Warren Wolf opted for going out on top

Warren Wolf Warren H. Wolf had many job offers from other school districts during his long career with the Brick school system.

He wasn't interested. He turned them all down.

"I'm not a mover," he said in a recent interview at his Nicholas Road home, while his beloved dog Rusty nuzzled a chew toy at his feet. "I had no intention of leaving Brick Township. My heart was here. I live here. I've served here in politics. Brick is my home."

Wolf wasn't surprised he ended up coaching the Brick Township Marching Dragons for 51 autumns. He never thought he would retire.

"I thought I would continue to coach until I died," he said.

But a few years ago, Wolf began having trouble breathing, especially during the games.

"Football is very demanding, the pressure of the games," he said. "There is no way to short-circuit around that. I couldn't breathe the last few years."

After a battery of pulmonary tests, Wolf's doctor told him he had developed asthma. Wolf found it hard to believe. He thought it was a young person's disease.

So he began taking daily medication for the asthma and carried around an inhaler, or his "puffs" as he calls it. He hoped that would do the trick.

But despite Wolf's seemingly calm exterior, the stress of the games began to take their toll.

"At the games I'd really be having trouble breathing," he said. "The emotions capture you."

He discussed the situation with Peg, his wife of 58 years, his son and daughter. He reluctantly decided it was time for someone else to take over his beloved Dragons.

"I thought maybe I'll live a little bit longer without the anxiety," Wolf said with a smile. "God will call me when he wants me. I'm ready."

Peg Wolf baked brownies and made doughnuts every Sunday for decades, when Wolf's players game over to review the film of the game of the week. She thinks her husband made the right decision.

"I think it was time," Peg said. "He's not getting any younger. He gets tired. It's time for somebody else."

But the Wolfs will still be found at the Dragons games next fall. They will sit in the stands with the rest of the fans.

"It's in our blood," she said. "I've always enjoyed football, even before I met him. I just enjoy the season and the excitement."

And Wolf, 81, is still soldiering on with plans for a book about the high school's history. Last year he announced he wanted to do a book celebrating the high school's 50 years. But now he has "switched gears" and instead will focus on 50 years of Dragons football first.

"It's overwhelming," he said of the original plan. "I need more help with it. We're going to do the football book first. It will shorten up the other one. This will be a labor of love and I think it will be a lot quicker."

He has scrapbooks from each one of the 51 years, with pictures of players and newspaper clippings. Peg clipped all the articles. Former Board of Education member Sharon Kite and her husband Richard are working with Wolf on the book.

It also helps that Wolf had already compiled a book on the Dragons' first 20 years.

"My goal is to have the book finished by next football season," he said.

Wolf had originally planned to leave after his 50th season. But the 5-5 2007 season and the disappointing Thanksgiving Day loss to archrival Brick Memorial spurred him on for one more year.

He wanted to end his Dragons' football career on a winning note. And he did.

The Dragons ended the 2008 season with a 6-4 record, including a 34-27 win over the Brick Memorial Mustangs this past Thanksgiving Day.

The man who said he couldn't imagine life without football leaves with a record unmatched in the state — 361 wins, 122 losses and 11 ties, six state sectional titles and 31 division championships.

But Wolf hasn't slowed down entirely. He still skis every winter, sometimes in Vermont, sometimes in Utah. He's a member of the "70 plus Club." And he's looking for a skiing partner.

"I love it," he said. "It's a great sport."