A recent entry on the Bedford Now Chatter section got me a bit riled up inside. A commenter started a thread ripping apart the new football coach, Jeff Wood, and his first year squad. To save you from the unsavory details let’s just say this particular individual was none too kind to those who have put in long hours and a lot of hard work.
Coach Wood needs to be given the opportunity to grow this program. Not even the best of coaches can come in and immediately change things around. Especially more so at a program that hasn’t had a winning record since 2002 and hasn’t made the MHSAA playoffs since 1990. A complete change in culture needs to occur before this program will find it’s winning ways.
For those of you more inclined towards the understanding of college football take a quick glance at Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan. Rodriguez is a highly successful coach who has brought about a complete change in culture to an old stuffy program. Can Rodriguez find success immediately? After watching this past Saturday’s game I think the clear indication is no. But that is okay as some of today’s best coaches struggled in their first years just check Jim Tressel and Pete Carroll.
Coach Wood has brought in a near type of offense, the veer offense and some highly skilled coaches; his father, LeRoy Wood, is on the staff and is a Hall of Fame coach. The veer is an exciting offense but one that isn’t overwhelmingly easy to run. I am sure Coach Wood is working through all levels of Bedford football to ensure that the fundamentals of this offense are being taught from the earliest ages on.
Furthermore, football is a year long committment and the players need to make that committment to ensure that this program turns around. Perhaps Coach Wood can encourage these guys to join the wrestling program (this may pay dividends to guys that play the D line), run track (to keep conditioning levels high), or find other activities to participate in that will maintain their conditioning level and their athletic focus.
So please, before you’re ready to completely cast aside the progress Coach Wood has made or is making remember that this is a process. Patience is going to be a necessity in this endeavour – patience from us, the alumni and community, patience from parents, patience from the administration, and patience from the players and coaches.