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Asheboro football coach Calvin Brown Dec2022

New Asheboro football coach: ‘A great opportunity’

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Calvin Brown was introduced Monday as Asheboro High School’s new football coach. He spent the past seven seasons in that role at Providence Grove. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – Calvin Brown will try to get Asheboro’s football program back on a winning path.

“We want to compete on Friday nights and I know that’s what Asheboro expects,” Brown said Monday. “We want to change the culture and bring back the winning atmosphere.”

Brown is leaving Providence Grove, where he directed sustained success, to become coach of the Blue Comets.

Among more than 40 applicants, Brown was a clear choice for the hiring committee, principal Dr. Ryan Moody said.

“You look at where we were,” Moody said. “You want to find a coach who is successful, high character, high motor type of guy. … He was head and shoulders the best candidate we could possibly ask for.”

Brown’s Providence Grove teams were 42-34 in seven seasons. He guided the Patriots to their first postseason football victory in school history earlier this fall as part of an 8-4 record.

Brown takes the position held by Blake Brewer, a former Asheboro quarterback whose three-season record was 2-25 as head coach. The Blue Comets were 1-9 each of the past two seasons.

Providence Grove defeated Asheboro 28-14 and 49-0 the past two seasons.

It could be quite a project for Brown. Asheboro is a combined 7-52 in the last six seasons.

Brown said Asheboro, which has about twice the enrollment of Providence Grove, should be the best football program in Randolph County.

“I see that as a great opportunity,” Brown said. “That’s one thing that really excited me and (made me want) to take the job. The potential that is here at Asheboro.”

Brown was also athletics director for the past four years at Providence Grove, where he spent 11 years overall. He won’t hold those responsibilities at Asheboro, where such a dual role isn’t permitted.

“I’m thankful for Providence Grove and everybody there,” Brown said.

Brown stressed a family atmosphere when he spoke to supporters Monday. He said he feels the football team can set the tone for the athletics department.

He said he’ll require a commitment from players on and off the field.

Providence Grove’s eight wins matched the most in program history. The Patriots went 8-4 in 2019 and 8-3 in 2021.

Brown said his Asheboro coaching staff could include a few members from his Providence Grove staff.

Providence Grove lost to eventual Class 2-A runner-up Reidsville, a team it has never defeated in six all-time meetings, in the second round.

Not only will Providence Grove also have a new coach in 2023, it could be a rebuilding period for the Patriots. There were 22 seniors on this year’s team.

PG coach Calvin Brown in 2022 at Asheboro

Asheboro hires Providence Grove’s Brown as next football coach

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Here’s Calvin Brown during Providence Grove’s 2022 game at Asheboro (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – Calvin Brown will try to get Asheboro’s football program back on a winning path.

Brown is leaving Providence Grove, where he directed sustained success, to become coach of the Blue Comets.

Brown’s Providence Grove teams were 42-34 in seven seasons. He guided the Patriots to their first postseason football victory in school history earlier this fall as part of an 8-4 record.

Brown takes the position held by Blake Brewer, a former Asheboro quarterback whose three-season record was 2-25 as head coach. The Blue Comets were 1-9 each of the past two seasons.

Providence Grove defeated Asheboro 28-14 and 49-0 the past two seasons.

It could be quite a project for Brown. Asheboro is a combined 7-52 in the last six seasons.

Brown was also athletics director at Providence Grove. He won’t hold those responsibilities at Asheboro, where such a dual role isn’t permitted.

Providence Grove’s eight wins matched the most in program history. The Patriots went 8-4 in 2019 and 8-3 in 2021.

Providence Grove lost to eventual Class 2-A runner-up Reidsville, a team it has never defeated in six all-time meetings, in the second round.

Not only will Providence Grove also have a new coach in 2023, it could be a rebuilding period for the Patriots. There were 22 seniors on this year’s team.

