Often in sports, change can be scary. When a team faces a situation with a fresh face taking over at the helm, an adjustment period is inevitable. The Morgan/Old Saybrook/Westbrook co-op football team is ready and excited for its next chapter as it welcomes Casey Trasacco to the gridiron as its new head coach.

Casey began coaching high school football in 2014 at Danbury High School, where he originally served as the assistant coach and then later as the varsity offensive coordinator.

“After those couple of years, in 2017 I accepted a job at Southern Connecticut State University as the assistant wide receivers coach and offensive quality control coach,” Casey says. “I was there for two seasons, and in the summer of 2019, I took a job as the visual coordinator at Yale University for one season. In 2021, I became special teams quality control coach and assistant outside linebackers coach. I took a year off from coaching and volunteered at Yale when I had time. Last year, I was the defensive coordinator at Foran High School.”

Casey notes that he has always wanted to be a head coach for a high school football team. Now that he has this job, he expresses that he is looking forward to having a better work/life balance.

“My father was a high school coach, and I was around him when I was about five or six years old. It has always been something that I wanted to do,” says Casey. “The co-op seemed like a great opportunity. I have heard good things about them, and there seems to be a lot of pride in all three towns. It is not a big team, it’s about 40 to 45 kids, which is a great start as a head coach.”

Casey not only brings with him a lot of experience on both sides of the field, but he also has a strong coaching staff around him. Pat Dougherty will be joining the Morgan staff this upcoming fall as the defensive coordinator, linebackers, and wide receivers coach. Last fall, Dougherty was a coach at Hillhouse High School, and he looks forward to working with Casey.

“I hope my guidance helps the players reach their potential. I’m focused on bringing energy and the desire to win to each practice. Having someone like Coach Trasacco to work under lets me narrow my focus and be well-prepared for the players,” says Dougherty. “He’s done a great job making our responsibilities clear. I’ve been impressed with how he leads and gives feedback; he has the personality to be a great leader. He has us all excited to contribute to this team.”

Additionally, Dougherty knows that Casey brings a strong personality with the ability to capture the attention of everyone in the room, and he has already started to make his mark on the program.

“Coach Trasacco has been a great leader of our coaches and players. He commands the entire room’s attentiveness, and his message is consistent and well thought out,” says Dougherty. “I’m sure his past experiences helped create a vision for the MSW program. He’s done a great job of getting the players ready for the challenging work ahead.”

Prior to the fall season starting, Casey has already met with some of the players who have been doing weightlifting and conditioning, and mandatory training camp will begin on Thursday, Aug. 15.

“It has been good for me because I get to meet the players and coaches. Players also get to know the coaching staff as well,” says Casey. “For right now, I am looking forward to the fluidity with the all the players and let them get to know me, see what I expect, and instill a culture into them. It’s a good culture to walk into already, and I can tell that they are a hard-working group, want to be there, and all are excited to play football.”

As Casey and the co-op move closer to training camp that is just a few weeks away, he looks forward to not only starting this new role as head coach, but also guiding the players into becoming young adults.

“Going forward, I just want to play some smart and sound football; I want the kids to have fun. I want them to be successful on and off the field - that is my main goal,” Casey says. “Not everyone can go onto playing college football, and it is a lot harder going onto playing professionally. As long as they are enjoying playing high school athletics, growing as young adults, and seeing what it takes to be successful in all aspects of life, and winning football games. it is very rewarding, and I feel like I am doing my job by doing that.”

Casey is assisted by Dougherty, Jimmy Lewis (head junior varsity coach, offensive and defensive line coach), John Harkins (assistant offensive and defensive line coach), and Alex Trasacco (defensive assistant and defensive backs coach).