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With the 2023 Football season, West is welcoming an almost all-new coaching staff for football with only three returning coaches: Scott Loosemore, Aaron Powell, and Allen Bryant. This year, we welcome coaches Shane Handy, Trey Ross, Dannell Peek, Matthew Coltrane, Willie Williams, and Jake Routh. All the coaches made a point that work ethic would be a focus for the season this year.
“I am trying to get kids to believe in themselves and have a good work ethic to make them more successful after high school and outside of football,” said Routh.
All the coaches are excited about the new season and getting to have the opportunity to be a part of these boys’ lives.
“I like coaching because of the impacts you can have on kids’ lives,” said Ross. “When Coach Handy coached me I liked how he pushed me to be a better man and I want to pass that on.”
This year is Williams’s first year back at West since previously coaching football in 2015, he is excited to return with a fresh staff. All the coaches this year have so much passion for the game and want to pass that on to the next generation.
“I feel what I bring to the team this year is knowledge,” said Williams. “I played all through middle school, high school, and then in college at Elizabeth City State. One thing I learned when playing was small details equals big successes, and I still use that in my coaching.”
With a new head coach for the football team, there is a buzz of excitement in the air, hoping that a new coach brings a positive shift for the program. Handy has been coaching for 31 years and is happy to be coaching for a team he actually played against in a playoff game and getting to coach with players he has coached in the past.
“I felt like this was a great opportunity,” said Handy. “With me and Fletcher already having a relationship it was too good to turn down.”
This season’s coaches say even though Friday night scores aren’t showing it, so much progress is being made and the coaches are working together to make this season better than the last. Many of the new coaches already knew each other from playing for one another or coaching together which has made the experience fun and rewarding for everyone. Coaches are saying the practices are such a positive environment and the athletes are a hardworking group of boys.
“We are creating a culture of accountability and trust,” said Ross. “(We are) pushing the boys in the classroom and on the field, making sure kids with low grades go to tutoring and kids that get ISS are held accountable,”.
