Taft boys’ coach Ozzie Parente steps down, reflects on a changing NEPSAC landscape

Ozzie Parente led Taft to a second straight NEPSAC Class A championship last fall. (Brian Kelly/NESJ)

Back in November, when Taft captured the NEPSAC Class A boys’ title over Nobles, the lasting image from that chilly, windy afternoon was of a program and coach at the peak of their powers.

Taft’s victory gave it a second straight Class A crown and extended its unbeaten streak to 34 games. Coaching the team was Ozzie Parente: a 39-year-old Wesleyan grad in the midst of building the next New England prep school dynasty.

But the Parente era at Taft is now over.

In the biggest news of the NEPSAC offseason, Parente has stepped down as Taft head coach after 13 seasons. He will be replaced by Hiro Suzuki, a 1999 Yale team captain who coaches Girls Academy for HTX Soccer in Houston, Texas.

“It was an extremely difficult decision because of how much it all meant to me,” said Parente. “It was very challenging and emotional to communicate it to the players. But they were incredibly understanding and supportive. That meant a lot.”

Several factors led to his decision. The biggest was Parente’s appointment to Assistant Head of School for Student Life at Taft in March, a position that requires more time away from the soccer field. “I didn’t want to have to leave early for a board meeting,” he said.

A desire to be around his two young children more also played a major role.

“When I took the job, I wanted to be committed every day,” said Parente. “I didn’t know if I could keep that up.”

Parente has begun reflecting on his decade-plus tenure, which included six Founder’s League titles and 179 wins.

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His departure comes at a moment when coaching in the NEPSAC looks different from when he took over in 2012 from Will Orben, who played for the Rhinos before a professional career in the U.S. and Denmark.

Parente called the current boys’ soccer landscape “complex, challenging and time-consuming.” Recruiting, he explained, has become more competitive since the launch of MLS Next in 2021 and the creation of soccer-focused academies around New England, such as Woodstock Academy and the new Masters Academy International in Stow, Mass.

There’s also the college placement dilemma many prep school coaches face. The transfer portal and the rise of international students have made playing college soccer harder than ever.

Despite the shifts, Parente believes the quality of play in the NEPSAC remains high. “There are more talented soccer players out there,” he said.

Programs are recruiting more internationally, landing talent from Europe, Asia and Latin America. Last fall, Taft’s championship roster featured players from Canada, Ghana, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.

For local players, one of the biggest challenges now is choosing between prep school and club soccer, or attempting both.

“A lot of kids are trying to thread the needle,” said Parente. “They want to attend a Hotchkiss or a Choate, but they also want to play for their club team. They have a hard decision.”

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Under Parente, Taft has become the recent standard for prep school success. The Rhinos have produced 13 college-bound players over the last two years, among the NEPSAC leaders, including Vincent Levasseur (UC Irvine) and Will Murray (Holy Cross) for the Class of 2026.

They haven’t lost since Oct. 9, 2024, against Berkshire.

From the outside, Parente’s decision to step down at the program’s apex may seem confounding. But he always wanted to leave Taft better than he found it — just as his predecessors Orben and Willy MacMullen (1984-2002) did before him.

In a way, winning back-to-back NEPSAC titles made stepping down easier for Parente to swallow.

“When I step back and look at where we are, the culture is in a really special place,” said Parente. “The boys know what we value and what we expect.”

The Rhinos will be a serious threat to three-peat this fall. Reigning Class A Player of the Year Alex Calabro, midfielder Mason Barron and goalkeeper Reed Orben, Will’s son, all return.

Parente also landed forward Kade Ladner and defenders Daniel Garrido and Jeremy Ye, all of whom are expected to provide an immediate impact. (Parente handled the recruiting this spring since Suzuki wasn’t hired until May.)

“It’s sad I won’t be able to coach them,” he said, before emphasizing he has the utmost confidence in Suzuki, who will teach math and move on campus this summer.

Suzuki is just Taft’s fourth head coach since MacMullen, a sign of the continuity Parente is proud to pass along. As a new era of Taft boys’ soccer begins, he doesn’t see the Rhinos dropping off anytime soon.

“I expect Taft to continue to be one of the top teams in NEPSAC and compete for championships.”