After 18 years at Chapel Hill High School and 31 years in physical education, assistant football coach Michael Bradley retired in late January.
During his tenure at Chapel Hill, Bradley was involved in an array of sports that included baseball, golf and football.
“It’s been a great ride,” Bradley said.
Bradley said that he will miss the interaction and camaraderie between the students. “It’s been rewarding because of all the different students who have come through.”
Bradley said, above all, he tried to prepare his students for life ahead.
“You get to that level where you come to realize that, not only through the good times but also the times that are not so great you have a responsibility to listen and be there for students, to help them understand life skills,” he said.
Bradley coached alongside Chapel Hill head football coach Issac Marsh for the past 20 years. “Coach Bradley and his demeanor will be missed,” Marsh said.
The coaching duo led the Tigers to their first playoff win in school history in 2007 and twice set the school record for most wins in a season. In 2014, Bradley and Marsh coached Chapel Hill to the final four of the 3A State Playoffs.
Bradley played the lead role in conditioning the players and working with them in the weight room. Senior linebacker Brandon Hunter-Toney spoke about how much Bradley had helped him as an athlete.
“My junior year, from November until mid-July, I was in the weight room with him,” Hunter-Toney said. “He put 30 pounds of muscle on me in that time span. Most coaches will suffice with what they get. Even if you do something well, he will still correct you on how you could have done it better.”
Bradley taught both health and physical education at Chapel Hill. He also directed the only honors P.E. class in the state, “Elite Performance” an intense course geared towards serious athletes.
Junior wrestler Zin Muang was in Bradley’s Elite Performance class. “He was always there to push us,” Muang said. “He was always there to give me advice. Whenever I needed new exercises, he would come up with them on the spot.”
Coming out of Chowan University, Bradley was prepared to be a marine biologist, but he had a change of heart when he got a call from his alma mater asking him to help coach the football team.
Before coming to Chapel Hill High School, Bradley coached football and baseball at Chowan and Duke University. While coaching at Duke, Bradley attended North Carolina Central University to study physical education. He then transitioned from the collegiate level to coaching at Bartlett-Yancey High School, a decision that he made so he could spend more time with his family.
Bradley is looking forward to starting a hobby in retirement, one that is a little different from coaching: he will take care of beehives. Bradley is currently taking a 13-week course to be a certified beekeeper through the Orange County Beekeeping Association. “You got C.B. honey coming,” Bradley said with a laugh.
Bradley originally got into coaching in high school because of family, and now he is retiring from it for the same reason. Bradley said he is excited to spend more time with his granddaughter and his second grandchild on the way this fall.
