Max Morelli talks with one of his players during practice this past weekend as he takes over the Milford football program from former longtime coach Keith Jones. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

MILFORD – For Max Morelli, it’s just football, same game it always has been.

Don’t get him wrong – he clearly understands and cherishes the fact he’s taken the reins of the Milford High School football program from longtime and now former head coach Keth Jones.

“It was cool,” Morelli said of his first day, last Friday, as a head coach. “But I try not to get hung up on that particular type of stuff, I just try to do the best job I can in whatever role is asked of me. That’s what everyone else on the team deserves. … It was cool but I didn’t spend too much time on it.”

But there he was during one of the early practices, making sure everything was cleaned up, equipment put away, etc. The buck now stops with him.

“That’s a good point,” he said. “It’s certainly a different way of looking at it ….It’s obviously kind of the details that you’ve got to take care of that you usually don’t have to. But I’ve got a lot of support at the school getting all that organized, and the other coaches (on the staff) have been great. So it hasn’t been all that much in that regard that’s been too cumbersome. …

“We’re a tight-knit coaching staff, we’ve been together for a long time. So things are going well.”

Practice began Friday It will all click in when the games start, and the Spartans open up on the road at Plymouth on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 7

Morelli was a linebacker and running back for the Spartans. As an assistant, he was basically the Milford defensive coordinator. He developed a desire to enter the coaching world after high school, even though he didn’t play in college. He’s also been an assistant at Nashua North, Bishop Guertin, and in Bedford, Mass.

So he knew the drill, but this was an off-season that may have begun normally but certainly didn’t end that way.

“I invest a lot of time in any off-season, trying to get ready for the upcoming season whatever my role is,” he said. “I really enjoy learning about football. It’s a hobby of mine.

“I got the job a little late in the cycle (March) so I had to expedite putting everything together.”

In fact, he hadn’t realized Jones was going to retire – the longtime coach even left his administrative role at Milford to take another job at Merrimack High School.

“I was fortunate he was my coach in high school,” Morelli said. “I think the biggest thing I learned from Coach Jones has nothing to do with football. It’s just kind of one, as an individual person how you should carry yourself off the field and do the right things, and try to be a good member of your community and your school.

“And then as a coach make sure that’s the most important thing for the kids in your program; that wins and losses doesn’t mean much but you make sure they’re learning how to carry themselves as an adult in your community…We’ll continue to put an emphasis on that as I certainly believe in that.”

It’s not only a change for Morelli, but for the Spartan players as well. For the first time in nearly 24 years, someone else was in charge of practice.

“It’s amazing,” Spartan Kenneth Bradford said. “Coach Morelli’s one of the best coaches I’ve had, he’s passionate about the game, he loves us all, treats us like family. Great coach, ready to win, we’re ready to work.”

“It’s definitely a change, but Kenneth kind of said it all, ” one of Bradford’s teammates, Logan Chamberlin, said. “I think it’s a good pick. Everyone’s working hard, he’s passionate and everyone’s passionate. I think it’s going to be a good season.”

Again, it’s football – Morelli’s specialty.

“Like I said, I really enjoy football, I really enjoy learning about football,” he said, “so I try not to think about all that and let the instinct part of it take over.”