Eighteen years ago this fall, Joe Gamache made his debut as a high school head football coach. The wide-eyed, then 25-year-old saw the stars align that Saturday afternoon in Turners Falls, where his Franklin County Technical School squad trailed in the fourth quarter and faced a fourth-and-17. Undaunted, Eagles quarterback Ben Otto found Josh Caisse for a 22-yard touchdown strike that led to a 14-8 victory over Westfield Tech.
One game into his head coaching career, and Gamache thought he had it all figured out — smiling to his adoring fans with a perfect 1-0 record.
“Yeah… I was just a dumb kid,” Gamache recalled with a laugh.
Instead, Franklin Tech didn’t win another game that first year, finishing 1-8 overall.
“When I started, my first year we had about 16 kids on the roster,” said Gamache of the 2002 Eagles. “My goal was to make it through year to year. I wasn’t working in the building at the time, wasn’t sure what was going to happen.”
The Athol native had taken the football coaching job at Franklin Tech after two years as an assistant at Quabbin Regional High School. His path to the Powertown was anything but typical.
“I had said prior that I would never coach at a vocational school in my life,” he recalled.
Fast forward 18 years, and Gamache hasn’t gone anywhere. He’s still wearing his trademark cargo shorts on the sideline for every game, regardless of the weather, and he’s still shaping the lives of student-athletes at Franklin Tech.
And the people at FloSports took notice. Gamache was selected as one of five national finalists for their third annual Hometown Heroes Program presented by Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans. After being nominated earlier this year by former player Tim Fritz, Gamache made the cut of five coaches around the country. FloSports will give out a $25,000 prize to the winner, an award they give annually to the “coach who creates biggest impact on and off the field.”
“It’s a huge honor and it’s been kind of neat to go through the process,” began Gamache of the nomination. “I’m definitely not somebody who… I don’t coach for recognition. I coach because I enjoy working with kids and I like to make an impact. This is an award that definitely honors that so it’s always good to hear that you’re doing something right.”
Many in the community have been following Gamache’s journey throughout the summer, though people will finally have the chance to vote for him today. Fans can visit (www.flolive.tv/video/6562517) beginning today and running through Sept. 30 to vote in the competition. On the website, they can also view the videos produced by the organization for all five finalists.
Gamache was first contacted at the end of June, as the people from FloSports informed him that he had been selected as a finalist. From there, he was asked to put together a list of people from the community that would be willing to speak on his behalf for the ensuing video.
“They were looking for people I felt like I had impacted in some way through coaching,” he offered. “So I had some former athletes, coaches, people from the community who I had interacted with and they had kind of seen me in action.”
Montague Parks & Recreation Director Jon Dobosz was on that list, as was former Recorder sports editor Jason Butynski. FloSports came to Franklin Tech in July and interviewed a slew of Gamache-lauders, compiling about 14 hours of footage that was narrowed down to the five-minute clip for his “highlight” video.
“Initially, I wasn’t too excited to go through all this because it’s not really why I do it,” he began. “But putting some thought into it, (Fritz) took his time to nominate me, I felt I needed to go through the process for that reason. It’s good recognition for the programs that I coach, the school I work at and the area as a whole. It’s a nationwide award, and it brings some recognition to this tiny little area of Massachusetts.
“At this point, I guess I become a bit of a politician and start lobbying for votes,” he continued with a laugh. “Whether people vote for me or someone else, it’s just nice to be considered. Hopefully we’ll get the word out to as many people as possible and see what happens.”
In the way many coaches and athletic directors become synonymous with a particular school, Franklin Tech has become Gamache’s place. He’s in his ninth year as the school’s athletic director, and also coaches the varsity wrestling team in the winter in addition to serving as a physical education teacher. That’s quite a ways away from that 25-year-old who dreamt of football immortality during that first game in 2002.
“I never would’ve guessed I’d be here as long as I have but I’ve grown to love this place,” Gamache said of Franklin Tech. “It’s a second home. Timewise for me, it’s probably close to primary residence at this point.”
Under Gamache’s tutelage, the program has successfully made the move from the Tri-County League to the Intercounty North. The Eagles reached the postseason three consecutive years from 2013-2015, and have become one of the more consistent teams in Franklin County. In his 18th season, he’s closing in on 200 games coached.
“I’m certainly not the oldest coach by age in the league but one of the longer tenured,” he said. “It’s pretty nice to have been here this long, been able to build the program and help our student-athletes grow during their time as Franklin Tech football players.”
And hopefully with the help of eager voters in the community, Gamache’s status in the final five can grow as well.
“A lot of people throughout the community have gotten the word out and it’s been great to see,” he said. “I don’t want to get the cart ahead of the horse. But there seems to be a lot of excitement. People have been reaching out to me and it’s just awesome to see the response, no matter what happens.”