By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
TIOGA CENTER — New Tioga football coach Jake Howland and his coaching staff were surprised by Nick Aiello's resignation this spring, and realize there's pressure of expectations that comes with the job of following in the footsteps of a five-time state championship coach.
The Tioga roots run deep for Howland and his coaching staff. Howland played on Aiello's first three state semifinal teams (2011-13), while Spires, who graduated in 2013, was a standout on the 2011 and '12 teams.
Hutchinson, who graduated in 2018, is the only one with a state championship ring as a player. He was the starting quarterback and defensive end on the 2015 state title team, and was on the 2017 Section IV title team.
Worthing played on the Section IV title team and state semifinalist in 2017, and was the starting QB on the 2018 team that also reached the state semis.
Aiello's resignation this spring caught everyone off-guard.
"It was definitely a roller coaster of emotions from hearing coach Aiello break the news to us ... that was a tough pill to swallow, but obviously we understand now.
"And then all the talking back-and-forth between us coaches, you know, who's going to take it, who wants to do it? Nobody," said Howland with a laugh.
"We are seeing a lot of commitment from the guys," added Howland. "There's been lot of buy-in and it's been a lot of fun so far."
"It was definitely a surprise," said Hutchinson. "I knew he wasn't going to be coaching forever, but it was still a surprise.
"I'm definitely happy for Coach Aiello for all he's accomplished, and that now he'll have more time for his family.
"The three of us having been working on the staff for the last few years," added Hutchinson. "We talked about it for quite some time, and made sure everything was in place, and everyone knew what their role would be, so that way everything could be facilitated the easiest."
"When Nick (Aiello) told us I was in disbelief," said Spires. "We had just finished talking about our plans for the spring and summer schedule, and (coach Aiello) follows it up with, 'And, I'm going to be hanging it up.'
"It was quite a surprise, to say the least, and within the next 10 minutes, we found out Coach Mac (Adam Macauley) and coach (Jordan) Hathaway were also stepping down. At that point, we're like 'this is for real.'"
Tioga senior Jackson Bombard, who started at quarterback last season for the state championship team, said it wasn't just the coaches who were surprised.
"A lot of the boys were stunned," he said. "It was a big surprise to a lot of us, who were not expecting it.
But, he talked to us. He reassured all of us about the system he's built," noted Bombard. "He's been building that system since the first day he stepped in as head coach.
"He has the team-first mentality, and it's a system he can pass on to the new coaches, especially since they all played for him," added Bombard.
Bombard said he and his teammates are going to use the coaching change as an opportunity.
"It sucks that it's my senior year ... we wanted to finish it out with him," he said. "We've been with him since we were freshmen, we got to go along with him on those state championship runs.
"Now that it's over, it's pretty sad, but we got through that first part of the emotion and realized we need to set the tone for Coach Howland's career.
"We get to dictate how he starts his career," added Bombard. "We're excited for a new coach and new ideas. We're pretty excited to get going."
Aiello coached the Tigers to five state titles, and 12 Section IV titles, winning both in 2025. Does Howland and his coaching staff feel pressure in filling his shoes?
"There's tons of pressure for multiple reasons," said Howland. "Of course, the coaching change, and then the team that we've been left ... we have just incredible talent, and a veteran squad, a lot of juniors and seniors, and a couple of them have a couple championship rings already.
"So, they've kind of been there and done that, which I think helps because they understand, having been there and done that, they understand what it takes to get back there and achieve those goals," noted Howland.
"So there is a ton of pressure, I suppose, knowing that we have a very talented team coming back, but football is a game of moments," he said. "So we just have to take it one moment at a time, one game at a time, and I'm not thinking about the state championship right now. It really is just week-to-week.
"There is a good amount of pressure," said Spires. "It comes with the success of last year, and you multiply that by the success of the coaching staff over the last decade-plus ... the pressure is definitely there, but the amount of support we've received from the former coaching staff, the community, the parents, and the kids already in our first week of summer workouts, and there's been a pretty good turnout, has helped a great deal.
"There is pressure, but with all that being said, we have a lot of great support to help mitigate that to help us have a successful season," he added.
Hutchinson has a slightly different take on it.
"We obviously have big shoes to fill, there's no way around that, but like Jake (Howland) said, 'we just have to be ourselves, none of us can try to be coach Aiello or coach Mac.'
"We just need to take what they taught us, and use that to the best of our ability, and take what we know and implement that," he noted.
"We have a good group of guys coming back, so we're excited," added Hutchinson. "Instead of pressure, I would say we're feeling more excitement heading into the season."
"I think what helps is they understand the message and the message to them so far has been 'the only thing changing about this program is the name, the name they're going to see in the paper, and in these interviews,'" said Howland. "We'd be silly to go in and try to do our own thing or change what Coach Aiello has been building for years.
"I think they understand that we're not going to go in and try to reinvent the wheel and make things silly.
We're just gonna do what we know works and what we've been taught as players and coaches," noted Howland. "And, we all have the same goal that we've always had. So we're going to keep doing what we can to good at.
Howland also believes the team could use the coaching change as motivation.
"They've shown up and get to work," he said. "They are super motivated already on our summer lifts ... you can just see it in their attitude and the way they carry themselves.
"I could see how it'd be easy for some kids that don't take this sport as seriously to be like, 'oh, well, we got a new coach. It's not Mr. Aiello' and maybe take the foot off the gas a little bit and see how this new guy is'" note Howland. "I haven't seen one of them do that. They seem arguably even more excited than before.
Tioga opens the season Sept. 5 against Delhi as part of its annual season-opening doubleheader at Waverly's Memorial Stadium.
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IN PHOTO: Tioga's Jake Howland.
