Marlborough, MA, Football Coach Sean Mahoney, 63, Dies After Battle With Rare Brain Disease

Sean Mahoney, the man who defined Marlborough High School football for a generation, passed away on June 12, 2026, after a courageous battle with Multiple System Atrophy, a rare and aggressive neurodegenerative disease that has no cure. He was 63 years old.

Mahoney is survived by his wife Nikki, his children Dan, James, and Michaella, and his grandson Sheamus, who carried on the family football tradition as a senior captain at Marlborough High this past season.

The news of his passing rippled quickly through the Central Massachusetts sports community, where Mahoney had spent decades shaping young men both on and off the field. Former players, colleagues, and community members shared their grief on social media.

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Rob Lavin, who played under Mahoney at Assumption University, wrote:

“RIP Coach Mahoney. Because of you not only did I get to play football for 4 more years at Assumption, but I had some of the best times of my life while there.”

A Career Built on Consistency and Character

Mahoney’s coaching journey began at Shrewsbury High in 1994 before he took over as head coach at Assumption University for six seasons. In 2004, he arrived at Marlborough High School, a move that would define the next chapter of his life.

Over 20 seasons on the Panthers sideline, he compiled 154 wins, earned MIAA Football Coach of the Year honors for the 2020-21 season, and was inducted into the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2024.

He also taught history at Marlborough High, giving him daily contact with students well beyond the football field. Former athletic director Jeff Rudzinsky remembered him as someone kids could always approach.

“He was somebody the kids always knew they could talk to about anything,” Rudzinsky said. “He just did the right thing for the kids. That’s the legacy that he’ll gladly leave.”

Current Marlborough head coach Ken Stukonis, who served as Mahoney’s assistant for four seasons and knew him for 25 years, put it plainly: “In my eyes, Sean is Marlborough football.”

Family Was Always at the Center

Mahoney’s connection to football was deeply personal. His daughter, Michaella Mahoney-DaSilva, a former standout softball pitcher at Worcester State, now teaches and coaches at Marlborough High herself.

She recalled how her father would rock her son, Sheamus, to sleep, humming fight songs when he was a baby. “I’m never going to be able to hear a marching band drum and not think of my dad,” she said.

When Sheamus became a senior captain for the Panthers, it completed a circle that meant everything to the family.

On Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2025, Mahoney was wheeled out to the 50-yard line of the Morgan Bowl by Rudzinsky to join Sheamus for the coin toss before Marlborough’s game against Hudson. Seated in a wheelchair, Mahoney was all smiles.

It would be one of his final public appearances, and he made sure it counted.

“I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of Sheamus’ last game,” Mahoney wrote alongside his wife Nikki in a note shared last fall.

Sheamus said it best: “He’s the guy that taught me everything I know. It’s an honor.”