Former NFL coach tackles VSU defensive line

Former NFL coach tackles VSU defensive line

BY JACOB VAUGHAN (STAFF WRITER)

Published: November 1, 2010

ETTRICK - Coaches in the National Football League often lead transient lifestyles as they travel from team to team. Such was the life of Larry Brooks, a former football standout at Prince George High School and Virginia State University.

But, after an NFL playing and coaching career that spanned four decades, Brooks retired and returned to his hometown. The 61-year-old now lives in Dinwiddie and coaches the defensive line at his alma mater.

"This is home," Brooks said. "And every time I'm out of work in the NFL I come home."

Brooks

While the right offer might coax him out of retirement, Brooks said he is happy to be back in the Tri-Cities area and content to remain on the VSU coaching staff.

One thing is for sure, the Trojans are happy to have him back.

"It's great to have someone that's been there," said VSU head coach Andrew Faison. "With all the knowledge he has that he can instill in our players, it's great to have him on the sideline."

The Trojans were third in the CIAA in total defense and points allowed going into Saturday's 35-7 win over Virginia Union. Bernard Morgan, a starter on the VSU defensive front, said he has learned a lot under Brooks' tutelage.

"He's one of the best defensive line coaches that I've had since I started playing football," Morgan said. "He can teach you little things that a normal coach couldn't just because he has that experience."

Brooks' experience is extensive. He coached the Green Bay defensive line that, anchored by Reggie White, helped lead the Packers to their only Super Bowl victory in the modern era. However, Brooks spent the bulk of his professional career with the Los Angeles Rams.

After graduating from VSU in 1972, Brooks joined the Rams and earned a starting job halfway through his rookie campaign.

Brooks followed in the footsteps of the fabled "Fearsome Foursome" by spearheading the Rams' defensive line for eleven years. The 1968 Prince George graduate racked up five consecutive Pro Bowl appearances and played in Super Bowl XIV.

Los Angeles lost that game but Brooks will never forget the experience.

"It was great," Brooks said. "I guess as a player that's the ultimate goal that you shoot for and it took me eight or nine years to get an opportunity."

The 61-year old is tight-lipped about his accomplishments but his resume speaks for itself.

"Whatever it took to get the job done, I worked at doing that," Brooks said.

That goal-oriented, lunch-pail mentality is exactly what he tries to bestow upon his players.

"My experience hopefully kind of drifts over," Brooks said. "I'm not demanding and I don't beat them over the head and say, 'You have to be like me.' I just hope they understand that hard work is a big part of what it takes to get anything done."

If VSU's on-field performances are any indication, that message is coming through loud and clear. The team from Ettrick is sitting atop the CIAA standings and competing for its first championship in fourteen years.

Brooks knows all about winning the conference - he was part of the 1970 championship team that was recently honored at Rogers Stadium - but he also knows his duties as a coach transcend the grid iron.

"Sometimes you have to reach inside of each individual and show them what they need to do to help themselves," Brooks said. "Not only in football, but also as they get out of football and into life."

When his time is not completely consumed with improving the Trojans' pass rush and run defense, Brooks enjoys hunting, fishing and visiting family in Prince George with his wife, Colleen. He has one son, Larry Jr., and two grandchildren.

Brooks coached in Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago, Detroit, and Green Bay, but there is something about the Tri-Cities area that always lures him back.

"The community definitely has changed a lot since I grew up here and began coming back and forth into town," Brooks said. "But I think it's still a good place to grow up and good place to raise kids."