Football Media Day Spotlights Local Teams, ‘Elevates’ Player Profiles
August 14, 2025
• On Wednesday afternoon, dozens of jersey-clad high school athletes spilled onto Memorial Field. Their sights were set on the Friday night lights.
With less than a month before kickoff, sixteen high school football teams across central and eastern Massachusetts attended a media day in Needham, organized by Recruiting Board. The Needham Rockets, alongside rival Wellesley and other neighboring teams, spoke with news organizations about the upcoming season.
Bringing the event to Needham felt like a no-brainer for Alex Agrella, founder of Recruiting Board. He attended his first Needham football game in 2023, at the behest of local fans, and was drawn to the loyal, passionate fanbase.
“First and foremost, I love this town. I love this community,” Agrella said.
As a content creator, Agrella attends football games most Friday and Saturday nights, taking videos and conducting interviews. “Ultimately, I’m trying to watch the best football in all of New England, and I will go drive for that,” he said.
He hasn’t traveled far to catch games at Memorial Field, and he’s spotlighted Needham players on his social media.
Rockets Coach Doug Kopcso said the posts boost Needham’s reputation and build up its players. Hosting the event on home turf — and showing off the hill — presented an exciting opportunity for the team ahead of their first game, he said.
“I think when you can break down those barriers so that you get to see your opponent in a different light and see him as other high school kids, it can help when it comes to things like sportsmanship and that respect that you always want your kids going into every game with,” Kopcso told Needham Local. “I think it’s great, and it’s a chance to bring everybody together [and] elevates the profile of these kids.”
Needham went undefeated last year until the state championship, where they lost to Xaverian 14-7. Three key players — Aidan Williams, Will McDonald and Charlie Simeone — were recruited to play Division 1 football, and with other seniors graduating, the lineup this year looks very different.
Quarterback Tyler Langford, a rising senior at Needham High School, reminisced on the past season and a memorable experience playing at Gillette Stadium. This will be his tenth year of football, he told The Needham Channel.
Entering his final year as a Rocket, Langford said he and his teammates are excited to hit the field.
“We have a lot of young guys that have really good promise, and I think they’ve all been working really hard,” he said. “So, I have really high expectations for this year, and I think we can achieve those by working hard every day.”
The Wellesley Raiders competed in the division 2 state semifinals last year, ultimately falling to Catholic Memorial. During the off-season, Wellesley Head Coach Jesse Davis said the focus has been on recovery.
For Wellesley senior Matthew Leibman, a wide receiver, the Needham-Wellesley Thanksgiving game is still a way’s away.
“I’m super excited about that, but honestly right now… I’m not worrying about that,” he said during a broadcast by The Needham Channel. “I’m focused on Framingham, and we’re just going to keep getting better every day until we can reach our full potential by then, which I hope we do.”
The media day also attracted other Bay State Conference teams, including Natick, Walpole, Weymouth and Milton, as well as neighboring private schools Needham faced in last year’s playoffs.
Agrella said he hoped the event could connect high school football programs with local media organizations to provide additional sports coverage, but also to “give these guys an experience of a lifetime.”
His overarching goal is to raise the profile of football in the region.
“To me, Massachusetts is a football state,” Agrella said in an interview with Needham Local. “People say, ‘You can’t do this because there’s hockey, you can’t do this because there’s basketball. You can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ And I say, why not?”
Needham will host its annual media day next Thursday, ahead of a scrimmage with Newton North scheduled for Aug. 23.
Kopcso said he and the Rockets are poised to have another impressive run.
“Super pumped, super pumped. We got great kids, great leadership,” he said. “Everyone’s competing, everyone’s building that cohesion right now, so it’s a great time of the year.”
Needham Football will play its first regular season game at Milton on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. The team’s home opener against Natick is set for Friday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m.
For more from the Massachusetts High School Football Media Day, watch The Needham Channel’s coverage below:
