Vikings coach Mike Bradley, who always coached football with a long towel draped over his shoulder, has decided to retire after 32 years teaching and coaching in his adopted state of North Carolina. He informed his players of his decision Wednesday afternoon.
One of the more colorful characters on the local prep sports scene, Bradley served the last three years as North's head coach, compiling a record of 10-24. He spent the previous four years as Vikings defensive coordinator on Glen Padgett's staff and was Hopewell's first head coach for the four years prior to that.
"I have really enjoyed the ride," says Bradley, who will turn 54 this month. "I have fond memories of Hopewell, and I've had some great times at North Meck. It's been a real positive experience."
Bradley will continue teaching history into the spring, but will soon enter the business world as a part owner in some to-be-announced Jersey Mike's sandwich shops, which is somewhat fitting because of his first name and the fact that he grew up in Englishtown, N.J., less than an hour from the original Jersey Mike's restaurant in Point Pleasant.
He is, for all intents and purposes, a "Jersey Mike."
Bradley is already a minority owner in two area Jersey Mike's stores, and says that, financially, it's the right move for his family.
"I think at first it's going to be a tremendous challenge to learn the ins and outs of running a business," says Bradley. "So I'm looking forward to that challenge. But never say never. I'm not going to say you won't see me in the classroom or on the football field somewhere along the line down the road. ... I don't think I'm done coaching. I don't look at this as final. I look at it as just another phase in my life where I have an opportunity."
Bradley was the first member of his family to attend college and the first to earn a degree, graduating from Greensboro's Guilford College in 1980. He earned a partial scholarship to play football at Guilford, where he was a quarterback and defensive back. Out of college, he began teaching at Northeast Guilford High, where he spent 10 years coaching softball, girls' basketball and football. He spent the next 11 years on the N.C. coast at West Carteret, where he was initially the boys' basketball head coach and the defensive coordinator in football. He later served three years as West Carteret's head football coach before accepting the post at then-new Hopewell in 2001.
Bradley's first two Titan teams struggled to compete at the 4A level, going 0-10 and 2-8. But his third Hopewell team went 8-5, won the school's first playoff game at remote Western Harnett and pushed powerhouse Independence for a half. After a 2-9 year in 2004, though, Bradley was forced out by a previous administration, which thought it could lure Charlotte coaching legend Tommy Knotts to Huntersville.
Ironically, Bradley ended up across town at rival North Meck, where he says he recharged his batteries as an assistant coach.
"It just worked itself out that way," says Bradley. "There were so many positives about being able to end up at North Mecklenburg."
When Padgett left North to take the head coaching job at Concord in 2009, Bradley stepped in as head coach. His Viking teams went 6-6 and 3-8 in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and struggled to a 1-10 mark this year. Bradley says North's next coach will inherit a group of good players, including some 30 rising seniors. North's junior varsity team won six games.
Bradley says he's not sure how he'll feel come August when he's not leading workouts.
"I may be a little apprehensive about not being a coach and not being a teacher," he says. "It's something that for 30-plus years, I've done pretty much every day of my life. It's going to be a big change. But I'm still looking forward to that challenge."
An award-winning teacher, Bradley says leaving the classroom will be just as tough as leaving the football field.
"There's a lot of people in our profession that enjoy the coaching, but don't enjoy the teaching," he says. "But I love teaching history. I'll miss that, and I'll miss the contact with the kids."
Bradley was selected as a member of the West coaching staff for this summer's East-West All-Star Game in Greensboro, but is unsure if he will be able to continue in that post if he retires from teaching mid-semester as he plans.
Meanwhile, North's search for his replacement has already begun.
