West Brunswick officials have hired Shane Handy as the new Trojans head football coach.
Handy coached at his alma mater Randleman High School for 12 years from 2008-19 where he amassed a 95-53 record before taking the head coaching job at Clayton High School in 2020.
He was at Clayton for two years, the first during the 2020 Covid pandemic. In the delayed 2020 season played in the spring of 2021, Handy coached the Comets to an 8-2 record and a 3A state playoff run, including a 27-16 victory over West Brunswick in Shallotte in the second round before Clayton lost in the third round.
The Comets played in 4A in the fall of 2021 going 5-6 and making the playoffs again, losing to Heritage in Wake Forest in first round.
Handy will take over the Trojan football program from Caleb Pardue who was named interim head coach after Brett Hickman resigned in May after four seasons as West Brunswick’s head football coach. Pardue, the Trojan’s defensive coordinator under Hickman, went 1-9 as a first-time head coach in the Fall 2022 season.
“I had probably 45 applications. We were looking for somebody with some experience. And we interviewed five guys. We had a committee, it was some community members, (Principal Jonathan) Paschal, myself, (Assistant AD Leslie) Reaves and a couple other administrators. We interviewed him. We met after the interview process, and (discussed) pros and cons and Shane came out on top. I've known Shane for probably 20 years or longer. He's had a lot of success as a head coach. We just felt like that he was a good fit for what we were looking for,” West Brunswick Athletic Director Jimmy Fletcher said.
“I wanted somebody with experience. I wanted somebody that had taken a program and kind of build it back up. I wanted somebody that I felt got along with kids. We talked to a lot of people in the community. We talked to administrators that he had worked with. Everybody just had great things to say about him. And probably the biggest thing too, is he's been at the college level. So he knows a lot of college coaches. He’s been at the high school level. I think that helps our kids when it comes to recruiting. I do think that's really important. I mean I was fortunate enough to be in college coaching for a while and a lot of the kids I got signed (came) from my friends. I do think that's an important aspect of being a head football coach, is placing your kids.
“But, you know, I wanted somebody with good character. A good Christian man. And there are a lot of things that drew me and drew us all to him. He just was the right fit, we felt, at this time. And he did a great job, like I said, wherever he's been and I thought that was important.”
“Anytime you have a big changeover, like a football coach, obviously the search is one of those times where we're making sure we're getting the word out there and making sure that we get the right applicants in for an interview. Once we start going through that process names start coming up, not just from the interview process, Handy was one of them. We began to get calls from different people just basically vouching for what a great coach he is, but also what a great person he is, and an educator,” Paschal said.
“Once we realized he was dedicated to not just coaching, but being an educator through and through, we knew we needed to talk a little bit further. This is one of those situations where, after the interview where we talked through exactly what his vision was for the program, what he envisioned for the community, at that point, the choice was made. He was going to be our next coach at West Brunswick. He's a guy that seems to be all about community. But more importantly, focused on building up students beyond just the field. He's talked nothing but building character, making sure that these young men know there’s life on the field, but also life after the field, so to speak.”
Handy grew up in Randolph County and played multiple sports at Randleman High
He earned a degree from Guilford College where he played football and baseball and went on to earn a masters degree from Delta State university in Cleveland, Miss. Handy started his coaching career at Guilford, Catawba College and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas before returning to Randleman where he was football coach for 12 years and athletic director for 10.
“I used to recruit the Brunswick County area when I was at Guilford College. And I recruited this area when I was at Catawba recruited this. So I met (Jimmy Fletcher) and we've known each other for a long time through that,” Handy said.
Handy left Clayton in March of 2022 over program philosophy differences with the administration and spent the rest of the year as an assistant coach with Corinth Holding High School in Wendell before applying for the West Brunswick head football coach position.
“When we went to Clayton they had been just really in disarray. The principal was a good guy. He's a great person. When we got there, he put me in charge of facilities. In two years, we built a Field House, a 4,000-square foot weight room, like restructured the whole building, and then the turf field. I was kind of project manager for all that. It was a great experience and fun. I feel like we left it a lot better than we found it,” Handy said.
“To me, it's more important that things are done right and line up with my beliefs and my structure and what I believe you need to do with kids. So we had a great parting. We didn't have a problem. I just went next door and coached, which was really good for me. The guy next door at Corinth Holders had nobody. We coached 125 kids last year with four full time coaches.
“It was good that I went because I ended up coaching offensive line, coaching tight ends, H-backs and then coached the DBs on defense.”
Handy was familiar with the area as his stepfather and mother, Tony and Delphine Warren, have lived in Cherry Grove, S.C. for several years before his stepfather’s death in November 2022.
“I actually came (to a West game) this fall when my stepdad was in the hospital. I came down to watch a game for a half and the environment was just amazing. I'd been here before when (Clayton) played here, the environment is great. The fan support on game day, you know, the presentation, it's just really neat. I stayed for a half then stayed with my stepdad in the hospital that night. So I just stayed a half but I thought, ‘Wow, this is really pretty neat experience.’”
