Head coach Woodruff: A new leader for Zeeland East HS football
ZEELAND, Mich. — After 13 seasons under the leadership of Derek Pennington, Zeeland East High School is welcoming a new head football coach to the program this fall. Joe Woodruff is joining the team at Zeeland East after coaching for the last five years at Lakeland High School in White Lake, Michigan, where he led the Eagles to a 7-1 season last year and was named Michigan High School Coaches Association Region 2 Coach of the Year.
I recently had the opportunity to chat with Coach Woodruff about his coaching background and philosophy as well as his thoughts about the future of Zeeland East Football.
Q: Congratulations, Coach Woodruff, and welcome to Zeeland! After your successful run at Lakeland, what led you to take on this new adventure as head football coach at Zeeland East High School?
A: Thank you! Well, the Zeeland community has a reputation of quality in every aspect. I was interested in the job before I got to know Zeeland East Principal Jessica Knoth and Athletic Director Josh Glerum—and once I got to know them, I became very excited. I was immediately impressed by their professionalism and dedication to the ZEHS students…and then, the more people I met from Zeeland the more excited I became.
Q: It’s a loaded question, but…what are your plans and goals for the ZEHS football program now that you’re taking the reins?
A: Simply stated, we want to reach our potential as a program and take the players higher than they imagined they could go. We want to embrace all of the qualities that have made the Chix program so successful historically while also seeking out new areas to improve upon.
Q: How long have you been coaching football? How did you get started?
A: I’ve been coaching since 1989—32 years now! I played football myself when I was growing up. My high school coach was Keith Froelich, and he inspired me to get into coaching right after I graduated from high school. I’ve been coaching football since my first year of college.
Q: What are some particularly memorable experiences you’ve had in coaching?
A: In 2013, I was coaching in North Carolina, and our team ended up in the Top 100 in the country. Steve Oele was one of my colleagues at the time (as seen in the photo below), and now he’s been hired as a teacher at Zeeland East and will be coaching with me again for the Chix. Another memorable experience was at Lakeland in 2018—it was my son Brady’s senior year, and his Lakeland team beat Walled Lake Western High School. The victory was exciting, of course, but the most special thing was Brady’s reaction. It was exactly one year after he had dislocated his hip, and he posted the best Tweet (photo below). It was a proud coaching moment for me, seeing him celebrate with his team and embody the culture we strive to attain. I’m proud and excited that Brady will be coaching with our staff at Zeeland East this year as well.
Q: What is the biggest life lesson you’ve learned from being a coach?
A: You’re never done improving!
Q: That’s for sure! When things don’t go your way, how do you encourage your team after a disappointing loss?
A: Generally, you reaffirm that you still love them. After that, you identify where everyone—coaches and players—fell short and commit to improving those areas.
Q: What are some things you’ll do with the Chix in training that will be key to their success on the field?
A: The Zeeland East football program has a reputation of great effort in the weight room, and we’ll definitely be continuing that moving forward. Also, my staff and I believe in a process-oriented program. Basically, winning games can be broken down into many smaller steps that are easier to accomplish when faced individually. Rather than talking about winning or talking about our opponents, we talk about what we have to do to be successful. On game nights, our mantra is “Don’t look at the scoreboard.” We tell our players that they have to trust the process, and they can’t cheat the process on the way to becoming successful.
Q: That sounds like a good lesson for sports as well as for life. What legacy do you hope to leave as a coach?
A: I hope that the lessons of attacking challenges, fighting through adversity, and working as a team will be carried on throughout the lives of my players. I can’t tell you how many times a former player has reached out and shared that what he learned on the playing field has helped him later in life—that’s the legacy.
Q: What are your thoughts now as you begin your first season at Zeeland East?
A: I’d like to thank the administration and all the people at Zeeland East for making my family and me feel so welcomed. I’d also like to thank my coaching staff—Brady Woodruff, Darren Geraghty, Orion English, Ralph Fahner, Jaymes Gontjes, Colin Chelovich, Steve Oele, Joe Nelson, Lars Draeger, Chris Heald, and Sean McGraw—for their countless hours of work with the Chix players. We are very excited to carry on the proud tradition of Chix Football in Zeeland. We will work to be a program that the school and the community can be proud of, both on and off the field.
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