Haircuts, drums, track and (of course) football: Southeastern's Carl Pierre does it all
EASTON – Carl Pierre does it all for the Southeastern Regional High football team.
The senior is expected to be the Hawks' most leaned-upon running back this fall, and he captains the defense from his perch deep in coverage at safety. First-year head coach Josh Brewster, Pierre's former criminal justice teacher, likens it to having a coach suit up in shoulder pads.
“One of our opponents had a scrimmage and I went to see them. The next day, he hit me up on Hudl and said he saw this, this and this," Brewster said. "I’m like, ‘Wow, we saw the same exact things.’ To have him be able to do that, he’s another coach on the field for us.”
“Those are the type of kids you want to build a new program with," Brewster said. "I’m glad I have him.”
A football helmet is merely one of the many hats Pierre wears.
“Carl plays the drums. He cuts hair. He’s a football star. He’s a track star," Brewster said. "Literally everything you can think of, he excels at it. ... I’ve been in education for six years, I’ve been working with athletes almost my whole life. You don’t see that a lot.”
Pierre has a side gig as a barber with his business, "Cuts by Carl", which he runs from the basement of his family's Brockton home: “I cut in my basement, but it’s professional," he reassured. On the weekends, he plays drums and guitar in services at the Brockton Church of God and he spends his football offseasons as the captain of the Southeastern winter/spring track teams. Oh, and he specializes in carpentry during the school day and is an honor roll student.
Said Brewster, “Sometimes I look at him and I’m like, ‘How do you have time to all of this stuff?’”
“It’s a lot because you have a lot of expectations," Pierre said. "People expect me to be good in every aspect of what I do. Like, I’m expected to be good at cutting hair, I’m expected to be a good football athlete, I’m expected to be good at being a track athlete. Sometimes it can all bottle up, but at the end of the day. ... I just love doing what I do and I love putting a smile on everyone else’s faces.”
Pierre began cutting hair during the pandemic in 2020, as lockdowns restricted access to a barber shop. He first gave himself haircuts, discovered a passion for it and transitioned to booking appointments: “He’s been trying to cut my hair for three years now," Brewster said with a laugh. "I’m like, ‘Let’s hold off on that. Maybe when you graduate.’”
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"At first, I messed up a lot of people,” Pierre said. “But it’s a learning process. You don’t get better until you keep going and trying. I started building a good clientele for myself and a lot of people are coming to me. I’m blessed to be where I’m at right now.”
The passion for playing drums and guitar blossomed early in Pierre's youth, growing up in Orlando, Florida. His family moved to Brockton when he was 7 years old. Now, he plays at church services on Saturdays and Sundays.
In regards to his love for track, Pierre's siblings were involved. His older brother Bradley, a 2023 Southeastern grad and current Framingham State student, and his younger sister Carly, a rising sophomore, were also on the team. Bradley also played football and wrestled, a sport he nearly lured Pierre to last year.
Instead of making the winter sport switch, Pierre stuck as captain of the indoor track team and proceeded to headline the 4x400m relay team that broke the school record.
"I was going to do wrestling with (Bradley) because he's the reason I got into football. It was going to be like brothers on the field, mat and track. I wanted to do everything with him, but I got a little too wrapped up in track because I love it."
Brewster, then an assistant under ex-coach Dominique Williams, first saw Pierre run as a freshman during a physical fitness part of the criminal justice course. "I'm looking around like, 'Do you play football?'" Brewster recalled. The answer was no, at the time.
The next year, the sophomore Pierre signed up and got a shot to play on the Hawks' special teams unit during kick-offs.
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“Even that tiny little chance was enough for me to prove I belong here," Pierre said. "Sophomore year kickoff, now I’m here.”
Pierre scored eight touchdowns for the Hawks as a junior last season.
Pierre now leads a Hawks team coming off a 3-8 season under former coach Brian Chamberlain. The team is now well-staffed with over 100 players across all grade levels, led by key varsity returners such as senior receiver Joey Tully, senior lineman Jose DeAndrade, senior defensive back Mehkei Gibson and new starting quarterback Aidan Hughes. The team lost it its season-opener against Greater New Bedford on the road, 21-6, on Friday.
“Honestly, this team has been through a lot,” Pierre said. “I really love this team because, with everything we’ve gone through, we’re not quitters. The different coaches we’ve gone through, all the stuff we’ve gone through, we just told ourselves to keep our heads up high and keep moving forward. … It’s a big family we’ve grown here.”
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Life of Southeastern's Carl Pierre spans far beyond the football field