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Calvin Brown’s coaching record at Providence Grove

2016: 4-7

2017: 4-7

2018: 6-6

2019: 8-4

2021 (spring): 4-3

2021: 8-3

2022: 8-4

Total: 42-34

Asheboro coach Blake Brewer 2021 at PG CROPPED

Brewer out as Asheboro’s football coach

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Blake Brewer gives instructions from the sideline during a 2021 game. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – Blake Brewer, who as an Asheboro football player had considerable success, couldn’t turn around the Blue Comets’ sluggish program as a coach and is no longer in that position.

Brewer is done as the coach after three seasons.

“I had every intention of continuing and putting our best foot forward,” Brewer said Monday. “We’re just behind. We just were not successful enough on Friday nights. That’s what it came down to.”

Brewer said during a postseason meeting with principal Ryan Moody and athletics director Wes Berrier that he provided his vision for the future of the program. He was asked for his resignation.

Asheboro went 2-25 under Brewer with records of 0-7, 1-9 and 1-9.

The three seasons before that, the Blue Comets were a combined 5-27.

“We appreciate the time Coach Brewer has devoted to the Blue Comets and wish him very best in his future coaching career,” Moody said in a statement.

Moody sent a memo to school personnel about the coaching change late Friday afternoon.

Brewer, 33, said his deep roots to the school and football program made the decision difficult.

“I’m an Asheboro guy through and through,” he said.

Asheboro is the largest school in Randolph County and competes in Class 3-A. Its lone victories under Brewer came in the 2021 season opener at Randleman and in this year’s non-conference game at Wheatmore.

So the Blue Comets never won a Mid-Piedmont Conference game or a home game with Brewer in charge. The conference has proven to be stout, considering that Oak Grove and Ledford won first-round playoff games Friday night, while Central Davidson suffered a three-point loss.

This year, Asheboro was outscored by a cumulative 453-75 score.

Brewer, who’s in his 12th year as a physical education teacher at the school, had been on the coaching staff prior to becoming head coach. That took him through several coaching changes.

“It bums met out even more,” he said

Brewer, a former quarterback and a member of the Class of 2007, had been optimistic going into the season, especially as the program’s numbers grew to about 70 players. He also had supported and expressed great appreciation for youth football initiatives in Asheboro, figuring those would pay off in future years.

“We’ve worked hard to get kids bought in,” Brewer said. “I thought we made a lot of steps in the right direction. It just didn’t work out for us.”

He said he was generally proud of the determination from his players and how they dealt with defeats with class.

Brewer said he’ll consider future coaching possibilities in the weeks ahead.

Brewer had been Asheboro’s girls’ track and field coach for a team that won last spring’s Mid-Piedmont Conference championship. He gave up that position for this school year in order to place more concentration on football.

Asheboro HS football coach Blake Brewer

Asheboro Blue Comets intent on collecting confidence, winning in football

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Asheboro coach Blake Brewer, here at practice earlier this month, will try to help the Blue Comets head in the right direction. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Asheboro seeks change from five-year stretch of doldrums

ASHEBORO – There’s no reason for members of the Asheboro football team to dwell on the past. What’s ahead is the exciting part for the Blue Comets.

“The expectations are higher,” senior safety DJ Headen. “Another year to prove ourselves.”

Asheboro has dipped to the depths in recent seasons, but that hasn’t depleted optimism.

Coming off a one-win season, the Blue Comets are anxious to change the dialogue regarding their team.

“We were bad last year,” senior safety and receiver Hakemme Butler said. “We’re going to change that. We’re eager. There’s more to go for. As a senior, I’m going to be the leader.”

Asheboro opens Friday night at home against Randleman. Last season, the Blue Comets won at Randleman and never posted another victory.

“We could see the difference after winning a game,” coach Blake Brewer said. “And by that ninth loss, you’re limping to the finish line.”

Asheboro hasn’t won more than two games in any of the last five seasons for a cumulative 6-43 mark during that stretch.

Brewer said he’s hoping the awkward nature of the offseasons prior to the past two seasons no longer will be a negative factor. The Blue Comets are 1-16 under his watch.

He sensed the frustration and the uneven interest.

“Don’t know if it was COVID or the state of the program,” Brewer said.

There are about 70 players in the program, an uptick from the past couple of years.

