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Coach's Corner: Whittier's Kevin Bradley

Wednesday, September, 12 By Alan Seigel
Staff writer

Kevin Bradley is a football man through and through. The Whittier Tech coach is no less excited about the sport today than he was during his days as a schoolboy star at Methuen High.

Last Saturday, his Wildcats, who are coming off a trip to the Division 3 EMass. Super Bowl, opened with a 36-32 victory over Charlestown.

"This was a great, great win for us," he said Tuesday night. In this week's edition of "Coach's Corner", Bradley, 46, examines a variety of football issues.

1. What are your thoughts on the recent spying allegations made against the Patriots?
"I think in all sports, baseball, football, we look across (the field) to see if we can pick up signals. It's just part of the game. ... You try to be one step ahead of everybody else."

2. Do you think the team should be punished?
"If they're breaking the rules, yes. ... They'll probably just get a slap on the wrist. The Jets and Patriots are always arguing about something."

3. Was there one particular athlete you looked up to as a kid?
"Danny Cargill. He played basketball at Lawrence High School. I lived in Methuen but I went to a lot of Lawrence basketball games. I was in the seventh grade. I just admired the way he shot the basketball." (Cargill, LHS Class of 1975, scored 1,612 points for the Lancers, a program record. He's currently the business manager at Central Catholic.)

4. How about at the pro level?
"Larry Bird. I was always imitating his type of moves. Or trying to. Just how calm he stayed..."

5. You were a graduate assistant coach at Virginia Tech for a season (1990-91). What was it like to hear about the shootings there in April?
"It was shocking. The football training tables (when I was there) were down below (on the lower level of Norris Hall, where the massacre took place).

6. Is it nice seeing the campus come together through football?
"I worked for (Hokies head coach) Frank Beamer, he's a classy type of person. He treats everybody professionally. He rises to the occasion to make sure the right words are said."

7. Do you have any good stories about the sheer insanity of big-time college football?
"When we went down to play Florida State. They were No. 2 or 3 in the country. I just couldn't believe we were at FSU. It was a night game on ESPN. I couldn't believe the crowd. We needed a state police escort to get through campus safely. You always hear about people working on hand signals because you can't hear yourself talk. The college atmosphere was totally amazing."

8. Do you miss the college game?
"You do miss dealing with the college athlete. You can do a lot more defensively and offensively. In high school, you actually do more coaching. You have to take the student-athletes from the beginning stages. ... In college, you say things once or twice and they know what you're talking about."

9. Your friend from the Virginia Tech days, Todd Grantham, is now the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. How does he think the pro game differs from college and high school?
"In the NFL, it's all about money. When (teams) hit the players' wallets, they respond."