Matthew Knaub: New Reading High football coach Troy Godinet is looking to restore program
Mar. 2—The last time Reading High football made the district championship game, the Red Knights were led on defense by All-Berks linebacker Troy Godinet.
Nearly two decades later, Godinet will try to guide Reading High to success on the football field from a new position.
Godinet was approved as the head coach of the Red Knights last month after four years as the team's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
"It's time for all of us to work," Godinet said. "This isn't a one-man show. This is going to be a community effort to get our program back to where it needs to be."
As a senior in 2003, Godinet led the Red Knights with 103 tackles and eight sacks. He helped propel Reading High to a share of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 championship and the District 3 Class 4A title game, where it fell to Cumberland Valley.
Godinet, now 36, will be tasked with rebuilding a program that has made just one appearance in the district playoffs since 2003. The Red Knights lost to Central Dauphin in the opening round in 2014.
"You have to build from the bottom up," Godinet said. "It's just going to take work and relationships on every single level."
Godinet, a Temple resident, already has formed relationships with many of his players after four years on the Red Knights staff, his first experience coaching at the varsity level.
"There's a standard that has to be followed," he said. "You're going to do what you have to do and we're going to push you towards that. The past couple years, the kids gravitated towards my coaching style because of that."
Godinet also has formed a bond with many of his players as a safe school officer within the Reading School District. When he joined the Red Knights coaching staff in 2018, Godinet decided to make a career change in order to become closer to his players.
"As soon as I found out I was going to coach, I decided to get out of retail management and become a safe school officer so I could be in the school district," Godinet said. "I understand the importance of coaches' impacts on the life in the building."
Godinet served as a safe school officer at Reading High from 2018-21. He currently works at Southwest Middle School in the same capacity.
"There's nobody that understands our kids like the people that are involved in their everyday lives," Godinet said. "(My position) allows you to build relationships with the kids because you're the first face they see when they come in the building (and) you're the last face they see when they leave."
Godinet also said he hopes to bestow a lesson on the current Red Knights who may be interested in playing at the collegiate level. After high school, Godinet played football at Mansfield University from 2004-06 before the program was disbanded.
"My grades weren't right my freshman and sophomore years (of high school), which prevented me from receiving a Division I scholarship," Godinet said. "That experience allows me to bring that to these kids and push them to be great at a younger level."
Godinet's football coaches at Mansfield had a profound impact on him, he said, especially after the program was eliminated. After overcoming several health issues, Godinet completed his degree in 2015.
"The coaches that I had in college really instilled professionalism in me," Godinet said. "Their faith and belief in me while I was going through a lot of health issues really helped push me to be the man that I am."
With experience as a student-athlete and assistant coach, Godinet will try to guide Reading High to its first winning season since 2019.
He is replacing Andre Doyle, who said in January that he had resigned, and has since been charged with indecent assault.
Under Doyle, the Red Knights went 0-4 in league play, 1-7 overall in 2021. In order to improve the football program, Godinet said he plans to implement standards at Reading High.
"The Red Knight way is the Red Knight way and there's nothing less," Godinet said. "We're going to get back to that."
