For Mr. Najarian, New Athletic Director, “Culture is Key”

Mr. Najarian first stepped on the Middlesex campus 18 years ago on a recruiting trip. When he drove onto the circle, he was “completely blown away” and remarked, “God, I’d love to be back at this place someday.” Middlesex now welcomes Mr. Najarian as the new athletic director

For Mr. Najarian, sports have always been an important part of his life. Growing up, he watched his father coach at the collegiate level. He was also a dedicated athlete, playing baseball in both high school and college. Following college, he knew he did not want to leave the sports world, a place that had taught and given him so much, so he got a job at Brandeis University, working alongside his old coach. There, he was “working a lot of hours and learning everything about what coaching was, and he fell in love with it.”

After coaching for 12 years, he realized that he wanted a job that required less traveling, so he took up an opportunity as athletic director at Foxboro high school. Shifting from coaching to athletic director was a big transition, but he worked with great mentors and amazing people who helped him find his way in this new job. He then took a job as athletic director and freshman baseball coach at Catholic Memorial where he led a successful program for eight years. Mr. Najarian reflects that he “had a great great run there, a fun chapter. It has been almost a decade, so it was a big transition leaving a lot of friends, but I’m excited about this new chapter [at Middlesex].”

At Middlesex, Mr. Najarian is excited for the upcoming year, remarking that there are “a hundred things [he’s] looking forward to, but most importantly, [he’s looking forward to] just being a part of a community, working with really great people, meeting the students, and building those relationships.” He also looks forward to “having his family near [him] when [he is doing] his job,” a new experience for him. In regards to the athletic program, he has worked hard all summer and at “this point in the year, [he] just wants all [the students] to come back.”

Mr. Najarian, in directing athletic programs, strongly values culture and community. He is approaching the upcoming year with a commitment to building a culture where all student-athletes and coaches feel supported. He had a “magical time in high school [sports], and he wants to recreate that for [all the students]. He believes that the way to do that is to “build on the already existing culture and enforce a culture with all the coaches departmentally that trickles down to the most important people, the students.” He strongly values all voices in the community, and therefore, before making any decisions about the athletic department, he wants to “get to know the community, listen a lot, learn how things have been done, get perspectives, and then carve a path forward.” Although Mr. Najarian does not want to make big decisions until he knows the whole Middlesex community, he does know that he wants to build an athletic program where “culture is key.”

Ella Coffin