What made you want to go into coaching high school football?
"My coaches. I loved every coach I ever had. I really looked up to them, but mostly it was my dad, Jack Coogan. He was a coach in the area for a long time. That, and seeing my brothers play. Seeing my brother in '99 at our high school winning the WCAC title, the only time against DeMatha, just seeing how much it meant to them, the players and the coaches. Those things I really think about all the time, and it really had an impact on me."
What excites you most in going to work every day?
"I enjoy going to work, because I have great administrators who are like-minded people and very supportive. But the one thing that really excites me as a head coach is going in and fighting for our team standard and our culture every day – in practice, on the field and in the hallways. Our hope is that these kids take a lot of the things we're trying to teach them with them after football. Trying to help mold and change the way a young person thinks, helping with their self-esteem and pride, how they attack problems and them finding something they can hopefully excel at is something I really cling onto."
What's been one of your proudest moments since coaching at Falls Church?
"As a head coach, this year, what really means a lot are things like, when we go to team meal, team parents saying that every player said 'thank you' or faculty saying the kids act a great way as model students. Those things mean a lot. Or like last week, we had a tough loss which always kind of makes you feel down the next day, and a team mom e-mailed me saying what an impact we're having on her son not just on the field but off of it. It was nice winning the Beltway Bowl for the first time against Annandale, too [laughs] but that other stuff really, really means a lot."
What impact do you feel like high school football has on the kids you work with?
"In our team meetings and our preseason meetings, I talk about things that the kids hopefully will take with them like setting priorities. They have to be with their family, they have to take care of their classroom and excel at that. Do they want to be good at football? Then that has to be up there on their priority list, too. And then the things that don't matter so much, like the phone or TikTok, putting those things aside. Having our standards of being on time: representing themselves, their school and community; having respect for themselves and other is important. Lessons around teamwork, fighting through adversity, sacrifice, doing their job for the team to succeed, those are things they can keep with them throughout their lives."
What's the biggest life lesson football has taught you, and how do you pass that lesson on to your players?
"I took a lot of things from football, but the one thing I always go back to is not everything's always easy but you don't always have a choice and you just have to get the job done. The last thing you can do is quit or walk away. I've told this story to my team, but when my son TJ was born a couple days before camp, my routine was crazy going to practices, helping my wife, staying up with him, lack of sleep. And I just remember thinking while it was going on, 'I feel like I've done this before,' and the thing I really thought of was going to camp in football. Obviously, it's different but a lot about it also wasn't foreign. I'd been there before, and I took pride in that. I'm prepared for it. I share that with them. At some points in life, you won't be able to say 'I don't want to do it' or 'I quit.' You won't be able to because you're going to let other people down that really depend on you."
What advice would you give to newer coaches or aspiring student-athletes?
"I'm a new head coach so to anyone getting into it, just try to soak up everything you can, the kids need to come first and just be yourself – that's my big advice to anyone head coach or not. When you think of the kids first and being yourself, lots of other things take care of themselves. Staying organized and surrounding yourself with good people also helps a lot. And for student-athletes, the biggest thing is you just got to go do it. If you say say you want to do it, go out with the team when they have practices or whatever in the offseason and do it. I think that's the hardest part. It's just going the first day and seeing how hard it is and you make the next day and it just becomes a habit. Everything gets easier after that, and you get in the flow of it."
What does it mean to you to be named a Commanders Coach of the Week?
"It's a great honor to represent our school and community. To stand out and be recognized for what we do as a program is a great feeling. It's just great to share with our team and all the coaches who work extremely hard on our small staff."