Journey of change and growth lands Gbunblee at Valley/ Old Lyme
DEEP RIVER — The helmets, shoulder pads, and practice jerseys were handed out to the boys from five different towns Thursday at Valley Regional High.
“It was a little hard to get them to take those practice jerseys off,” said Hill Gbunblee, the new head football coach of Valley/Old Lyme. “They were like, ‘Oh, no, I’ve waited a long time for this.’”
That 20-month wait will end in the coming days as high school teams around the state start with conditioning drills, add upper pads, and finally go in full pads in preparation for the opening week Sept. 9-11.
“Different coaches have different philosophies, grit, hard-working, personal appearance,” Gbunblee, 36, said. “When they put those shoulder pads and helmets on, when you earn that number on your helmet and you earn that Warrior on your chest, the No. 1 thing I want them to understand and strive for when we finally get back on that field is take pride in everything you do, every exercise, everything you touch, every joy you take.
“If you don’t have pride in what you’re doing, you’re never going to fight for it. You’re apt to wash your
hands and walk away. That excitement is starting to build, during weightlifting, conditioning over the summer, little steps, little steps … that pride is meaningful and long, long lasting and something they will take with them for the rest of their lives.”
Hill Gbunblee certainly sounds like a dedicated high school coach and the surgical scars on his knee demonstrate he has paid the dues for his own dedication. Yet Gbunblee’s path to the shores of the Connecticut River to take over for Tim King, one of the state’s longtenured coaches, is anything but usual.
Born in Liberia in 1984, Gbunblee arrived in the U.S. when he was 5. His youthful memories of West Africa are sparse.
“My mom and dad (Acquilla and Hilary) actually came to America on vacation,” Gbunblee said. “The civil war in Liberia broke out. My mom’s best friend brought my sister and me out of Liberia to Ivory Coast and we flew to America.”
This was 1989, the first year of the First Liberian Civil War that lasted until 1997 and left 250,000 dead.
They called Gbunblee, “Baby Hill,” a name that given his adult size doesn’t quite fit anymore. He is a big man, one that calls himself a child of two places: Philadelphia and Salisbury, N.C.
“Everything I know started in Philly,” Gbunblee said. “I’m a Philly fan. Sorry if you’re a Giants or Patriots fan.”
He started high school in Northeast High. He made varsity immediately.
“My mom said the city is too dangerous, so we moved down to North Carolina at the beginning of high school season,” Gbunblee said. “It was a different world going from big city to a small town.”
Gbunblee would work his way to starting quarterback at West Rowan High in Mount Ulla, N.C., and first game of the season, well, he still remembers the call.
“Seventeen boot 809 wide drag,” he said. “I looked to the flat. Covered up. Alert. Was covered up. I scrambled across the line of
scrimmage and a cornerback came from the right side.”
Gbunblee punched his hand.
“The ACL was torn,” he said. “It would never happen now, but we went to the ortho and he said you have a choice. Surgery or no surgery. You get the surgery and you’re out for the season. So they threw a DonJoy (knee brace) on it and I played the rest of the season without an ACL.”
He had a good year, made all-county. Surgery would wait until Dec. 28.
After high school, he had a partial academic scholarship and walked on at North Carolina. The lingering ACL issue cut into his conditioning. Although he didn’t make the roster, he did get in some practice time. He transferred to play at Division II Mars Hill University. He tore his ACL again.
“I never knew how I tore it in college,” he said. “At the end of the year checkup, they said your knee has too much play. They sent me for an MRI. That was it for playing football.”
He worked with players individually as he finished his degree at UNC Charlotte. Gbunblee arrived in Connecticut in 2012 while working with Amica Insurance. He started coaching and became offensive coordinator at Old SaybrookWestbrook under Pat Hanssen.
“I was on a (two-year) cycle with Amica where I was scheduled next for San Francisco,” Gbunblee said. “I met my wife Carolyn and our first date was at Bill’s Seafood in Westbrook. Right off, she said I’m never moving out of Clinton. And I’m like, ‘Alright …’ ”
So long, insurance. Gbunblee began as a volunteer under King in 2015. He went on to complete a master’s program at UConn. He is a special education teacher at Essex Elementary. Carolyn is associate principal at Valley Regional.
And, yes, they live in Clinton with their children Theo 5, Annabel, 4, and Grover, 1.
Valley Regional has known only two head football coaches: King and Steve Woods. When King retired in June after 23 years, three
decades in all as a physical education teacher, track and football coach, Gbunblee knew the hole to be filled was significant.
With COVID, there had been no 2020 season. As coach of a co-op of two schools and involving Chester, Essex, Deep River, Old Lyme and Lyme, it is important that both schools feel equally in the partnership. King, 153-92, took Valley to six state playoff appearances and a state title in 2014 with a 22-21 victory over Ansonia. “Defend The Hill” became Valley’s motto. There is much for a firsttime head coach to digest.
“Honestly, you never really know if you’re ready or not,” Gbunblee said. “It’s like where Jerry Seinfeld talks about how change is growth. To change you have to grow. To grow you have to change.”
He sought counsel before applying for the position: His wife; King; defensive coach Brandon Woodcock; Erik Becker at Hand; his father-in-law Robert Hale, the former principal at Westbrook High. He prayed about it.
“One, Coach King cast a pretty wide, long shadow,” Gbunblee said. “Those are some pretty big shoes to fill. Two, being a young dad, spending time with my kids is pretty important to me. I want to set a good example about following my passions.
“For me to move on an opportunity like this, which is a once in a lifetime, I went ahead and said this is what I should do.”
Gbunblee counts at least a dozen kids who didn’t get to play their senior season and that’s a sad thing. Quarterback Jack Cox will play at Amherst, while Colbe Andrews will play at Mass Maritime and Kyle Metz at Utica. Although there is always some attrition, the initial turnout in the low 40s, with 60-65% from Valley is encouraging
Gbunblee was an assistant offensive coordinator/ quarterback coach. Varsity basketball coach Kevin Woods was OC. How will his offensive look?
“There will be lots of staples from what coach Woods brought,” Gbunblee said. “I learned at his coattails. Our new OC Phil Cohen played quarterback here. He is young. He is energetic. We see things together just as coach Woods and I saw together.
“We’ll have a different approach that we’re eager to explore. It will look somewhat the same, but there’s going to be a lot that’s different.”
Valley did not play 7-on-7 last year. The players were involved in an independent league. It turned out to be a lot of trouble for one game.
After the CIAC canceled the football season, Region 4 forbade its employees from going against DPH regulations. In a New London Day article, King somewhat jokingly called himself general manager of the independent team. Region 4 superintendent Brian White requested King’s resignation. Seventeen players were forced into quarantine due to exposure from a volunteer parent. After various parents stepped forward to insist King had no role in coaching or forming the team, Region 4 retracted its request to resign. Six months later, King retired.
“I was so removed from a lot of that stuff,” Gbunblee said. “All I can point to is it was a really unfortunate situation that worked out. I know Coach King meant well. I know the district had certain priorities they wanted to put forth in terms of health and safety. I kind of left that whole thing alone. We were supposed to be completely away from it.
“I love Coach King. I love that man to death. He is such a great person, a role model for me. He has done so much for the district and football in Connecticut. I have and will always hold him in the highest regard. I know coach was thinking about retiring already. As a staff we were like, ‘No, no, you’ve got some more left in you.’ Before any of that stuff happened.
“At the meeting (in June) with the team where he retired, I didn’t see it coming, even though I probably should have. I’m like, ‘No, you’re not supposed to be leaving right now.’ For me it was hard to see him go.”
Now is a time for change. A time for Hill Gbunblee’s growth.