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08/09/2018 12:00 AMBrandon Woodcock has really put in his time at Valley Regional High School. After spending four years playing the defensive line on the football team, Brandon is now a coach who’s serving as a volunteer defensive assistant for the Warriors.
With the experience from his playing days, Brandon’s specialty is coaching Valley’s defensive linemen, although he’s involved in much more. Brandon also oversees the team’s weight-room workouts every afternoon during the summer, as well as once a week in the winter and spring. Brandon also runs a basketball program at Deep River Parks & Recreation for kids in kindergarten through grade 12 during the winter and spring months.
It didn’t take long for Brandon to realize that his dream was to be a coach. After meeting one of his coaching idols—former Warriors’ defensive coordinator Paul Ginter—at a football camp in Syracuse, New York, Brandon knew that he had found his calling.
“The day I met Paul Ginter was the day I knew I wanted to coach. He was the best coach I met besides [Valley Head Coach Tim King]. I emulate what he has done. He was a defensive coordinator, and I knew I wanted to be that,” says Brandon. “Right now, I’m happy with the responsibilities the team trusts in me. It’s really a win-win. I’m learning from everyone.”
After Brandon graduated from Valley, the next step for the Deep River resident was to get his coaching certificate. Brandon’s father Peter had already started working with the Warriors when he was playing there, while his mother Tracy filmed the team’s games. Brandon wanted to join his parents in some capacity in order to experience the other side of the player-coach equation. Last year, Brandon’s father had a stroke and took on a reduced role with the squad. Brandon then started to handle more responsibilities for the Warriors.
“Out of high school, I didn’t go to college. I already knew I wanted to coach, and I had an inside track at Valley. I helped with spring football, but I wasn’t a certified coach yet. I got a chance to learn and, a year and a half later with my certificate, I was able to start helping out at Valley,” Brandon says. “I learned a lot from my dad. He’s our equipment person and one of the first people to look at kids if trainers aren’t available. He helps the coaches, and he’s a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. When he got sick last year, I was able to take over some of that stuff.”
Brandon has experienced two of his fondest memories while coaching at Valley-Old Lyme. In 2014, the Warriors won a state title when Brandon was part of their coaching staff. Earlier that year, Brandon experienced another emotional moment prior to a home game that was held at Old Lyme High School.
“No. 1 for me would be winning a state championship in 2014, but that same year, we had a game at Old Lyme, where Coach King’s dad and uncle did the coin toss. That’s one of the greatest moments of my life,” Brandon says. “Coach King’s dad and uncle were on the last Old Lyme football team, and then they got sent off to war. That was the last time anyone played football at Old Lyme, before we started playing games there as a co-op team.”
According to Brandon, great players are made at practice. Brandon knows that everyone brings varying degrees of talent to the field, although he also believes that hard work can breed talent.
“Football is 90-percent mental and effort. You try to teach effort off the bat,” he says. “If you don’t have the skill or strength of a more talented player, you can always give the effort and outwork others to gain the ground that you have to gain to beat them.”
Brandon likes seeing that type of diligence on the practice field, but he also knows that it’s important to see it in the weight room. Brandon spends plenty of time there helping out Valley’s football players, as well other people.
“When the football team is in there, usually Coach King and I are working out or watching film, too. We teach them a lot of football-based workouts that help on the field,” says Brandon. “Anybody in the school can come to the weight room, and we get a variety of people in the winter and spring. I’m making sure no one gets hurt. I help out if I see them doing something wrong.”
When it comes to game time, Brandon tries to keep everyone focused and makes sure they’re talking about what’s happening on the field. Brandon likes to see everybody, including the fans in the stands, stay engaged when Valley is playing.
“During the game, I’m more vocal. We need the crowd in huge moments, and I would try to keep the them up and the sideline pumped up,” Brandon says. “During the game, I try to keep the sideline talking and, in big moments, we have to get loud.”
Valley Regional Athletic Director Jeff Swan has certainly taken note of everything that Brandon does at the high school. Swan appreciates how generous Brandon is with his time and looks forward to the coach taking on a bigger role as the years unfold.
“Brandon’s very knowledgeable and dedicated to the program. He’ll be an awesome coach for the program,” Swan says. “He helps kids out, and he’s just like his father Pete. He’s willing to go out of his way to help anyone.”
In the end, Brandon’s favorite part of football is that the sport serves as a microcosm of life: You get out of it what you put into it.
“You need the effort and mental reps. They’re just as important. It’s the same in the weight room. It’s the same in life. If you don’t give the full force, you won’t go anywhere,” says Brandon. “That’s what I love about football: It’s the same as life.”