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GOFFSTOWN

New 49ers head coach brings winning habits

Bill Barry, the new head football coach of the second-year Goffstown 49ers, is determined to turn the no-weight-limit team into a Northeast Junior High Football League title contender.

Many coaches and players, at many different levels, have made similar statements. But Barry has the background to prove he’ll do more than merely talk a good game.

“The turnaround that happened at UMass can be taken as a direct parallel to what I hope to have happen at Goffstown,” said Barry, a longtime Bedford resident, who helped the Minutemen win the Division IAA national championship in 1998.

UMass was 2-9 in Barry’s freshman year when the head coach retired at the campaign’s conclusion.

Barry said the announcement surprised him. But not as much as the proclamation made by the man who filled the position, current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple.

“At the press conference for the new coach, (Whipple) said his goal was to win a national title,” Barry said. “He wanted to create what he called a ‘championship tradition.’”

Coming off a two-win season, the idea seemed farfetched. But Whipple helped his players see the goal was reachable, Barry said.

“Bill Barry knows what it takes to play at a high level,” said Goffstown High School head football coach Rob Cathcart, who endorsed Barry for the 49ers head coaching job. “That’s priceless in my mind to have someone that’s done that.”

Currently, the 49ers are in a similar situation as the UMass teams of the late 1990s.

Goffstown’s lone victory came in its last game of the 2004 season, the first-ever Friendship Bowl last November.

Barry intends to build on that big win. He said he’s extremely excited to team up with the parents and adult volunteers who support the program. After all, it takes more than just the young men on the field to construct a contender.

“It takes a group effort to build a program, establish a winning tradition and sustain itself,” the new coach said.

It also takes an individual who owns the proper experience to teach a group of young athletes.

“When you look at youth football, some (coaches) are unqualified,” Cathcart said. “(Some people coach) mainly because their kids play. It’s awesome that they volunteer, but maybe they’re unqualified.”

What happens, Cathcart added, is that young players don’t gain the necessary instruction to the degree of a high school coach’s liking.

“The optimum is when you get someone who’s coaching because they love to coach – not because his child is playing,” Cathcart said. “And that’s Bill Barry. He’s in his late 20s, he loves the sport, and he loves coaching.”

“I have the utmost respect for anyone who coaches youth athletics,” Barry said. “It’s a huge time commitment and it’s honorable. But for me, (my situation) gives me a distinct advantage. It eliminates any question of my motives. The decisions I make will be solely based on the talent of the individual versus anything else that can be called into question.”

The new coach said his objective is to make sure his players have a solid grasp of the fundamentals. The basics, such as running, blocking and tackling, are critical at every level, he said.

“Success can be measured in many ways,” Barry said. “Wins and losses is only one way.”

Barry also plans to devote energy to increase the number of athletes who enter the program.

Last year, the 49ers drew a total of 27 players from Bedford, Bow, Dunbarton, Goffstown and New Boston. This year, the goal is to surpass 30.

“I’m a guy of high energy, high emotion,” Barry said. “I really have to show them (football) is fun. And if you do things the right way, it will be fun.”