'Good for my kids and my family.' Eian Bain leaves Franklin football for Bridgewater-Raynham
Family won out over football. Eian Bain is rowing his boat away from Franklin.
The eight-year head coach, who led the Panthers in 2021 to their first Hockomock League title in 12 seasons, has accepted the job to lead the program at Bridgewater-Raynham. The former Framingham State quarterback took over a 2-9 team in 2016 and led Franklin to successive seven-win seasons in 2018 and ‘19.
The Raynham resident’s main reason for leaving is to have more time with his family, which includes wife Jennifer, son Michael, 7, and daughter, Ryleigh, 3½. Jennifer teaches third grade in the B-R district and Eian is a history teacher at nearby Foxborough High.
“I don’t mind the commute, but with the roles and responsibilities of being a head football coach, it does make it harder with the family dynamic,” Eian Bain said. “My wife wanted to be involved (in football) more and my son wanted to go to practices and be around the team more and follow the players, but it’s hard the way that we had it. I thought it would be a good opportunity from not only a football standpoint but it would also be good for my kids and my family.”
Franklin won 10 games two seasons ago, winning the Kelley-Rex Division with a win over rival King Philip on Thanksgiving. The Panthers featured a high-powered offense with Jarod Arone and Jase Lyons under center over the past few years.
Bain, who was known to use the phrase “row the boat” when facing adversity, enjoyed the success but not as much as working with the people around him.
“It’s very hard,” he said of leaving Franklin. “The winning was great, but it’s so many awesome relationships with the players and their families and the staff and other coaches at Franklin. So many people have reached out and offered positive support, understanding the decision. There’s a lot of support from a lot of different groups, so that made it very, very hard.”
One of those offering support is Frankin athletic director Karrah Ellis, who was hired in 2022.
“Eian is one of the most elite level coaches I have ever worked with,” she said in a text to the Daily News. “I am so thankful for the two years we worked together at Franklin. He will have a lasting positive impact on the student-athletes and football program.”
Bridgewater-Raynham is coming off a 4-7 season and its last winning fall in a non-COVID year was 2019, when the Trojans went 6-5. Their last Super Bowl appearance happened in 2010, when B-R lost to Gloucester, 34-13, in Division 1A.
The Trojans open their season against Barnstable, which finished 9-2 last year, falling to eventual state champ King Philip in the Division 2 Final Four.
Bain said he is friends with Barnstable head coach Ross Joktola.
“We’re very close and share a lot of ideas, so without coaching at B-R, he’s going to be familiar with us and I’m going to be familiar with them,” Bain said. “Every situation is brand new I’m not going into it with any assumptions.”
Bain says he aspires to bring the solid foundation he built at Franklin to his new position.
“I thought we built a very good culture with our team,” he said. “We take kids, and they come into your building at 14, 15 years old from all kinds of backgrounds. Before we could get successful at Franklin, we had to build a really elite culture. We’re going to follow a similar path (at B-R) and try to build it from inside out. Commit to doing things the right way and the results will come later.”
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Bain adopted the “row the boat” mantra after his family suffered through tragedy in February of 2017, when Jennifer went into labor with twins after just 24 weeks. One son, Andrew, died, but Michael barely survived.
Michael now plays basketball, baseball and participates in swimming and gymnastics.
“He’s a typical kid,” Bain said. “You’d never know that he spent the first four months of his life in a NICU; a one-pound kid who barely made it. He’s just a normal, happy 7-year-old.”
But sad to be departing Franklin.
“He was excited to go to B-R. But he didn’t understand that we had to leave Franklin,” his father said. “He thought we were going to do both. When my wife told him, he cried. He lost it. He loves Franklin. He wears Franklin stuff all the time.”
In the game of life, football got thrown for a loss.
“I’ve always said to close friends: B-R is the only job in the state I would have left Franklin for,” Bain said. “It’s quality football but it’s also good for my family.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached attdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Why Eian Bain decided to leave Franklin football for Bridgewater-Raynham