“I knew they may open it up for interviews. Originally, I told Jimmy I wasn't going to apply, but then my stepdad passed away. Then I felt like that, you know you pray about it. It's kind of funny story, when I told Jimmy I wasn’t sure if I would apply, he said don't give me an answer right now, just pray about it. And so I said, Okay,” Handy said.
“And I continued to pray about it. But then my stepdad passed. And that was before Thanksgiving. I was here for that week. That Friday, I came over here and just walked around, to kind of see what it felt like. And I start to pray about it some more and felt like it was the right thing to do.”
Handy and his wife, Monica, have a daughter who will be a senior at Clayton in the Fall, so he will stay with his mother in Cherry Grove while his family remains in Clayton through her graduation.
“Because my daughter, she'll be a senior next year. She'll want to finish where she's at, where my wife teaches. I'll kind of work back and forth. But I'll live with my mother here in Cherry Grove until sell our house and move. It’s not the perfect scenario but I think it's really a blessing it worked out the way it did,” Handy said.
“It's almost like just everything, every star is lined up. Everything worked out.”
Handy, whose hiring was approved by the Brunswick County Board of Education at the January meeting, said he will start at West Brunswick in early February. A Physical Education teacher, he will also work at the school as a weightlifting coach.
Fletcher said he plans to organize an introductory meet and greet in February for Handy.
“I think he's got to get out in community a little bit. I think that'll help him to do the meet and greet. But also, I think, when we go out and meet the booster club and start selling signs again, he will probably go with me to meet a lot of people,” Fletcher said.
“I think it's really important to get involved in the community. And he does as well. Wherever he's been, that was something else that I felt, like a lot of his same ideas were our ideas as a panel – getting into the community, getting to know the parents, placing your kids in colleges if they have an opportunity, finding places for them.”
“I will finish like the eighth of February. I'll be here to kind of hit the ground running (around) there. I think the biggest thing to build a program is getting to know the kids, but understanding the kids too. So, being able to go through the roster and say, ‘Okay, what about this kid? What grade is he in? Get people's opinion on it. And then I’ve got to evaluate from there,” Handy said.
“In February, I think we'll have a massive meeting with the kids, the returners and the kids that are interested in playing football. I think it starts in the school, and then I've got to take time during the day and walk around and see kids in the hall. I think you’ve got to recruit your own hall. I think you’ve got to get kids out of the hallway that maybe haven't played, build a relationship and see if you can get them to participate. And then also keep the ones you got. I'm coming in, I'm brand new, they don't know me, I don't know them. I've got to sell myself to them that they want to play for me.
“To me, it’s an opportunity in February and March to start developing those relationships and teach them how you want to do things, what you expect and start building that culture.”
“The answer is relationships, period. I mean, there's no way you can be successful without developing great relationships with kids and coaches. And not every coach and every kid is going to agree with everything you say, or do but you’ve got to build that relationship with them where they can go with it even if they don't quite agree with it. So I feel like the number one thing, hitting the ground running is starting to build relationships.”
Handy added getting everybody on the same page is the starting point to have a program that develops kids’ work ethic, expectation and desire to be as good as they can be, and to get that work ethic out of them.
“Everywhere I've been I've felt like you've got to get into classroom, make sure they're doing the things in the classroom they need to. I think you’ve got to follow them and monitor them in that aspect. And I think you’ve got to build them in the weight room with the same intensity that you expect from them in the classroom too. And then from the weight room, I think you’ve got to start teaching fundamental football. From the ground up. Developing your methods of how you do things, how you talk about offense, how you talk about defense, what you do in special teams to make it effective and understandable. It goes back to being a really good teacher of what you want to present.
So I think the key for us is to get in as many coaches as we can that believe in that system, believe in the direction that you’re going and change the culture. It takes a little bit, but I think it can happen in a hurry if you work at it hard enough,” Handy said.
Handy said at Randleman and Clayton they did a lot of facility building so it will be nice to come in where everything involving improvements to the field, field house and weight room are done.
“Jimmy and I are excited about working together and trying to help each other. I’ll assist him in cleaning up, just keeping things nice. And I talked to him about next steps. You always got to try to improve every year, something, I think. And of course, try to take care of the practice facility and make that as good as possible. And just kind of take care of the equipment and change a few things maybe,” Handy said.
“My biggest thing starting a new job is getting the kids in the weight room, getting the kids working. Because the weight room is the key to success, for sure. No question about it. And we have a nice facility there. We’ve just got to get them all in there working and start training kids to get ready for the season. To get ready for the summer.”
Brian Slattery is the sports editor for The Brunswick Beacon. Reach him at 910-239-7433 or bslattery@brunswickbeacon.com.
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