»RELATED: Snively steps down as Fenwick coach
He brings an impressive 121-59 record in 18 years as a head coach, a role he hasn’t held since 2005.
“I just wasn’t expecting to be a head coach again, but I’m excited,” Aregood said. “The program is in good shape, there are some good coaches on staff. They seem to have good kids and a good amount of talent, plus I live right next to the place, so the big joke is everyone said I should ride my horse to practice. We have horses right next to the Fenwick property line.
“I’m looking forward it. I’m happy to have the opportunity to be a head coach. I don’t have much of an ego anymore, but it’s nice to be in a position to have a positive effect on the lives of the kids.”
»RECRUITING ROUNDUP: Two more area players pick Big Ten schools
Aregood is best known for his 16 years as head coach at his alma mater Franklin, where the Wildcats held the record for most wins (77) in the Mid-Miami League during his tenure from 1984 to 1999. His teams were undefeated MML champions six times, and he left as the school’s winningest coach.
In 2004, after time as an assistant, he returned to a head coaching role at Carlisle for two years, including an undefeated regular season, before spending an additional 10 years combined as an offensive coordinator at Springboro, Middletown and Hamilton.
This is his first year on staff at Fenwick, but most of the staff remains intact despite Snively’s late resignation to end a four-year stint at 31-13.
“He’s an old-school guy with a pretty storied résumé in the MML and the most experienced coach on the staff,” Coleman said of Aregood. “We were in the process of on-boarding him when Joe was coach. Then, when Joe vacated, he was hands-down, realistically the person that could wear the interim coach hat well because of his history and knowledge of the game. Everyone else around him, he’s the veteran coach of the group.”
Aregood said he had offered to work for any of the other assistants if they were hired as interim head coach, but was willing to take on the job when Coleman asked him to do it.
He was set to run the offense under Snively and will still have a heavy hand on that side of the ball, but named Matt Money as offensive coordinator to help him. The two will be implementing a different system this season, using a pistol offense with a mix of the option Aregood used quite a bit in past stints.
“It’s different than what Fenwick has been running, but it’s designed to make things easy for the quarterback and it’s more of a wide-open offense of run and pass and a lot of outside stuff,” Aregood said. “It’s a combination of what I ran at different places. Matt Money and I got together and he’s a good young coach and good mind. We took a little of what I’ve done in the past with the option and added that to the pistol. We’ve got lots of speed, and it helps utilize that. We’re weaving in the option but will feature a quick passing game, which I ran for a lot of years.”
Coleman said Aregood was “ahead of the curve” with what he did at Franklin, and the Falcons are fortunate to have someone already on staff with that kind of experience ready to take over so late in the offseason.
“In lieu of Joe stepping down, we feel we are better off than we thought initially,” Coleman said. “We have a good staff with a mix of young and old and everyone was already in place before Joe stepped down. You don’t always have the luxury of having two head coaches on staff when that happens so it helps, especially considering how late it was.”
Fenwick opens the season Aug. 25 at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy.
»» Coleman also has named a new varsity girls basketball coach, promoting three-year assistant Scott Dalton. Dalton, who also spent seven years as a varsity coach at Middletown, already is the school's track and field head coach and has coached golf as well.
“He’s earned it,” Coleman said. “He’s the type of person that is a great fit for Fenwick. He gets it and understands our mission and our values. He’s respected by the kids and the parents, and sometimes when you have a great person in your community, you want to keep those types of coaches.”
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