The reel of photos appears endless. While sitting in the Andrew T. McNamara Headquarters' cafeteria, Head Coach Thomas Pressley flips through pictures of former and current players from his Fort Belvoir Bulldog's 125-pound football team. The players are college athletes, high school players or youth preparing themselves for bigger roles within the Bulldogs. No matter each individual's circumstance, every image scrolling across coach Pressley's smart phone share equal importance to him.
"I have pictures of all these guys, man," Pressley said with the smile of a proud parent. "I'll be walking around and showing them to everybody like they're my kids."
Pressley and his self proclaimed "tag-team partner" Assistant Coach Sheldon Wiley have served as Fort Belvoir's 125 pound football coaches for 13 seasons. The duo's resume includes two Fairfax County Youth Football League championships and five Fairfax County Players of the Year. It's April, which is the offseason for youth football, but Pressley still has the itch to get back on the field and recover from a 32-7 loss in the Central Division semi-final game against Arlington in November 2012. He still wonders if he called the right the plays and made the right decisions during the game.
"It always burns at you," Pressley said. "You just want to win."
Playoff defeats are always tough but there use to be a time for the Bulldogs when the playoffs were unreachable -- a time when the team went six consecutive games without even scoring a touchdown.
It all started in the Army
Pressley, a South Carolina native, was a talented high school safety. He received walk-on offers from Clemson University and South Carolina State University among other schools, despite not playing his senior year. Pressley declined the offers because no school provided full tuition. Instead, he enlisted into the Army and played semi-professional football while stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash. and in Germany. These experiences helped him develop his coaching philosophies.
"One of my philosophies is this: we try to get the most from the least and the best from the best," Pressley said. "We try to capitalize on all the capabilities of the least talented player on the field and get the most from him; and the best player, we try to take his game up another notch."
Pressley also started developing beliefs about achieving goals and not settling for mediocrity. He received the opportunity to provide these philosophies to young football players after retiring from active duty at Fort Belvoir. His son, Teyon who is now an assistant coach for the Bulldogs, was playing with the 125-pound team at the time and Pressley helped with the team as his schedule permitted. Everything changed in 2000 when the Bulldog's former head coach resigned from the position. Family members urged Pressley to take over, citing his football experience as a reason to become the head coach.
"At the time I had so much going on that I didn't want to commit to coaching the team, but the parents were pretty persistent," Pressley said.
To be frank, the Bulldogs weren't good when Pressley assumed command. They were 0-4 and hadn't scored a touchdown. The team finished the season 0-7 and only scored a touchdown in the last game of the season. Despite the struggle, Pressley remained as the team's coach the following season and enlisted the help of Wiley. He assisted Pressley with what they believed to be the biggest problems with the team: the players lacked an understanding of the game and use of improper techniques. Many of the players didn't know where to line up, they didn't understand what gaps to attack and they lacked the ability to properly tackle, block and catch.
"Teaching the proper technique is the most important thing you can do," Wiley said. "Technique can be the difference between winning and losing to a team just as talented as you are."
The coaches emphasized these skills during the offseason and the team immediately started playing better. The success has continued each year. During the last 13 seasons, the team sports one of the highest winning percentages in Fairfax County's125 pound division and has appeared in five championship games, Pressley said. The Bulldogs' coaching staff has also coached athletes who went on to play at colleges such as Virginia State University and Vanderbilt University.
"We're in a youth league. We're supposed to be teaching how the game is properly played," Wiley said. "These kids have success at the higher levels because we teach them the basic concepts and expose them to every offensive set and defense set … when they get to the next level, regardless of the scheme they're in, they've seen it before."
Winning occurs off the field too
For Pressley and his coaching staff, life doesn't begin and start between the white lines of a football field. The coaches encourage their players to win in the classroom, with Family and in other areas of life. Each year, the team hosts a banquet and the players with the best grades receives the biggest trophies -- not the athlete who is recognized as the most valuable player. The Bulldogs coaching staff also recognizes the player who displays the most heart and bravery during the season with the Joshua Jodeci Dotorello Courage Award.
Taylor and Tyler Thrower, two Bulldogs football players during the 2012 season, both couldn't help but chuckle when asked about the coaching staff's emphasis on winning off the field.
"He wasn't afraid to pull you off the field if you messed up at home," said Taylor, one of two females who've played for Pressley during his 13 seasons as coach. "I've never met a coach who backed up his promises to keep you from playing if you were messing up. He really put education and Family first and then football second."
Taylor and Tyler agreed that Pressley and his coaching staff made them better football players and better people.
"He's a father figure, he's a great coach, he's what you need at this age," Taylor said.
Eyes on the future
Only a few months separate Pressley from the ability to recover from the loss in the semi-final game to Arlington. He and Wiley have been itching to get back on the field since the season ended four months ago. As always, the priories next season will be winning and developing discipline and hardworking young people.
"When I go out there and smell that grass and I see the dirt kicking up from the bottom of those cleats, and I start calling plays and everybody's eyes start widening, I get hyped," Pressley said. "I wouldn't change it for nothing in the world."
Social Sharing