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Student Coaches Help Lead Bengal Football Team
Bengal football at Woodberry Forest is quite different this year due to the help of student coaches. “Student coaches have been a big change to our program,” said Bengal Head Coach Colin Gay ’93. “I have been a Bengal coach for twelve years, and only in recent years have we had students as Bengal coaches.”
The student coaches are fifth former Luke Durham, who is coaching the running backs; sixth former Elliot Connell, who is coaching the defensive backs; sixth former Henry Joyner, who is coaching the outside linebackers; sixth former Anthony Sleiman, who is coaching the defensive line; and fifth former Sam Deal, who is coaching the wide receivers and serving as the offensive coordinator.
The most unusual of the student’s coaching duties is Sam’s work as offensive coordinator. This year, Sam is taking over the Bengal play-calling duties from Gray Robertson ’16.
“I run what I believe will work well against the defense from what I see in their film,” Sam said. “Then, after the first two or three drives, I begin to adjust my play calls based on what I see in the opposing defense.”
Coach Gay said Sam has done a good job of staying aggressive, even when caution might seem the safer option.
“Last game our quarterback threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, and instead of switching to the running game, he realized that we needed to keep on throwing the ball to score points to help out our defense,” Coach Gay said.
As well as being coaches, these students are also able to play a unique role in the Bengal players’ football experiences.
The student coaches are able to help the Bengals have a meaningful experience because of the closeness in their ages to the players and because they have had the same experiences that the Bengal players are having.
On Bengal, Henry played linebacker, Elliot played defensive back, Sam played quarterback, and Luke played inside linebacker. With this background, the student coaches are able to understand how the Bengal football program brings the players together.
“The student coaches are a great addition because it is nice to have a variety of people telling you what to do,” defensive back Taft Gantt ’20 said. “I like this because we are getting advice from people we can relate to as Elliot, my coach, used to play defensive back for the Tigers.”
The main reason why student coaches are coaching is due to the need for them when the Bengal and junior varsity teams began to practice together. Two years ago, Woodberry introduced the idea of having the Bengal and JV football teams practice together. However, the two squads would play in different games.
This change came into effect last season, and because of it, the need for student coaches was born. Last year, Gray and Elliot were the only two student coaches. However, this year with a combined seventy-seven players, there was a greater need for student coaches, and that number has expanded to five.
“This summer Coach Chris Holmes texted me and asked me if I was interested in coaching,” Sam said. “At first, it caught me off guard, because coaching had never crossed my mind. However, I was very excited, as I knew it was something I would enjoy. It has far exceeded my expectations.”
This story was written by Ellis McKay ’18, a member of Woodberry’s journalism class. Ellis is the Bengal and JV football beat reporter.
Woodberry Forest School is an exceptional private school community for high school boys in grades nine through twelve. It is one of the top boarding schools in the United States and one of the only all-boys, all-boarding schools in the country.
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Woodberry Forest admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. The school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students.