School board blundered with football coach choice

They replace Warren Wolf with who? Growing up, Warren Wolf was a fixture in our household. Not physically, but mentally. My older brother Paul played quarterback for the Brick team back in 1974 when Brick won the state title in a down-to-thewire win over Camden. I remember because I was there, all of 8 years old. We lived being "a Brick Dragon" and we became better people for it.

Next to my dad, my brother Paul regards Warren Wolf and the entire Brick staff of coaching as important people that helped shape his life and his success throughout his life. When Paul comes back to town, seeing Coach Wolf is on the top of his priority list — 35 years later!

Fast-forward 10 or 12 years, and my brother Todd was at the helm of the Brick Dragons. Coach Wolf was his mentor and his guide. Todd is now working with the football "pros" in the world, and guess who he credits for much of his success, next to my Dad? Coach Wolf. I remember sitting in the Cracker Barrel back in the early 1990s, in Williamsburg, Virginia, when Todd went off to play for William and Mary (on a football scholarship), and who walks in? Coach and Mrs. Wolf. They'd driven to Virginia to watch my brother Todd play a college football game. Guess who Todd makes it a priority to see when he's back in town? Coach Wolf — 25 years later!

Coach Wolf instilled pride, tradition and values in "his boys." His staff of coaches have grown to emulate Coach Wolf because they've lived through playing for Coach Wolf. For any Brick official to negate Coach Wolf's wishes to pass the torch from within is sacrilege. I know because I've lived with "the boys" that became better people because of Coach Wolf and his staff.

I think the choice to hire from the outside is a big, big mistake for Brick football. For the pride and the tradition. For the Dragon way. The outsider hasn't lived and grown with the pride and tradition that seeps into the soul of a Brick Dragon. It becomes their very being. They bleed green. Being a Brick Dragon is family. One of his "offspring" deserved the position, for they have been instilled with the greatness and likeness of Warren Wolf. In passing the torch, I think they've dropped the baton.
Judy Durkin Scheller
Brick