Brad Wells taking Valiants to new heights

VALDOSTA, GA - The Valiants are coming off their own deep run and hope to build off of last years success. The difference this year is a new voice. Brad Wells takes over the program looking to bring the trophy back to where Valwood feels it belongs.

In Valdosta, the last few years have been what valiant fans call a rollercoaster. It wa just back in 2017 when Valwood brought home the state championship, the peak of their coaster. Following that season, it’s been a downhill journey for the Valiants, leaving the door open for a new era at Valwood.

This season, you may notice a familiar face at the helm,. After serving as a offensive coordinator, Brad Wells has taken on a new position, head coach. Wells helped lead the Valiants to a 7-5 season last year. They found themselves in the semifinals where they fell to the state champions. Coming into this season, Wells had one priority as the head coach.

“You know just developing it, trying to get back to a winning culture you know. This is a program that’s been successful in the past. we’re just trying to get it back to that point. The kids have really bought in, we’ve had a good season still got a lot left to play for though.”

The question entering the season, was could Wells fill the missing talent on offense after losing three top receivers. As the regular season comes to an end, Valwood currently averages 45 points per game, seemingly ending any questions surrounding the offense, that put up 77 points in last weeks region championship.

“Just happy for the success that they are having, you know but these guys are still hungry. You know we didn’t have to with some big wins we didn’t have to try and over motivate them, they come to work everyday, ready to work, and get better, they really kept their eyes on the big goals.”

When you look at the stat sheets, the offensive numbers are undeniably. According to coach Wells, there’s a group that may not show up on the stats but are the forefront to this dominate offense.

“I think our offense gets a lot of headlines, we scored a lot of points this year but really proud of our defensive, i think some of our skills players get a lot of publicity, but our strength of our offense has been our offensive line and the way we won at the line of scrimmage, we’ve got some guys that can get some big plays in the skill position but our ability to win upfront has been a key thing for us offensively.”

Wells and the Valiants sit a top the region, as your GIAA region champs. Ticking off one goal this season.

“Two goals to win the region championship and the state championship.”

A week after being nominated as GIAA Region 3 coach of the year, Wells is gearing his team up for the state playoffs, a place their hoping to become quite familiar with in the coming years.

“We want to do it the right way first and foremost but we want to be able to play for a state championship, year in and year out be in the mix for a state championships, that’s the goal here and we talked about that building the program, that’s what we are trying to get back too and working hard everyday to do so.”

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