BANGOR – Bangor High School football coach Mark Hackett revealed Monday that he recently switched football teams.

At least, he has switched his support of football teams: from the Dallas Cowboys to the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

“To be honest with you my two favorite teams have been the University of Maine and the Bangor Rams and now it’s going to be the New England Patriots,” Hackett said during a press conference at city hall detailing the specifics of Wednesday’s visit by three members of the Patriots and team owner Bob Kraft.

“I used to be a Cowboys fan, but with what’s been going on this year I’m now with the Patriots,” Hackett said, explaining that his first year as a head coach has been a dream season with the Rams going undefeated and winning their first state title in 20 years.

Hackett’s revelation of changing teams came after Maine coach Jack Cosgrove had said that he was excited to take part in Wednesday’s 12:30 p.m. rally at the Bass Park grandstand.

“These are my three favorite teams, the Bangor Rams, the Maine Black Bears and the New England Patriots,” Cosgrove said. “It’s a great day for the sport of football to see this type of event taking place in Bangor, Maine.”

The Patriots will arrive at Bangor International Airport at 1 p.m. and then take a police escort to Bass Park, where the team is expected to arrive at 1:15 p.m. Super Bowl hero Adam Vinatieri, team captain Lawyer Milloy and defensive end Bobby Hamilton will greet the crowd along with Kraft, who will have the Lombardi Trophy. The trophy was awarded to the Patriots after they defeated the St. Louis Rams 20-17 on Vinatieri’s final-second 48-yard field goal in Super Bowl XXXVI.

The team will then be honored in a proclamation by Bangor Mayor Michael Crowley, who will also give them a key to the city. The team will leave at 2 p.m. and fly down to Portland for a parade at 3 p.m.

At noon, fans can enter Bass Park where they will be given commemorative team photos of the Super Bowl champs printed by the Bangor Daily News. At 12:30 p.m., members of the UMaine and Bangor football teams will address the rally.

Cosgrove said that players not attending classes will try to attend, while Hackett said that his team will be excused from school.

“I don’t know about the rest of the school. I’m suspecting that we’ll be adding members to the 62-man roster,” Hackett said jokingly.

Hackett said the students are “fired up” and eager to see the Patriots.

“I don’t think they really believe it’s going to happen because a lot of people think ‘why would they stop by in Bangor, they’re going to Portland?’ We just keep telling them, ‘hey we beat Portland, maybe we can get them up here,'” Hackett said. “It’s a big deal to us and we can talk and joke about it, but the people involved in getting them to stop by … that makes me proud.”

Crowley praised the efforts of several city officials and members of the media in working together to convince the Patriots to visit Bangor. The city was also aided by Bangor native Nick Carparelli Jr. who was working in the Patriots office and delivered invitations to Kraft.

After the team won the Super Bowl Kraft, a Boston native, promised that the team would visit the six New England states to thank fans for their support.