Joseph Case High School Head Football Coach Alex Monteiro, back row, second from left, has announced he will step down following the 2025 season. (Photo Courtesy Swansea Public Schools)
SWANSEA — He helped to rebuild Swansea’s high school football program from the cleats up.
Following this year’s season, Joseph Case High School Head Football Coach Alex Monteiro announced he will be stepping down, and Swansea Public Schools will be looking for a replacement to lead its growing varsity football program.
“This was not an easy decision,” said Coach Monteiro. “Both the program and my family deserve my full attention, and I would not be able to give either enough of my time if I stayed on as coach. This is a great group of kids — they have a lot of youth and a lot of potential.”
Coach Monteiro has been working as an eighth-grade Physical Science teacher at Joseph Case Junior High School for the past decade. For the past four years, he helped coach the Case team and moved up to the head position to start the 2025 season.
He was motivated to step up and lead the team this year after Coach Anthony Palladino stepped down following the death of his father, Al Palladino. Anthony Palladino is currently serving as Swansea’s Athletic Director.
“Part of the reason I came to Case was to coach with my mentor and friend Anthony Palladino,” said Coach Monteiro. “It was also an opportunity to reconnect and coach with Anthony’s father, Al Palladino, who had been a big supporter and a big role model for me over the years. Unfortunately, when he lost his battle with cancer, that led to some difficult choices. I ended up taking over to help out Anthony and help out the program.”
In many ways, serving as head coach this past season fulfilled one of Coach Monteiro’s lifelong goals. Now, he and his wife are expecting a baby, and his priorities have changed.
“It’s always been a goal of mine, to be a head coach,” said Coach Monteiro. “But it has also long been a goal of mine to be a good father, and hopefully as good of a father as Al was to Anthony. And that starts with spending time with your kid, building a relationship, and the impacts you make in their life.”
Coach Monteiro’s contributions over the years, particularly this past season as head coach, have not gone unnoticed in the small but fierce football town.
“I would like to thank Alex for bringing stability this past season to the football team,” said Athletic Director Palladino. “To watch him grow from the young kid I recruited at Portsmouth High School, to a coach and now a father-to-be has been a great pleasure. To make a decision to put his passion on hold and focus on his growing family is understandable and I applaud him for it.”
The Case High School Football Team finished the season 4-7 and qualified for the state tournament.
As Swansea looks for its next coach, their outgoing head coach listed a few qualities that should be strongly represented in the next candidate.
“You can’t do this job and fake your way through it,” said Coach Monteiro. “You need attitude, toughness, desire, discipline, expectations, standards, a sense of family, development and pride. You need a genuinely strong personality and the ability to make genuine relationships. These kids need to know you have their best interests at heart, and they’re not just an ‘X’ or an ‘O’ on your gameplan. A good coach also needs to have a strong connection to Pop Warner to attract younger kids to tackle football before high school so they can learn the skills essentials early. To be successful, our kids need to hit the ground running once they enter high school.”
Swansea Public Schools Superintendent Scott Holcomb acknowledged Coach Monteiro’s effort on the field and in the locker room.
“Coach Monteiro stepped up when we needed him and helped to elevate this entire program,” said Superintendent Holcomb. “We will certainly miss him next season, but we wish him the best as he starts his young family. The Coach left an undeniable impression on our young squad, and we’re all expecting great things from this team in the years to come.”
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