Randy Yocum has had a Hall of Fame impact on Berks football
2026 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
A devastating knee injury ended Randy Yocum’s junior football season at Schuylkill Valley. While it closed one door, it opened another.
Yocum, a linebacker and running back who earned All-State honors, had always been interested in anatomy, physiology and the way the body works.
His injury, and the grueling months of rehab it took to get him back on the field for his senior season, opened his eyes to the world of physical therapy.
Yocum’s setback turned into a lifelong passion, one that has helped countless local athletes get back on the field to persue their dreams. His impact on Berks football has been inestimable.
| Class of 2026 | |
| Gooch Adams | Wilson |
| Dave Bodolus | Daniel Boone |
| Chuck Brice | Holy Name |
| Pete Gilmore | Wilson |
| Nate Romig | Daniel Boone |
| Dr. Randy Yocum | Sch. Valley |
During his three-decade career as a physical therapist Dr. Randy Yocum became the go-to guy for wounded athletes across the county; he coached in and helped administer the Exeter Youth Football program; and he offered critical support as Matt Bauer was building what would emerge as one of the strongest football programs in Berks football history.
Yocum could’ve earned his spot in the Berks County Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame just for being a dad: He coached sons Kyle, Chase, and Ty, who were instrumental in a historic run that has seen Exeter record 15 consecutive winning seasons and reach the district playoffs every year during that span (save for the Covid-interrupted 2021 season).
Yocum will be inducted into the BCFCA Hall of Fame on June 6, along with Gooch Adams, Dave Bodolus, Chuck Brice, Pete Gilmore, and Nate Romig.
Bauer can’t imagine the Eagles having this kind of success without Yocum’s support.
There was despair throughout the Exeter football community in the days before Bauer was hired as head coach for the 1993 season. The Eagles were coming off back-to-back winless seasons. Morale was at an all-time low.
When the new coach began making changes and requesting resources for the program, he was met with resistance. And when he announced he was putting 14-year-old freshman Kyle Yocum behind center that first season it “made a lot of waves,” he recalls.
Randy Yocum was there to help smooth things out, wall off the criticism, all the while helping rebuild the youth program, which has become an ever-churning feeder system that has kept the Eagles on top.
Yocum said there was a “disconnect” between the youth program and the high school team when Bauer was hired. He helped bridge that gap, and the results have been astounding: Exeter has produced All-State selections and Division I players such as Michal Menet, Christan Menet, Taylor Bertolet, J.R. Strauss, Ty Yocum, Anthony Caccese, Logan Wegman, and Joey Schlaffer over the past two decades.
Bauer has become the winningest coach in program history and his teams have won 10 or more games four times in the past five seasons, highlighted by a 2021 District 3 Class 5A championship.
“When we first started with youth football, we didn’t even have the same color uniforms as the high school team,” Yocum said. “My goal was to be a liaison, to have it all (come) together as one program.”
Yocum’s impact has stretched far beyond the boundaries of the Exeter community. He spent more than 30 years touching the lives of local athletes in nearly every sport and at every level.
He has served as the strength and conditioning coach for the Reading Royals and as a physical therapy consultant for the Reading Express, as well as for multiple college club teams in rugby, soccer, lacrosse, and baseball.
He trained local welterweight boxer Kermit Cintron, who won the IBF World Championship in 2006.
He instituted the Youth Concussion Awareness Program at Exeter, prioritizing player safety long before it became a national standard.
In 1998 he started the Berks County Football Combine, a spring-time event that promotes offseason training and competition. Few could argue that the event hasn’t contributed to the overall rise of Berks football over the past three decades.
Yocum entered the sports medicine field when it was in its infancy. He earned undergraduate and doctorate degrees at Temple University and later worked under noted sports physical therapist Bob Engle at The Center for Sports Physical Therapy.
Yocum’s first job out of college was at Saint Joseph’s Hospital, where he soon took charge of the Institute for Sports Medicine. He later worked at Commonwealth Orthopaedic Associates and then Body Zone Physical Therapy, continuing to offer injured athletes his expertise, and a reassuring hand.
He rarely goes a day without hearing from one of the athletes he helped return to the field or court.
“The most rewarding part (of this job) was working with an athlete, then seeing them return on a Friday night,” Yocum says. “It’s been super-rewarding, for sure.”
Having someone this talented, trusted, and knowledgeable in the fold has proven invaluable to Exeter’s program, Bauer said.
“He has treated hundreds of my players,” Bauer said. “Whenever we needed him he made himself available in every aspect, taking people to Commonwealth, and then Body Zone. He’d even treat kids at home for us.”
Yocum’s work behind the scenes was equally invaluable.
“He and (his wife) Laurie did countless things in the parents club to start moving our program in the right direction,” Bauer said. “Everything we asked for (in those early years) was foreign, because it had never been done (here) before: Providing pregame meals, postgame recovery. He was always at the forefront.
“It’s amazing what proper nutrition, hydration and recovery does for these kids. It was instrumental in helping us turn the program around.”
Yocum coached each of his boys in the youth program; they became cornerstones of the program.
Kyle was the starting quarterback in 2009 when Exeter won its season-opener and snapped a 21-game losing streak; by his junior season the Eagles cracked the district playoff field. He graduated as the program’s career leader in passing yards and with a scholarship to play at the University of Delaware.
Chase quarterbacked the team for two seasons, set program records for passing efficiency and rushing touchdowns, and went on to play at Shippensburg.
Ty was a bullish linebacker and fullback who spearheaded the 2021 district championship and was named Berks Defensive Player of the Year as a senior; he will complete his college career at Merrimack College in the fall.
From an early age the boys were taught to play with humility and class.
“For me, it was always about effort,” Randy Yocum said when asked what he tried most to instill in his sons, and the countless others he coached. “You might not be as strong as someone, or as fast as someone, but you can control effort. (I always told them) be dedicated, work hard in-season and offseason, be a good leader, and good things will happen.”
