Moffo steps down as Hawks’ head coach

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By Kyle Brennan, Citizen’s News

Woodland head football coach Chris Moffo sends in defensive signals during a game in 2016. Moffo resigned as head coach this month. –FILE PHOTO

BEACON FALLS — After more than a decade with the Woodland football program, Chris Moffo is moving on.

Moffo resigned as the Hawks’ head coach after four seasons at the helm, submitting his notice to Woodland athletic director Chris Decker earlier this month.

“I need to take a step back from coaching for a little bit,” Moffo said. “It was a very tough decision for me.”

Moffo became Woodland’s head coach in 2016 and steadily rebuilt the Hawks into a playoff program. After a 1-9 record in his rookie season and a 5-5 mark in 2017, Woodland went 9-2 in both 2018 and 2019. In the latter two seasons, the Hawks reached the Class S quarterfinals and finished a game shy of a Naugatuck Valley League championship.

Chris Anderson originally brought Moffo to Woodland as a line coach in 2007. Moffo later served as defensive coordinator under Tim Shea from 2008-13, Tim Phipps in 2014, and Anderson again in 2015. The 1999 Wolcott High graduate, who works as the director of Prospect Parks and Recreation, accumulated a 24-18 record in four seasons as Woodland’s head coach. Including his time as an assistant, Moffo reached the state playoffs six times with the Hawks, including the 2013 Class S final.

“Over the past 14 years I have had the great opportunity to work with great coaches and coach great players,” Moffo said. “It has been a tremendous privilege to work for the region and be able to coach these kids.”

“Woodland has been lucky to have Chris Moffo,” Decker said.

The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although Moffo conducted summer conditioning sessions alongside his wife, Jess, the Hawks’ girls basketball coach.

The coaching vacancy was posted within Region 16 and on the CIAC website, and Decker said the school hopes to hire a new varsity football coach by the end of June. The program has no coaches running team activities until a new coach is hired.

The CIAC approved organized training activities for football to begin Aug. 12-14, followed by conditioning and full-contact practices before the opening week of games Sept. 9-11.

The Republican-American contributed to this story.