The tall spotlights illuminate the painted grass of the Mill Street football fields below. The players rush to the field, hearing calls from the bench get quieter and quieter as they zone in.
“Set, hike!”
The quarterback takes the snap, as Braynt Rocchi out of Gallia Academy watches his eyes as he drops back in coverage. With a flick of the wrist, the ball soars across the field to a wide-open receiver. Rocchi, the last man to beat, dives at the goal line and makes the stop: fourth down.
Rocchi stands up, collects himself and hands the receiver something: his set of flags.
Peden Stadium is not the only place Ohio University football players can show what they have to offer on the field; players like Rocchi are choosing to take their skills to the Intramural 7v7 Flag Football League.
Flag football at Ohio attracts those who care most about the sport and want to be around it. Braynt Rocchi’s dedication to football beyond the game transcends that idea.
Rocchi, currently studying business administration, is a sophomore at OU. It has been two long years since football, the very thing he dedicated his life to, came to a seemingly permanent conclusion after graduation.
“Ten months out of the year, your life pretty much revolves around going to liftings, practices, games, events,” Rocchi said. “You start saying, ‘What am I going to do with all this free time now?”
Although Rocchi greatly appreciates the flag football experience and likes how it challenges him competitively, he said nothing can compare to the unique intensity of football at the competitive level.
Having played the roles of cornerback, wide receiver, left guard and nose guard throughout his high school career, Rocchi could not imagine never revisiting the intense and emotional game he once invested so much time into learning.
Now, he does not have to worry.
This season, Rocchi found a new football home at River Valley High School, this time, in a new position he had never found himself in before: coach.
“I knew that, since eighth grade, that I wanted to coach after high school, and so when that opportunity came up, I had to take it,” he said.
Accepting positions as the junior high head coach and the high school co-special teams coach, Rocchi agreed to what would soon turn into the biggest time commitment of his college career, especially considering River Valley is 45 minutes away from Rocchi’s apartment in Athens.
Gary Truance, a sophomore at River Valley, said he admires his coach for his passion for the game and the team. He said Rocchi shows an intense commitment each day just by making the drive down and being there.
“You can tell he wants to be a head coach,” Truance said. “You can tell that a lot.”
With the intensive five-practice weeks in addition to the games during the season, Rocchi knew he would need to mold his schedule around the football team’s. Making the commitment was a no-brainer for Rocchi, but it did not come without sacrifice.
“I made sure all my classes that I had this year were either online or in the morning, so I can leave here by 1:30 (p.m.) every day,” Rocchi said. “I always wanted to get there before the kids got there, and I would greet them at the door every day, give them a fist bump (and) ask them how their day was.”
Truance said it is nice to have a coach that is closer in age to the players. He appreciates being able to relate on a personal level because Rocchi’s high school football experience was so recent.
“You trust him before you would trust your other coaches because he’s younger,” Truance said. “He’s more like the guys, but at the same time, he can make your ass run whenever he feels like it.”
Though Rocchi has been preparing for a coaching role since he was a kid, nothing could have prepared him for the nuances and responsibilities that often stay hidden behind the job title and description.
Rocchi discovered this when he decided to check some of his players' grades to make sure they were eligible to compete. He said many players told him he was the first person to ever ask or care how they were doing in school.
“There’s a lot of kids, especially in this area, that do not have a father figure, don’t have maybe even parents,” Rocchi said. “You got to be with those kids that actually needed somebody there for them … that was probably the best part of the job.”
Through his work on the flag football field and on the high school sideline, Rocchi proudly gives new meaning to the phrase playing both sides of the ball.
