NEWPORT NEWS, VA (WTKR)- He's no stranger to high school football in Hampton Roads and spends countless hours promoting the game of football in his hometown of Newport News. After a year away, Tommy Reamon is back on the sidelines.
Reamon is the new head coach at Denbigh High School, returning after leaving Landstown following the 2021 season. Coaching again in his hometown was a decision he made thanks in part to encouragement from Patriots' Director of Student Activities Marcus Williams, whom played for Reamon, and another notable Denbigh alumnus.
"I flew to Pittsburgh because of Franco Harris's wake," Reamon recalled. "(Steelers' head coach) Mike Tomlin said 'Coach, would you take on the challenge at Denbigh High School?'"
The Newport News native's resume speaks for itself. He was drafted by Pittsburgh, put together a professional career and is a longtime head coach in the area, helping to develop players such as Michael Vick and Aaron Brooks. Now he sets his sights on a program that has struggled for the better part of the last decade. Denbigh has not won a game since the spring season in 2021 and has just two victories since the start of the 2017 campaign. Reamon hopes that's all about to change.
"We need a change of culture," he said. "With that change of culture, I'm pulling out all the cards that I've learned through some great coaches and my experience."
Watch the Patriots work out and that impact is already apparent. Players are putting in the hard work, doing things they've never done before and seeing the results.
"We've been lifting," noted senior wide receiver and cornerback Amari Robinson. "A lot of guys got way bigger and way better. We come out here with a different motive, trying to set a statement. This isn't the same Denbigh [anymore]."
"They're winning right now by the things that they are doing to make this an experience that they'll never forget," the head coach added.
Reamon knows the game has changed over the course of his career and he's had to adjust in some ways. One thing has remained constant that's he's bringing with him, however, and that's developing a chemistry with his players as people.
"If you don't develop that relationship with them, you lose them," he pointed out. "That's what's happening here. I'm spending time with them, quality time."
"I've learned how to be a better leader, how to step up for my team, be a better player, execute more, take the small things and make them bigger," Robinson said of what he's learning from Reamon. "It's all about team."
Reamon and the Patriots hope the change in culture, mindset and work ethic is evident when Denbigh takes the field on Friday nights. They're starting a new chapter in program history, one that looks like a success before even playing a down.
"We're definitely going to see more heart, more fight, more punching people in the mouth," Robinson said. "No more of that weak stuff. We're coming out here with a different motive. Coach Reamon put heart in everybody."
"We just need to walk on the field because it's changed already," smiled Reamon. "That's what people are going to wait to see."
Denbigh kicks off its 2023 schedule on August 25 at Granby.
