Noah Crouch has been named Gloucester High School’s new varsity football head coach. Crouch comes to Gloucester with a dozen years of coaching experience.
A former punter for the Liberty University squad, he played high school ball in Amherst County. Before taking on the head coaching job at GHS, he was an assistant coach at Nelson County High School.
Crouch’s father, Mickey Crouch, was a longtime high school football coach of more than 40 years, with state championships under his belt. He said his father spent one year of his coaching career in York County and would often say if there was one place he wish he could have coached it was Gloucester.
His father’s words always stayed with Crouch throughout his own time coaching. When the opportunity to be Gloucester’s new coach arose, the decision was easy.
Though having been around football for his whole life, coaching was certainly not the plan for Crouch. He said growing up he would often tell his dad that he would never coach. He had seen his father go to different schools to teach and coach and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
When Crouch graduated from Liberty with a degree in marketing, he was unsure of what direction to take his career. He said he took a job with long hours which kept him from enjoying the game of football and he missed it. He said that sparked something in him, so he decided to move back home and began coaching under his father.
Crouch said a lot of his coaching philosophy stems around relationships. He said in all aspects of life it’s important to form and maintain relationships. He believes to do anything and be successful at it one has to be able to work with others and that’s especially true for teaching and coaching alike.
In recent years, the Dukes have struggled to stay competitive in games, something of which Crouch is fully aware. He said he’s looking forward to the challenge of getting the program back on track. He said he knows prior to Covid, the team was moving in the right direction, but the pandemic seems to have derailed that.
Crouch said he’s seen enough tape of the Dukes team to know everything Gloucester needs athletically is already here. He said the team will be aggressive in all phases of the game and will put emphasis on special teams play.
A former punter and longtime special teams coordinator, Crouch understands the importance of being successful on special teams. He said it’s often the unit that’s the odd one out at practice as offense and defense can easily take up most of the time and attention. However, he said he’ll put an emphasis on special teams so that come game time, the Dukes will be ready in all facets of the game.
The offense Crouch will run a traditional Delaware Wing T scheme, which he knows the team is familiar with. He plans on a balanced offensive approach with multiple formations and pre-snap motion. On defense, he plans on implementing multiple fronts to generate pressure and penetration, without sacrificing coverage.
Crouch will also be teaching at Gloucester High School, though he said he doesn’t know which class yet. He said he’s already met with the football team and is excited to start working with them when conditioning starts in the summer.