FOOTBALL: Rockmart alum named new head football coach at Woodland-Cartersville

Get ready, because the Woodland Wildcats’ new head football coach is looking to bring excitement back to Friday nights. Maybe bringing a bit of that Jacket Nation magic to Bartow County after a hire was announced this week.

The announcement came in on Tuesday that Rockmart High School alum and former Jacket Quarterback Brandon Haywood is the newly hired coach for the Wildcats. He gathered his new team in a meeting on Tuesday to talk about the future of the Wildcats program, and his message is clear: he plans to bring new energy to Woodland that comes from his experience in the game that goes back to his roots here in Rockmart.

He’s aspired to be a head football coach and athletic director, now he has his shot with a tall order.

“I’m ecstatic to be given this opportunity,” he said. “But it is a different place and a different vibe.”

Haywood, now 32, was the Jackets QB and is a Class of 2009 grad from Rockmart High School. He played under center during the Dan Duff era of Jackets football, but was All-Area and Class AA All-State during his tenure and was the Offensive Player of the Year and team MVP, and took the team to the playoffs during the 2008 season.

After his time playing for the Jackets, he went onto Carson-Newman and played three seasons as an Eagle – starting in the final six games of the 2011 season and putting up a 3-3 record while going 21-42 and a touchdown pass, and rushing for 372 yards and five touchdowns.

Haywood’s coaching tenure includes time at River Ridge and Cass as well.

He served as QB coach for the Jackets and was a PE teacher at Van Wert during his tenure with the Polk School District.

He expects his first task as Wildcats leader is to head into the Woodland program with a mandate to change the culture and bring some of what the Jackets have developed over the past five seasons under Head Coach Biff Parson to the table.

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“We’ve got the change the mentality of the players,” he said. “They aren’t used to winning.”

To do that, he plans to start celebrating with his players – chest bumps included – after big plays during games and bring a level of excitement back to the gridiron that has been missing from Woodland for a long time.

Woodland opened in 1998, and during that time the Wildcats have only posted a winning record during one season under five football coaches. That was their second season in existence when John Camp was head coach, and the team went 7-4 and took a bounce out of the playoffs in the first round against Westlake.

Since then… let’s be honest here: there’s not a lot to celebrate about the Wildcats. Camp’s five-season tenure closed after the team went 5-5 in 2000, then failed to get back above .500 in the intervening years but only a few times. Todd Simpson’s first season ended with a 5-5 start, but he was gone after the 2004 season.

Steve Hamilton got the Wildcats to 5-5 in 2008, but that came with a 1-5 record in Region 7-AAAA. His tenure ended two seasons later when the Wildcats went back-to-back with 3-7 records.

Vince DiLorenzo and Tony Plott’s combined years have also seen the Wildcats remain under .500 squads annually, with 0-10 records posted for each coach in 2014 in DiLorenzo’s final year, and Plott’s second year in 2016 after he started with a 1-9 season.

A tall order for Haywood for sure, but one thing is certain: he’s ready to get the Wildcats to a better place.

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“I want Friday nights to be fun in Woodland again,” Haywood said. “It’s been a long since they have.”

His promise to his new community: he’ll bring excitement and energy to a squad in need of a refresh.

After the announcement of his new job in 2022, Haywood offered his thanks to the Rockmart community for showing him love and well wishes on getting the opportunity to reach his dream of head coaching.

He invited Rockmart fans to come out on Friday nights and see the Wildcats play – when the Jackets aren’t on the field, of course.