'Hungry to win.' Simsbury football has been the turnaround story of 2026

Simsbury football coach Jim Caouette talks with Hunter Woolf during a 27-7 win over Newington at Holden Field in Simsbury on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (Bryant Carpenter/Hearst Connecticut Media) SIMSBURY - The leaves are off the trees beyond the north end zone of Holden Field, but the Simsbury Trojans who play there remain at peak.With a 27-7 win over Newington on Friday night, Simsbury football improved to 7-1.Which means the town that is home to the Pinchot Sycamore, the state's biggest tree, is home to the team enjoying the season's biggest turnaround in Connecticut high school football.Mark the rings on the trunk: Simsbury was 1-9 a year ago, 2-8 in 2024 and 1-9 in 2023. Heading into 2026, the team had its third head coach in as many years come through the door.He's proven to be a good one. Jim Caouette, the longtime defensive coordinator at Holy Cross-Waterbury and one-time head coach at Avon, a ball of energy and new schemes on both sides of the ball, harnessed a 19-strong group of seniors hungry to win as they once did before they got to high school.Another advantage: Simsbury moved down a rung on the Central Connecticut Conference ladder, from Tier 2 to Tier 3.There, the Trojans have not lost since dropping their season opener to Middletown, 40-35. They've won seven straight, the second-longest streak in program history, and stand No. 4 in the CIAC Class L playoff rankings. They are on course to match the 9-1 of 2019, the last time Simsbury football reached the postseason.It had been one long dry spell since, a meager 12 wins across five seasons. This fall, the Trojans pushed all that to the curb."I think last year and years prior we've just been beating ourselves up on our own; it's been 'Simsbury versus Simsbury' is what the coaches say," remarked senior captain and lineman Brett Osborne. "So I think we've really learned how to take it in and move forward instead of taking steps backwards."The Trojans have two games remaining with E.O. Smith and Glastonbury. Their plus-6 shift in victories so far puts them ahead of several other teams of marked improvement this season.New London (3-7 to 8-0), Tolland (1-8 to 6-2) and Thames River (2-7 to 7-1) increased by five wins.Lewis Mills/Wolcott Tech (2-8 to 6-2), New Milford (1-9 to 5-3) and the SMSA Co-op (1-9 to 5-2) each improved by four wins thus far.Of note: New London and Thames River are also under new coaching regimes. Jack Cochran is back at New London after being out of the game for 13 years. Will Henton is in his first head coaching position with the Thames River co-op of Grasso and Norwich Tech.Caouette led Avon for three seasons, 2013 through 2015, and went 23-9. He is better known as the assistant coach who oversaw the Holy Cross defense for the next decade while his son Drew became the school's top all-time passer.When Dave Masters stepped down as Simsbury head coach after the 2024 season, Caouette was sorely tempted to apply. But with his daughter MacKenzie, an All-State softball player at St. Joseph, in the midst of college recruitment, Caouette took a flyer - from football, period. He didn't coach anywhere in 2025.This spring, when the scenario played out again and Vinnie Guiel stepped down after one season at Simbury, the 52-year-old Caouette readied his resume."I looked at my wife. I said, 'I've got to take one more shot at this,' because I knew about the senior class," Caouette said. "I did a lot of research. I knew these kids were talented."Simsbury's football Class of 2027 had indeed once proven its mettle with an undefeated eighth-grade Nutmeg Youth Football League championship in 2022.Caouette looked past the four meager wins of the high school years and saw a team that could thrive in an Air Raid offense and a 4-2-5 defense. The Air Raid, in particular, has resonated with a team that went through multiple offenses a year ago.Incumbent quarterback Braeden Siano has run for 369 yards and thrown for 1,317 to the receiving corps of fellow seniors Aaron Blecher (21-448), Grayson Wagner (18-264), Bryan George (13-194) and Cole Roberts (12-143).Junior running back Nasir Gouldbourne has rushed for 650 yards and caught 10 passes for 178. His 205-yard game two weeks ago against Wethersfield was Simsbury's first 200-yard rushing performance since 2018.All in all, it's a balanced attack behind the line of center Graeme Baxter, guards Colby Anderson and Sean Yanac, and tackles Jeff von Pechmann and Osborne. Simsbury is rushing for 181 yards a game, passing for 164."We say it every week: It's just our buy-in," said Siano, who moved to Simsbury from Chicopee, Mass. his junior year. "New staff, but same guys we had last year. I feel like the (mind-set) last year wasn't as good as it should have been."Defensively, Simsbury is led by Kayveon Long (116 tackles) and fellow linebackers Jesse Carst and Andrew Convery, but the identity of the unit is set by the front four of William Convery, Anka Izquierdo, von Pechmann and Osborne. It's a big, physical line that has helped pitch one shutout and hold three other opponents to one score.Then there's Caouette, making a 45-minute drive each way every day from his home in Wolcott and pressing the right buttons. Caouette is a presence. He will never be mistaken for the Pinchot Sycamore. You can lose sight of him in team huddles, but you always hear him."Yeah, listen, I get emotional out there and sometimes I get a little crazy, but I think the kids know how much I care about them, how much I love them," Caouette said. "I want them to have success. So when they're not doing things the way they need to do them, I let them know in a manner that probably most people wouldn't like, but I'm not going to change my stripes at this point."Caouette has been coaching for 32 years. The Trojans love him."The best coach I've ever had in all my years of football," Siano said. "My old school coaches were not like this. Last year, coaches, they were all right, but they weren't this level. Just the love and support that the whole team feels from Coach, it's just the best experience we could all ask for."It's a terrific fit for Caouette, too. He credits his assistant coaches for tireless practice and game preparation. He credits Simsbury principal Maggie Seidel and athletic director Heather Golden for providing unflagging support."Things got kind of rough here the last few years and they were just hungry to win," Caouette said of Simsbury writ large. "It's a collective effort. I'd love to take the credit for it, but it's about the senior class. They've done an unbelievable job, and they bought in."Simsbury's 2019 playoff season saw a 17-14 win over Cheshire in the quarterfinals and a 17-0 loss to eventual state champ Newtown in the semis. That win over Cheshire stands as Simsbury's lone postseason triumph since the CIAC started staging state football championships in 1976.Back-to-back trips to the finals in 1993 and 1994, back in the days when only two teams qualified per class, ended in defeats to Cheshire. Back-to-back trips in 2008 and 2009 ended in semifinal losses to Newington and Pomperaug.Those mid-1990s teams, overseen by the program's most iconic coach, Joe Grace, compiled the 17-game win streak the current edition is chasing."We've got a great group of seniors," Osborne said. "A lot of us have been playing since we won a youth title in eighth grade. We've just got a great connection, great chemistry, and we all want to win."How much more winning can you do?"All the way."Sign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.This article originally published at 'Hungry to win.' Simsbury football has been the turnaround story of 2026.