Reading High’s new football coach: ‘I’m living my purpose now’

Troy Godinet remembers the first time he was benched.

He was playing football for the Northwest Athletic Association and he kept lining up offsides. His coach, John Misch, sat him.

Two decades later the lesson resonates.

“The small things matter, and he taught me that,” said Godinet, who went on to become an All-Berks linebacker and play at Mansfield University. “I carried that on to my high school career, my college career, even my coaching career. The small things are so important. It stuck with me.”

He will keep that in mind as he tries to rebuild Reading High’s football program after being named head coach earlier this week.

The 36-year-old Godinet was Reading’s defensive coordinator for the past four seasons, so he knows what needs to be fixed. He also played during Reading’s most recent golden era of football and on one of the Red Knights’ greatest teams, so he knows the possibilities.

“Those years were the best years of my life,” he said, reflecting on his career playing for Al Wolski, when he and the Red Knights won 25 games over three seasons and reached a District 3 championship in 2003, when he was a senior.

Reading High won a program-record 10 games that season and shared the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 title. Wolski left for State College a few months later; the Red Knights haven’t come close to that kind of success since.

Godinet is hoping he can restore some of that past glory.

“The key to getting this program back to where it needs to be is relationships,” said Godinet, who grew up in Reading and is a Red Knight through and through.

“When you have relationships within the city, within the school district, with these kids, they’re gonna trust you. And you need trust.

“The one thing I learned (working here): These kids can tell whether somebody’s here for the right reasons or not. And if they can feel that you’re here for the right reason they’ll do anything for you.”

Godinet succeeds Andre Doyle, a Harrisburg native and Bishop McDevitt grad who coached the past four seasons, winning eight games. Doyle, who never moved to the area, had no Reading connections.

That’s not the case with Godinet.

“It’s easy to build a relationship with these kids when you’re from the place that you’re at,” said Godinet, a safe schools officer in the Reading School District. “When you walk these halls and you walk these streets and you played on these fields, it’s easy for you to develop a relationship with these kids because you understand what they went through.”

As much as he loved the game Godinet had no plans to coach football. He was working in retail management when a former teammate, Eric Garcia, asked him to help with offseason conditioning when the Red Knights were without a coach before Doyle was hired.

The decision to volunteer changed the course of his life. He felt an instant connection with the student-athletes, who urged him to remain on staff once Doyle was hired. He did.

“This is the place that I call home,” he said. “I felt like I can help get this program back to where it used to be.”

The Red Knights went 1-7 last season (with two games canceled due to COVID concerns). They struggled when they lost their quarterback, Amier Burdine, to a preseason injury and scored just six touchdowns in the final six games. They were outscored by a three-to-one margin.

Godinet knows there’s only one way to turn that around.

“It starts at the youth level,” he said. “You can’t develop a program without having a youth program that’s able to develop the kids.

“The relationships are so important. Working at Southwest Middle School has been a blessing in disguise for me, because I’m able to be around middle school kids.

“We had 25 eighth-grade kids in the weight room on Saturday. That’s not something we usually have. When you’re able to reach those kids that are athletes and just want to be part of something special, its easier for them to transition to high school.”

Godinet was the leading tackler on a devastating defense that included All-Berks picks James Bryant, Nate Luigard, Roger Hall and Kalise Cook. Early in the district title game against Cumberland Valley he broke a bone in his leg. He played the rest of half on it.

When he was unable to play any longer and came out of the game, defensive coordinator Mike Misch was the first to offer him a hug.

“When I was younger, going through some things, it took some tough love from Coach (Mike) Misch at the varsity level for me to get my situation straight,” Godinet said.

“I love this city, I love our community, I love our kids,” he said. “God brought me to where I needed to be. I’m living my purpose now. “This isn’t a job for me. This isn’t a stepping stone for me. This isn’t an opportunity for me. This is my purpose.”