
“My first speech to the kids when I got the job was all about that,” Babaian said. “I learned from my experience in Pelham, nobody cares about what you did before. They only care about what you’re gonna do this season — and then after that it’s going to be the following season.”
Romps replaces Moreno as Bedford boys basketball coach
Manchester Central graduate and former Dover High boys basketball coach Mike Romps is Bedford’s new boys basketball coach.
Romps, who coached Dover from 2001-2016, replaces Frank Moreno, who led Bedford to its first two state championships over his five-year tenure.
Moreno resigned because he felt he could no longer fulfill the time commitment it takes to lead a program.
Romps, who led Dover to the Class L final in 2003 and 2005, is Bedford’s sixth boys basketball coach since the high school opened in 2007.
Alongside his tenure at Dover, Romps has previously coached at Tilton School, Keene State College, the University of New Hampshire and now-defunct Daniel Webster College.
Longtime PelhamBabaianBedfordTom BabaianPelham High SchoolPinkerton Academy’sNHIAA Division IBedford High SchoolThe BulldogsBabaian’s PelhamIt’sPelham
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