The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
How a red barn led to a team’s resurgence
There is a romance to its bucolic setting as much as there is a practicality. With its distance from the frenetic pace of I-91 and I-95, there is as much a mystique to Chad Caffrey’s red barn as much as there is productivity.
“There definitely is an identity,” Killingly football coach Chad Neal said.
Heading into its CIAC Class M playoff semifinal Sunday against Branford, unbeaten Killingly remains the only school below Class L and only one east of the Connecticut River ranked in the GameTimeCT Top 10.
Killingly is tucked away in the Quiet Corner of northeast Connecticut and The Barn, 20 minutes west of the school in Hampton, is tucked away in an even quieter corner.
Yet with great, repeated bursts of strength, a loud chorus of success has sounded from a rural structure outfitted with equal parts weight training equipment and dedication.
“The Barn is the difference from where we were then and where we are now,” said Neal, who has led No. 7 Killingly to six successive Class M semifinals. “When Chad came on staff and got the kids going over there, that’s where Run People Over comes from, that attitude and identity.”
RPO is football parlance for Run Pass Option.
In Killingly, RPO means Run People Over.
Yes, the program won state titles in 1981 and 1996 and went to the finals in 1994. With a steady stream of linemen and running backs like Caffrey’s sons, Austin and Zach, 2017 Gatorade State Player of the Year Spencer Lockwood and now Jack Sharpe and Soren Rief, dominant play has become a repeating theme. Call it deja RPO.
Caffrey, who joined Neal’s staff 10 years ago and is running backs-linebacker coach, has long been into powerlifting. He trained his younger brothers and their football friends. He trained small groups of high school football kids over the years. He ran Flex Gym in Burrillville, R.I. for a time. He
coached youth football.
It’s when his own boys started to emerge, so did The Barn in 2012 and 2013.
We’re not talking piecemeal, casual here. Behind those barn walls is a full gym. Squat racks, benches, inclines, cardio equipment, the works.
“I always have had my own stuff,” Caffrey said. “I redid a barn section. Originally, it was 55 by 80. I put a game room in there as the kids were getting bigger, kind of a full apartment. Bathroom and all that. So when the kids come over they don’t have to come in the house.”
Not only does Caffrey, 51, oversee it all, he lifts with them. Over the years, he power-lifted, competed in Strongman, even did a bodybuilding show. His wife Betty also competed.
“She is the stronger one,” Neal joked.
First there was Austin’s class, Josh Angell, Justin Lasher, they all worked out with Caffrey in The Barn. After their eighth grade year, the class that eventually won the state title in 2017 — Zach Caffrey, Lockwood, Jake Gauthier, Ethan Canova — all began lifting.
In 2015, Austin Caffrey ran for 1,926 yards and 23 touchdowns. In 2017, Lockwood ran for 3,027 yards and 42 touchdowns.
Before COVID hit, Caffrey would have up to 25-30 kids at The Barn at one time. There were two sections. He said his main guys, who were really faithful and only did football, would squat on Monday. The others would deadlift. On Wednesday, everyone benched. On Thursday, it was shoulders. On Friday, it was vice versa of Monday.
So when does it start on the calendar?
“If football ends Dec. 11 (with the state finals), we’ll be there Dec. 12,” Caffrey said.
They will lift at The Barn through the start of football. In the warmer weather, they go outside in the field out back to run and do agility drills. Caffrey does
this for free.
“Just from the injury point, since I started 10 years ago, our injuries have dropped tremendously,” said Caffrey. “Even with concussions, which had been a point of concern.”
Caffrey tries to make it as interesting as possible. He has the players lift in cycles.
“We’ll pyramid so the kids have something to look forward to,” he said. “They can go against each other and max out. We’ll go 12-15 weeks, 10s, 8s, 5s, 3s, 2s, singles and have a max day.”
There are two big whiteboards. Everyone writes their name. They chart their progress. In the following cycle, they start their next pyramid at heavier weights.
“I’m old school,” Caffrey said. “I’m not a big believer in power cleans and hang cleans. I just think it’s rough on the wrists. I’m a squat, bench, deadlifting guy. My philosophy is if you can deadlift 600, when you get to college you will be able to power clean.”
It may be old school, but there is a science to it all and Caffrey even has the players lift light weights at the school before games.
Caffrey had to scale it back with COVID. To be safe, it became more of an invite. Killingly has some lifting at the school and that helps. The end of COVID will be a welcome mat for The Barn.
“It’s a lot on the parents,” said Caffrey, whose daughter plays field hockey at Southern Connecticut. “When you’re a junior and senior, you’re probably driving. But before that, parents have to be dedicated, too. It’s a little bit of a haul but if you really want your kid to excel and have a great high school experience, you’ve got to put the time in.”
To make the best use of their time, Caffrey said, some parents come in and do cardio when their sons are lifting.
Improvement? Caffrey talks about kids coming in after their eighth grade year bench pressing 135 pounds. He gets them benching up 225 before their sophomore
years. And by the time they leave as seniors, especially the lineman, they’re squatting 600-700 pounds.
“In 2015 going into that season, we won the ECC weightlifting competition in New London,” Neal said. “That’s when we took off on the field, too.”
The Barn may be known among high school football and wrestling aficionados around the ECC. Yet in the rest of the state folks will look at those big rushing numbers at Killingly and wonder where the heck do those running backs come from every season? Now you know.
The Caffreys, Lockwood, Sharp, Rief. The Barn.
“Austin he was going to be our fullback and he became the lead back,” Neal said “Power. Speed. Spencer, his junior year in 2016 became our feature back. Zach was the fullback. When Spencer was Gatorade Player of the Year, in 2017, people forget Zach ran for more than 1,000, too.”
And in the Class M championship it was Caffrey who took over the game after Lockwood rolled his ankle and ran for nearly 200 yards. Austin went on to New Haven, Lockwood to Trinity, Zach to Plymouth State.
The RPO assembly line continued. Nsaiah Harriet and Jackson Lopes led to Lopes and Sharpe and now Sharpe and Rief. Sharpe, a senior, has run for nearly 1,300 yards and 22 touchdowns in 10 games. Rief has nearly 1,000 yards and 14 TDs rushing.
“It just keeps rolling,” Neal said.
“And whatever freshmen we come up with,” Caffrey said, “are next.”
“Also an eighth grade group that’s coming in that’s going to be pretty good,” Neal said.
They roll into The Barn, tucked away in a quiet corner of The Quiet Corner. They roll out RPO and a state football power.
“Absolutely,” Neal said. “Those barn guys, they’re together the year round. It’s the core.”