“I feel like every day is going pretty good so far,” Butler said. “We’ve got more guys out this year and that’s going to help us. We’ve got subs.”

There are encouraging developments on offense, with sturdy Michael Brady at running back. Markell Graham, who suffered a broken ankle last year vs. Wheatmore, is back at full speed.

The quarterback will be sophomore Hamza Khan, who had a strong junior varsity season last year.

“The kids have bought into him,” Brewer said.

He offensive line has had notably solid early practices, something that might have been unexpected.

Headen, also a backup running back, is a third-year starter on defense. He said there’s a different vibe with the Blue Comets.

“We’re working hard every day to turn that around,” Headen said. “There’s just a different attitude.”

As the only Class 3-A in Randolph County, Asheboro is playing smaller neighboring schools in non-league play before moving to the Mid-Piedmont Conference portion of its schedule.

“If we can win in our county, you can get some confidence,” Brewer said. “I think we can turn that into something. We’ve got a tough conference. … We’ve got a ton of athletes. We’re going to look good coming off the bus.”

AHS_Arham_Tyson

Painful lessons help growth of Asheboro lineman

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Asheboro’s Arhman Tyson makes a stop last season on Providence Grove’s Zane Cheek. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Tyson set to play in North Carolina East-West All-Star Game

ASHEBORO – While college football isn’t in Arhman Tyson’s immediate future, he’s not done on the football field.

The Asheboro standout will give it at least one more go-around in a showcase event.

“Since I was 7, I’ve been doing it,” Tyson said of playing football. “I kept getting better at it and wanted to see how far that could take me. It was something I was really good at. I learned football pretty quickly.”

Tyson said he also learned plenty during the past year when there were personal challenges after his father’s death during the football season. 

Tyson is Randolph County’s lone representative in the North Carolina East-West All-Star Game for football. He’ll play for the West team at 8 p.m. July 13 at Jamieson Stadium on the Grimsley High School campus in Greensboro.

His version of playing through pain was different from many other players last year.

Lewis Tyson Jr. died at age 49 on Sept. 23. Arhman Tyson had just left football practice and was with his father in a Ramseur store, where he collapsed from a heart attack.

Yet the next night, the senior played in a home game against Southwestern Randolph. That was part of what he referred to as becoming “a man of my business.”

He found outlets to work through the grief.

“It hurt a lot,” he said. “Even then, I realized that can’t get me all the way down. I still had things I had to get done.”

Asheboro coach Blake Brewer praised Tyson’s maturity on and off the field. He said he’s glad the lineman has a chance to run onto a football field again next week.

“No matter if you’re going to college to play or this is your last hurrah, it’s a chance to perform for yourself and your family,” Brewer said. “To show you’re one of the best of the best.”

Tyson will be Asheboro’s first North Carolina East-West Game participant in any sport since 2016.

He’s a 285-pound defensive lineman who was able to carve out significant credentials last fall despite playing on a struggling team. He was named the Lineman of the Year in the Mid-Piedmont Conference, overcoming Asheboro’s 1-9 record and winless mark – without a result closer than a 20-point margin – in league play.

Tyson said he realized there were times the Blue Comets needed an impact play, and he was glad to provide those.

“I just stepped up,” he said. “When something needed to happen, you got to step up.”

Brewer said he received inquiries from colleges about Tyson’s availability. Instead, he’s heading to North Carolina A&T, where he’ll major in biology. He isn’t going to pursue football right away.

“I was thinking about not playing college football my freshman year of college,” he said. “I want to learn college and get all that down.”

Going into high school, Tyson said he was also interested in playing basketball, but through peer pressure, he ended up on the wrestling team. He carved out a solid portfolio on the mats, becoming the county’s top heavyweight. 

His time with wrestling was cut short by an injury in February’s Class 3-A regionals, but there were lessons learned in that sport. 

“The bonding aspect (was the best),” he said, also noting the grind of a season. “Everything else was dreadful.”

Yet he liked how he could showcase certain abilities. 

“People think he’s big and slow, and you show that you can do whatever anybody else can do,” he said.