BRANFORD — What’s old is new again at Branford High.
Bill Wiles, a longtime football coach in North Florida including a stint at BHS about 20 years ago, is the Buccaneers’ new athletic director. Wiles was approved by the Suwannee County School Board last month, replacing Alex O’Quinn, who is now the dean at Suwannee High.
“I really enjoyed my time there then,” Wiles said of coaching and teaching in Branford. “Loved it there for a lot of reasons. You know the old saying, ‘People make places.’ There’s some great people in Branford. There was when I was there the first time.”
Wiles, who coached at Branford from 2004-10, returned last February as a teacher at Branford Elementary before moving to BHS this past school year, filling in a variety of roles from dean to the classroom on in-school suspension.
“I just tried to help in any area I was asked to help,” he said. “I was basically offered the opportunity to be the athletic director and that’s where a lot of my experience is in terms of athletics.”
In addition to coaching for nearly 40 years, including head coaching stints at Bell, Graceville, Trenton three times, including from 2019-21, South Walton and Santa Fe in addition to Branford, Wiles also has served as athletic director previously for close to 20 years. During his coaching career, Wiles won a state title at Graceville and led Trenton to a regional final in 2016 and Santa Fe to a state semifinal in 2015.
When offered the chance to return to that role, Wiles said he jumped at it to stay connected to a realm he is passionate about and feels he can still make a difference.
“I feel like I have a lot to offer, maybe from a different platform, but still have a lot to offer kids,” Wiles said. “I feel like I can be a huge resource to the coaches. Just felt like it was something that would be good for all involved, it would be good for me and, hopefully, I can do something to help the kids and the coaches at Branford High School.”
As athletic director, Wiles said his success won’t be judged by wins and losses on the field, but rather by the experience he can create for the athletes, their parents, the rest of the Branford student body and the community as a whole. That includes building connections within the community and will result in the department proving to be a source of pride for all.
“I want them to say, ‘Man, that was really fun. That was a really, really good time in my life,’” Wiles said. “That’s why I say, for me, it’s experience-based. I want them to look back and say, ‘Man, I wish I could do that again.’ When I say that, not just the athletes but the parents of our athletes, our students, the community.”
He’s received a helping hand in that regard from an athletic department that is trending upward in a lot of areas. The BHS softball team played for the state championship this spring, while both track teams regularly contend for district titles and the volleyball program has become a contender as well. The football program hasn’t had a sub-.500 record in Tim Clark’s six years after not posting a winning record since Wiles was at the helm and Clark played for the Bucs.
“We’ve got some really, really good things going on,” Wiles said.