October 27, 2022 by Mark Blaudschun
His work day begins in darkness and ends in darkness most of the time.
In between, there are a pair of jobs in two different places, which oddly cross paths at times.
"It's a long day," concedes Todd Deely with a laugh, taking a mid day break from a schedule which is now as full as it can get.
Deely is the cross country coach and track coach for the girls' teams at Hingham High School.
He is also a history teacher at Marshfield High School, which happens to be one of Hingham's main rivals in the Patriot League.
That's only part of the equation.
Deely and his wife Catlin live in New Bedford which, if you connect the dots , creates an interesting commute for Deely who also coaches the girls indoor and outdoor track teams at Hingham.
"I leave around 6 each morning," said Deely, who this week is concentrating on preparing Hingham for the Patriot League championships girls' cross country championships. "They start classes at Marshfield early, at 7:15, which means I'm out by 1:30 and that gives me enough time to get to Hingham.''
Deely, who grew up in Western Massachusetts, went to college at UMass Dartmouth and has bounced through the Midwest and various high schools and colleges, is guided by time.
He was a runner in high school and college and has worked with runners who compete against the clock as much as they do their opposition for more than 30 years.
"It's something I've always done," he says, meaning running or working with runners.
Deeley has coached the Hingham girl in cross country for the past 5 years and has been part of a program which has made the Harbor women runner one of the elite programs in Eastern Massachusetts
This year's squad won 5 of its six meets, losing only to Marshfield, which is the elite program in the area and expected to win the Patriot League title in the meet which will be held at Hingham on Saturday.
"We'll finish second," said Deely, "but we have a chance to win the states if all goes well the next week because of the different divisions (No Marshfield). We have a good team."
It is also a team balanced with talent and experience, led by sophomore Clare Lowther and backed up by senior Sydney Driscoll and junior Madeline Packard.
The Haborwomen go deeper than that. Deely thinks the Hingham JV team can challenge Marshfield in the Patriot championships.
Training for the Patriot title and the states are part of the mind-set at Hingham, who also used to coach the girls runners at Marsfheld, but switched over when the opening to coach the Hingham girls varsity opened in 2018
The irony of competing against Marshfield is that Deely is coaching against some of the girls he teaches.
"It's happened a few times," he concedes. "But we have a good relationship, everyone knows each other from competition and camps."
It is also rare for someone to teach in one school and coach at another.
"It happens," he said. "Not that much, I guess. But it's just something you do, not that big a deal. Everything has worked out fine."
After so many years in the business, not that much is a bid deal for Deely.
"Lots of long days and big challenges,'' he said as he gets ready for the next one.