Shea resigns as football coach

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Woodland head football coach Tim Shea addresses the team last October after the Naugatuck game. Shea resigned as head coach May 2. –FILE PHOTO
Woodland head football coach Tim Shea addresses the team last October after the Naugatuck game. Shea resigned as head coach May 2. –FILE PHOTO

BEACON FALLS — Tim Shea, who led the Woodland Regional High football team to the 2013 Class S state championship game, resigned May 2 as head coach after six seasons.

In a text message May 2, Shea said, “I am taking on a new opportunity. After 12 years in the football program, I’ve decided to move on.”

Shea, a Naugatuck native who now lives in Plainville, said he will keep his jobs as boys track coach and security guard at Woodland. He did not specify last week what opportunity lured him away from his football position.

Shea posted a 44-25 record in six seasons at the helm for Woodland. He led the Hawks to the postseason in three of the last four years and also captured the last two Naugatuck Valley League Copper Division championships.

His worst record in six seasons came in his inaugural campaign of 2008, when the Hawks went 4-7. Shea’s teams finished with winning records in each of his last five years, including the 12-win season in 2013 that tied a school-best.

A member of Woodland’s first varsity coaching staff under Chris Anderson in 2002, Shea has been part of all 93 of the Hawks’ victories.

He was the defensive coordinator prior to taking the head coaching job in 2008. Shea’s 2004 defense pitched seven shutouts to tie an NVL record, and he owns Class SS state title rings from 2004 and 2005.

Prior to joining Woodland’s staff, Shea had coaching stints at Foran, Naugatuck and Milford Academy. He has also been on several all-star coaching staffs, including for this June’s CHSCA Super-100 Senior All-Star Game.

Shea played at Naugatuck for Craig Peters in the early 1990s before stints at Milford Academy and the University of Rhode Island.

Potential candidates who could replace Shea include a pair with Woodland ties.

Hawks offensive coordinator Tim Phipps recently has been in the mix for several head coaching jobs, including at Naugatuck, where he was a finalist along with Craig Bruno, who got the job. Phipps is the only remaining member of Woodland’s first staff in 2001 and is a history teacher at the school.

Anderson, the only other head coach in program history, left his coaching position at the University of New Haven after the 2012 season and could be interested in rejoining the fray. He is a physical education teacher at Woodland.

A full interview with Shea will be featured in the May 16 edition of the Citizen’s News.