Friendship between coaches goes beyond football

It was just after midnight on a Monday morning and you’d think Barry Wells had a better place to be and more important things to do. Like maybe be in bed in his Woodbridge home.

After all, Wells was a day away from preparing for his first official practice as Mount Vernon High School’s new head football coach and there was still plenty to take care of.

But at this moment, this was where he needed to be, standing on the main football field at Freedom High School with a smile on his face and joy in his heart as he watched his best friend Gary Wortham oversee the start of something special.

Under the lights in front of a smattering of fans, Wortham was doing his own version of Midnight Madness as Freedom began its first practice with the plan of kicking things off in a new way.

And while Wells could have passed on this in place of a good night’s rest, he wanted to be there to support Wortham because he knew all to well the time and effort Wortham had put into coaching in the hopes of someday being at the helm.

Wells knew this because he too had experienced the long road of serving as an assistant and getting passed over for head coaching jobs before finally getting this chance.

So here they were, two guys who the night before had gone out to dinner with their wives and were still shaking their heads in amazement at the similarities of their coaching careers and where it had now landed them.

Both were charged with turning around teams coming off 0-10 seasons. Mount Vernon, a tradition-rich program, had suffered through its worst season in 20 years, while Freedom had yet to post a winning record since fielding its first varsity team in 2005.

A tall order to be sure, but one that both looked forward to tackling.

“I’m so proud of him that I can’t put it into words to share this with him,” Wells said. “He will do great things.”

Wortham and Wells, who are nine years apart in age, first met when Wortham was a sophomore at West Potomac High School in 1985 and Wells was working at nearby Fort Belvoir.

Wortham had a part-time job after school and stopped by Fort Belvoir to deliver something when he crossed paths with Wells. He noticed Wells was reading the sports section of a newspaper and the two started talking about football.

Wells had played high school football in Harrisburg (Pa.) and then at Virginia State. He also spent some time with the old semi-pro Virginia Storm. The two hit it off immediately and Wells became an important mentor to Wortham.

Wells talked to Wortham about things like life in college, while Wortham, whose dad was a former mechanic in the Air Force, did things like change the oil in Wells’ car or did his brakes.

The two became inseparable so much so that Wells was the best man at Wortham’s wedding. Football, though, was the main connection between them.

Wells, 50, had started out as an assistant at Edison in 1988 before working as an assistant at high schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. For 10 years, Wells made weekly commutes to New Jersey to help out, while still having a full-time job as a consultant.

He loved coaching, but wondered if he would ever get the chance to run his own program. Because he did not teach in the school, he knew it would be a challenge to land a head coaching position.

Mount Vernon, though, was willing to give Wells a shot and for that he is thankful.

“I was really getting to the fork in the road,” Wells said. “I felt like I had enough experience and I was fortunate that the Mount Vernon principal was forward-thinking to think that I was the right person for the job.”

The two had a deal that if Wells got a head coaching job and Wortham did not, then Wortham would be Wells’ defensive coordinator at Mount Vernon. But if the opposite happened, then it was agreed that Wells would be Wortham’s offensive coordinator at Freedom.

Wells got his good news a week before Wortham interviewed at Freedom. Wortham remembers the day he was driving to Freedom for his interview when Wells pulled up next to him at the stoplight at the intersection of Minnieville and Smoketown roads. Wells gave Wortham some encouragement and it helped lift Wortham’s spirits.

“Sure enough, I got the job,” said the 41-year-old Wortham, who had been an assistant since 1992.

Now that they were both in charge of programs, they quickly got down to business in looking at different ways to change attitudes. One answer was to schedule a scrimmage between the two teams, which will take place Thursday at 6 p.m.

Of course, with Wortham’s penchant for creating as entertaining an atmosphere as possible for fans and players alike, the scrimmage has extra frills attached to it. The two teams will eat together at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Outback Steakhouse near Potomac Mills.

The game itself will be a four-quarter contest where money from admission will be donated to the Virginia High School League.

Both Wells and Wortham wanted to put together a game-like environment and thought this was a good way to do it. Of course, it means they will face each other, but that’s fine. The most important thing is they are in this position, happy for each other no matter who wins.

“It’s going to be a range of emotions,” Wells said.

David Fawcett is the sports editor of the News & Messenger. Reach him at 703-530-3011 or at dfawcett@insidenova.com