Photo: Coach Q

Yann Kumin, who seven years ago took over a faltering football program and restored a sense of pride and a return to winning at Belmont High School, announced Tuesday, April 13 he was stepping down as head coach of the Marauders effective after the final game vs Arlington High of the shortened Fall 2 season.

The game against the SpyPonders takes place on Saturday, April 17 at 1 p.m. at Harris Field.

“I am so terrifically honored and humbled to have been to be the Head Coach of the Marauders for the last 7 years,” he said in a prepared statement on Facebook.

“Becoming so was the realization of 10 years of work and of a lifelong goal. I cannot put into words how much this experience has meant to me personally, how much I have learned, and most importantly, there is no way to thank all the wonderful human beings I have met.”

Kumin – known affectionately by players, parents, and friends as “Coach Q” – said after 17 years of coaching that requires a year-long commitment to do well, “I have reached a point in my life where I very much wish to experience some of the other paths and offerings that this existence has available to me.”

Kumin’s most successful season came in the fall of 2019 when the team finished 6-4 to give the program its first winning season in a decade, secured a place in the Division 3 North sectionals playoffs for consecutive years, and defeated arch-rival Watertown on Thanksgiving at Victory Field. He accomplished those feats after a cancer diagnosis, surgery and coaching while undergoing chemotherapy.

He said his health is good and was not the reason he left his post in Belmont.

A graduate of Harvard College with a degree in English, Kumin brought his own unique outlook onto the field and in his life. Below is his message to the team: