Bradley moving from Group A William Campbell to AAA PH

Brad Bradley introduced the run-and-gun spread offense at William Campbell upon his arrival in 2000.

On Friday, after leading the Generals to five Dogwood District titles and two Group A, Division 1, state championships, Bradley was introduced as Patrick Henry-Roanoke’s new football coach during a ceremony at Patriot Stadium, which opened, complete with Field Turf, in 2007.

He informed his players of his decision to move on to the Group AAA Western Valley District school during a sports banquet at William Campbell on Thursday night.

“It’s one of the toughest things I’ve had to do, to take a step up in terms of my career,” Bradley said by cell phone from Roanoke. “I’ve been at William Campbell for nine years (and) I leave with a heavy heart. My wife and I sat down and talked about it and decided it was the best decision for me personally and professionally.”

He may have received more congratulatory phone calls and e-mails on Friday than he did after guiding the Generals to state titles in 2002 and 2005.

“Matt Barbour called me and James Haley (both at UVa-Wise) texted me today, (Liberty University’s) Danny Broggin called,” Bradley said. “A lot of my ex-players really supported me in my decision. I’m going to miss the people, administration, coaches, parents and players. Rob Arnold’s one of the best principal’s I’ve ever worked for.”

Though he will now don Patriot purple, Bradley said he will always bleed Generals blue.

“I’ll always be a William Campbell fan,” he said. “I’m going to work my butt off to try to get my seniors to graduation and into college.”

WC athletic director Rick Purcell said the school will begin a search for Bradley’s successor immediately.

“Roanoke’s getting a good football coach,” Purcell said. “The last nine years, to do what he did for our school, he’s going to be hard to replace, but we’ll have to move on.”

Bradley replaces Bob Gray, the former Staunton River coach who stepped down in December after four seasons in Roanoke. The Patriots finished 1-9 last season.

“They haven’t had a winning program at PH since 2000, when they were 5-5,” Bradley said. “It will be a challenge coming off a 1-9 season, and I’m excited about that, making that move. I feel like a lot of the goals I put forth at William Campbell we accomplished. There’ll be new goals, new opportunities and aspirations. We have a long way to go to get there.”

Bradley leaves a tremendous legacy at William Campbell and in the Dogwood District, most notably for turning a struggling program into a perennial contender, using an offense that few had ever seen.

“Way over half of the teams in the district use the spread offense now,” Purcell said. “Most have some form of the spread offense and there are at least three or four that use it full time. It makes for a lot of excitement.”

Bradley, who played for former Patrick Henry coach Willis White at Salem, hopes to bring some of that excitement back to the Patriots’ program.

“Roanoke gave me an opportunity,” he said. “As a football coach, you’re a competitor. It’s not a better opportunity, just a bigger opportunity. I was just looking for a challenge.

“It definitely wasn’t because I was unhappy at William Campbell,” he added. “This is an opportunity, a challenge, to better myself and my family and I’m excited about getting started here. Now that everything’s over, my job is to win games and to mold young men’s lives.”

He said the feeling surrounding his inauguration at PH reminded him of that in 2000 when he landed in Naruna after starting his coaching career at Lord Botetourt.

“There is a lot of support around the community, around the school, and they’re definitely hungry to win,” Bradley said. “That’s similar to the way it was when I arrived at William Campbell.”

Bradley will begin the process of assembling a coaching staff, with his longtime offensive line coach John Earich likely to accompany him.

“I am at home,” he said of returning to the Roanoke area. “I’ve got some people around me who I can trust, who can be loyal and have the same work ethic that I do. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”