Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Warren Wolf: Over 51 years a Football Coach and still passionate about the Game! A modern day hero!

"Football is the nearest thing to life," he said. "It's a preparation for a young man. There are more presidents that played football than any other sport. There's no doubt in my mind, a boy who doesn't play football has missed a step that will prepare him for life. I can't imagine my life without football." - Warren Wolf
One of the most compelling stories from 2010 was legendary football coach Warren Wolf returning to the sidelines after a one-year hiatus to take the job at Lakewood High School, a program that entered the season with a 27-game losing streak.
By the end of the season, the Piners had won their first game since 2007 and finished with a 3-7 overall record.
Now Wolf's season at Lakewood, one of the biggest challenges of his illustrious career, will reach a national audience this week.
Lakewood's 2010 campaign will be featured on the "USA Football" television series, part of the "NFL Films Presents" documentary series, on ESPN2 and the NFL Network.
The Lakewood story, the third installment of the four-episode "USA Football" series chronicling various high school and youth football programs around the country, will premiere at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday on ESPN2 and will be re-broadcast at 2:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN2.
The half-hour show on Lakewood also will air on the NFL Network at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Friday and at 2 p.m. Jan. 16.
The story itself is something out of Hollywood.
Wolf, who started the Brick Township High School football program in 1958, retired following the 2008 season after 51 years as the Green Dragons' head coach. The second all-time winningest coach in New Jersey and the all-time winningest coach in the Shore Conference, Wolf grew restless being a spectator during the 2009 season and returned to coach a downtrodden program at neighboring Lakewood.
Recognizing a good story, NFL Films began following Wolf and the Piners beginning with the team's second game of the season against Monsignor Donovan. A film crew accompanied the Piners over the course of the season at practices and games until Lakewood finally ended the long losing streak, which reached 33 games, with a 20-15 home victory over Central Regional on Oct. 30.
"Naturally, I was excited about it, and personally I'm pleased for our boys and our coaches at Lakewood and for our fans," Wolf said. "It kind of illuminates Lakewood, which has had down seasons the last few years but they've always had great football, basketball, baseball teams.
"It's something that's going to be a plus for the whole school and the township of Lakewood. Anything that's going to be a positive for Lakewood is a step in the right direction."
The Lakewood episode, which has an actual running time of 22 minutes, will include interviews with Wolf as well as several Lakewood players, including segments on Piners seniors Amir Dupree and Daquan Kenney.
The program, which features footage of Wolf in his days at Brick, will mainly run in chronological order and will end with the Piners' final game, a 28-22 victory over Toms River South in the teams' annual Thanksgiving Day contest.
Lakewood's players carried Wolf on their shoulder following the game.
"We had a lot of good stuff," said Shannon Furman, who directed the Lakewood episode and was the show's producer along with Chris Barlow, both of NFL Films.
"Our first version went seven minutes over, and it was not easy to cut down to 22 minutes. Coach Wolf's speeches and the other coaches' speeches are some of the most powerful parts of the show."
On the NFL Films crew, Wolf said, "They would come by in the locker room and come by at practice and come by at games. They spoke to the boys at various times. They were always on the sideline, but they were very cordial and professional at all times.
"We were very honored they were there. The boys are looking forward to it. I think the boys felt they were involved in an important program with people coming out to take pictures and get on television and so forth. I think there was an attitude of, "Wow, this is Lakewood and we're getting some of the limelight.' "
The season was one of the most satisfying in Wolf's career and he intends to return to Lakewood to try and build on the team's 2010 finish, which included a two-game winning streak and victories in three of the last four games.
"They learned how to win and they never gave up," Wolf said. "The boys, in my opinion, were very similar to the boys I coached at Brick Township all those years. There was no dropoff as far as quality, enthusiasm, effort, excitement, enjoyment. I wanted to surround myself with what we did at Brick and transfer it over to Lakewood, and it has been reasonably accomplished.""It's something that's going to be a plus for the whole school and the township of Lakewood. Anything that's going to be a positive for Lakewood is a step in the right direction."
The Lakewood episode, which has an actual running time of 22 minutes, will include interviews with Wolf as well as several Lakewood players, including segments on Piners seniors Amir Dupree and Daquan Kenney.
The program, which features footage of Wolf in his days at Brick, will mainly run in chronological order and will end with the Piners' final game, a 28-22 victory over Toms River South in the teams' annual Thanksgiving Day contest.
Lakewood's players carried Wolf on their shoulder following the game.
"We had a lot of good stuff," said Shannon Furman, who directed the Lakewood episode and was the show's producer along with Chris Barlow, both of NFL Films.
"Our first version went seven minutes over, and it was not easy to cut down to 22 minutes. Coach Wolf's speeches and the other coaches' speeches are some of the most powerful parts of the show."
On the NFL Films crew, Wolf said, "They would come by in the locker room and come by at practice and come by at games. They spoke to the boys at various times. They were always on the sideline, but they were very cordial and professional at all times.
"We were very honored they were there. The boys are looking forward to it. I think the boys felt they were involved in an important program with people coming out to take pictures and get on television and so forth. I think there was an attitude of, "Wow, this is Lakewood and we're getting some of the limelight.' "
The season was one of the most satisfying in Wolf's career and he intends to return to Lakewood to try and build on the team's 2010 finish, which included a two-game winning streak and victories in three of the last four games.
"They learned how to win and they never gave up," Wolf said. "The boys, in my opinion, were very similar to the boys I coached at Brick Township all those years. There was no dropoff as far as quality, enthusiasm, effort, excitement, enjoyment. I wanted to surround myself with what we did at Brick and transfer it over to Lakewood, and it has been reasonably accomplished."
To learn more about Coach Wolf you can use the following link http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/retiring-football-coach-epitomizes-best-of-america/2/.

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