On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa - Wins and Losses Aside, New Woodgrove Football Coach Gordon to Teach Life Lessons

On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa
A column by VivaLoudoun.com Editor Dan Sousa
(Feb. 23, 2010) - At age 47 if I started playing football again it would only be a matter of minutes before catastrophic injury struck but that still didn't prevent me feeling like I should suit up after spending just 15 minutes talking with new Woodgrove High School football coach Jerry Gordon.

Like all great football coaches, Gordon carries a passion with him that ignites those around him. Western Loudoun and and future Wolverine players are in for a treat because they are getting an experienced educator and coach -- on the high school, collegiate and even professional level -- with enough football knowledge that he had a book on defense (Coaching the Under Front Defense) just published.

Oh, and he lives in the community. Heck, he moved to Western Loudoun from Massachusetts to be closer to his grandchildren and their future high school ... why, Woodgrove, of course!

"I've experienced a lot of wins and I've experienced a lot of losses. I'm in it to teach the kids life lessons," said Gordon, who has been making the commute to Potomac Falls the past four years as defensive coordinator and helped the Panthers under head coach Scott Woodlief reach the playoffs for the first time in school history.

Now at Woodgrove, he opens a new school and has a chance to establish a program and tradition from scratch.

"The first thing we want to do at Woodgrove is build a love affair between the school and the student body and the other teams and the band ... not just the football team. We want all sports to be great at Woodgrove," said Gordon.

Honestly, he had me ordering my Wolverine sweatshirt. Any coach giving props to the band up front knows what he is doing!

Gordon is a business teacher where he teaches courses with motto's like "from backpack to briefcase". This is one coach that will be more interested in players than their 40 times or how much they can power lift.

Caring about the off-the-field behavior for Gordon not only is the right thing to do but he thinks it ultimately leads to a winning team and program.

"We want to teach work ethic and leadership. Our motto is champions in the classroom, champions in the community, champions in the hallway, champions on the field," said Gordon.

He says he has seen teams with talent not do well because they didn't take care of the other aspects.

Gordon admits to mixed emotions to leaving Potomac Falls, especially as the Panthers are in the hunt for a new coach with Woodlief heading back to the Hampton Roads area, but there wasn't a guarantee that he would get the PF head job and Woodgrove's open arms towards him really turned the tide.

"It is a great, close community," said Gordon who already has had great contact with Loudoun Valley High School coach Danny McGrath, where the Woodgrove players will come from. McGrath has offered the Valley weight room to Gordon prior to Woodgrove being ready to go and has compiled a contact list for Gordon of future Wolverine players.

"We look forward to having a rivalry that will hopefully be unmatched within our county over the next few years!," said McGrath.

Woodgrove and Valley will play each other next year and that should kick-start the rivalry.

"It is a great thing for Western Loudoun," said Gordon. "We both want the kids to have a great experience."

Of course the first thing Gordon will have to do is put together a staff and he is confident that they will have a "great staff".

"Woodgrove is going to be a great place to coach and there will be a lot of excitement," said Gordon.

And just because he wrote the book on defense, doesn't mean he won't hire a defensive coordinator. Gordon, after all, was an offensive lineman in college and coached more offense than defense in the college ranks. His aim is to sign on the brightest coaches available and he'll coordinate where needed and pick up the slack as needed.

No matter what Gordon is specifically coaching come this fall, at the end of each day and each practice, he will already be at home in his community and we think the community will be at home with him.

Now, where did I put that old helmet ...