Swampscott High Football Coach Bob Serino Retires From Big Blue

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Consecutive championship runs spanning the most unusual — and perhaps the most challenging — two-plus seasons in Massachusetts high school football history all led up to the moment when Bob Serino could watch his Swampscott High players storm the Gillette Stadium turf in victory last December.

"Back to back, Baby!!" Serino exclaimed following Swampscott's 14-7 triumph against North Reading in the Division 5 state championship game.

It was the first Division 5 title in the new statewide playoffs and the first trip back to Gillette since the Big Blue beat Amherst-Pelham for the title in 2019. In the meantime, Serino coached his team through the onset of the COVID-19 health crisis, the truncated "Fall 2" season in the spring of 2021, and ultimately a 12-1 campaign to keep the crown on the North Shore.

A year later, following a season in which Swampscott made it back to the playoffs before hitting a bump down the stretch of a 3-8 campaign, Serino announced his retirement from the sideline on social media on Monday.

"I have called it a career in coaching the team I grew up playing for and love," Serino posted on the program's Twitter account. "I found out it's not just a game. It's way more.

"Thank you to all that make this sport so great. Leaving with 'No Regrets.'"

Serino coached Swampscott for eight seasons where he average nearly seven wins per year — including the shortened Spring 2021 season. He had been a member of the coaching staff for 15 years as an assistant or head coach.

"We will miss you Coach!" the Swampscott athletic department responded to the announcement on Twitter. "Hope to see you in the stands!"

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)