Get to know Northampton football coach, teacher Ryan Parent

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Ryan Parent, a history and social studies teacher at Northampton High School for twenty-seven years, has been coaching junior varsity football at the school for twenty-five years. Parent is from Northampton, where he lives with his family and their pets (a dog named Autumn, as well as a cat and a turtle).

When asked what the most rewarding part of coaching junior varsity football was, Parent stated: “I like dealing with a diverse group of young men, teaching them, and having them learn how to be part of a team. Football is unlike many other sports. It is the definitive team sport. That’s what I like teaching them: how important they all are, and how important they are to each other.”

Parent enjoys getting out on the field. He enjoys coaching because he gets to know the kids better than he does as a teacher, due to having more time with them while teaching them about teamwork. One of his fondest memories as a coach was about eight or nine years ago during the playoffs. Each team scored twice in the last two minutes, and the Blue Devils scored a touchdown at the last minute, winning the game. Parent has many similar fond memories of coaching.

The Blue Devils junior varsity team celebrated two wins last year. One of the team’s keys to success is that they have a summer lifting program in the off-season that works on strength and speed. When it comes to disappointing losses, Parent reminds the players that it is all about competition and effort. Of the 22 regular players they had last year, 11 were new to high school football. Parent has looked forward to seeing returning players after summer break and getting to know new players as well.

The biggest lesson Ryan Parent has learned from coaching is that the game is not and should not be everything to these young men. “It is about the big picture and the whole person,” he said. The legacy he hopes to leave as a coach is one of hard work and knowing that he tried to make the players’ experience as good as possible.

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