Wakefield hires Brandon Kelley as new football coach

Wakefield will introduce Brandon Kelley as its new football coach on Monday. Kelley comes from Gloucester High, near Newport News, Va.

According to The (Newport News) Daily Press, Kelley will remain at Gloucester as strength and conditioning coach through the end of the school year and come to Wakefield in the summer.

Kelley was 10-30 in four years, but Gloucester is a tough job. Last year’s mark of 4-6 was the team’s best record since 2016. Though his team did not qualify for the playoffs, he was voted conference coach of the year. When his team scored 51 points in a 2015 game, it was the most the school had scored since 1977.

Gloucester athletic director Kristy Hunter told the newspaper: “He has brought this program leaps and bounds from what it used to be. ... The dedication to the kids is what I see more than anything. His dedication to them inspires their dedication to the team. He gets them to come to weight training over the summer, to work harder at practice, and you see that on the field.”

Kelley replaces Rod Sink, who stepped down after five seasons to spend more time with family. Wakefield, which is moving into the new Northern Athletic Conference next year, made the playoffs in all of Sink’s five seasons and went 43-20 overall.

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Wakefield hires Brandon Kelley as new football coach."