Boys of Fall
Mike Tomaino Varsity Football
Bryan Dunn Varsity Cross Country
Matt McDonald '85 Varsity Soccer
Getting to Know RL’s Fall Head Coaches—One, Two, and Three Years In Interviews by Erin E. Berg
This fall, Roxbury Latin’s three varsity teams are led by individuals relatively new to their head coaching roles here, but certainly seasoned veterans in their respective sports. In the midst of their first, second, and third seasons respectively at the helm of RL’s soccer, cross country, and football programs are Matt McDonald ’85, Bryan Dunn, and Mike Tomaino. Matt McDonald returned to Roxbury Latin this year as Director of Admission and leads the soccer program. Dr. Bryan Dunn is in his second year as Dean of Faculty and Science Department Chair, and is head of cross country; and Mike Tomaino, head football coach, is in his third year as Director of Summer and Auxiliary Programs with a key role in both the school’s Health and Wellness program and Student Leadership program for Class I. Here all three coaches answer questions about a much-anticipated return to athletics, after a year disrupted by the COVID pandemic. What is your own history with your sport, both as an athlete and as a coach? Matt McDonald: I moved around a lot as a kid, but soccer was
always a constant for me. I loved the sport and could play it
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anywhere. I’ve always enjoyed team sports—being part of a group, the games—but I’ve also always enjoyed the training, the practices, the road trips that come along with being a player, those bonding experiences that you have with one another. [Matt was captain of his RL varsity squad, playing mostly midfield.] That enthusiasm carried over for me as a coach. I began coaching with Paul [Sugg] right after college as his assistant, and—though the role was different—those shared moments were still very much a part of my experience. Coming back to independent schools in 2004, I really wanted to get involved in school life and work with students again. I’ve always found coaching to be a terrific way to do that. [Matt served as assistant varsity coach at both BB&N and Choate.] Bryan Dunn: I started running sophomore year in high school
to stay in shape for baseball. I was trying to get an edge, and my dad suggested running. A bunch of my friends were runners, so I trained with them on occasion, and then my dad bought me running shoes and I felt guilty if I didn’t use them! Sophomore year I joined cross country; I was second-to-last in the first race, and I hated it. But over the weeks, I saw that the work I was putting in was making me better. By the end of the season I was
