Story by Carson Creech
Photo by Brandie McCabe
AURORA – The Norwood football team, coached by Brad Campbell, is 7-1 and ranked No. 5 in 8-Man.
Today, he is being recognized as the Broncos High School Tackle Coach of the Week. The Denver Broncos and CHSAA will continue to honor one flag football coach and one tackle football coach each week throughout the season.
Throughout the season, all Coach of the Week honorees will be recognized on the field during a pregame ceremony at Broncos home games.
Q&A with Brad Campbell:
What was your football background before becoming the head coach at Norwood and how did you end up at Norwood?
I was a K-12 student here at Norwood, so this is small-town USA at its finest, getting to come up as an athlete through this program. I moved back to this community to raise my family, and the position opened, so I applied for it. We were playing JV at the time, and this is year five. Now, we're ranked number five and playing good football.
Since you grew up in Norwood, were you familiar with 8-man football?
Absolutely. It seems like the game has changed. I graduated in 2013, played in three semifinals with teams from 2009-2011. It seems like the game back then, teams were trying to play more physical and run at each other. Now, especially with RPOs and passing attacks, the game has evolved. It's fun to have been a part of both, and it seems like being able to incorporate some of the old style and the new is working for us.
How would you describe your coaching style or philosophy?
One play at a time and fundamentals are everything. Only worry about what you can control. Do not worry about things you can't. We preach to our kids that there's some things that we just can't handle and don't worry about. You can only worry about you and your job as a player. We'll do our job as a coach and let the play fall where it may.
With a seven-game winning streak, how do you plan on helping your team finish the regular season strong?
It's that mentality of just control what you can control, do your job one play at a time. I know lots of coaches say that, but it's true. There's no reason to get too worked up about the things that you don't have any control over. There's only one task at hand at a time, and that's where all the focus should be.
Last year was your first year making the post season as Norwood's head coach. With another successful year so far this year, what do you think is the biggest reason for this success?
The biggest turnaround has been experience. This is a really good senior class this year. Most of the kids on this team have been getting significant varsity time since they were sophomores. Their ability to get into any situation, and the been-there done-that attitude is really good with these guys. They're competitors and they like to compete not only with each other, but with other teams, and they're very confident going into the future here.
The last few years we've typically seen the same programs make deep playoff runs in 8-Man. How do you compete with that physically and mentally?
It's been a long time for Norwood. My coaching staff and I, we played in three of them ourselves, so we're very familiar with the pressure, oftentimes even the weather. End of November, it's cold, especially throughout the road, and it's hard. I think the thing that this group is doing a very good job of is understanding not only what we do well but trying to take away what the other teams do well. We're trying to emphasize not beating ourselves, and instead just beating our opponents.
You mentioned those other coaches that played in the semifinals. Did you play on the same team with them when you were in high school at Norwood? How did you all come back to coach at Norwood?
My offensive coordinator, Morgan Rummel, and I are first cousins, so we're like brothers. Then our defensive coordinator, Blayde Harrigan, grew up in Morgan's class. We're friends first and foremost, and we're all fathers raising our kids in this community. We've had each other's back for a very long time, both on and off the football field. We know how we work as individuals, and we work together well. When the athletic director offered me the job, and before I accepted it, I called Blayde and Morgan. I said, if I'm going to do this, I need some help, and without hesitation, they both said they were in. One of the dads, Wes Tackett, stepped up that year as well and we've been together ever since.
What does this team and a potential deep playoff run mean to this community?
Everything. Last year, we got to host our first playoff game in nine seasons, and it was huge. It seemed like town shut down. Everybody was at the ball game, and it was a double overtime win over Simla. I don't think we could have won that game on the road. Our crowd was amazing. They were loud, and they all piled in and made the difference to get us down the stretch.
Is there anything we didn't get a chance to talk about today or anybody you want to give a shoutout to before we wrap up?
I really want to take a minute to thank God first and foremost for providing the opportunity. It's been wonderful to see what he's blessed us all with, and then also thank my assistants, Morgan Rummel, Blayde Harrigan, and Wes Tackett, I want to thank all of our families, for all the support. Also, a super special thanks to all of the people that coached us coming through this program. We're blessed being able to carry it forward and give back to the game, just the way that so many people gave to us years ago.
