Ahead of the 2018/19 season, the Sheffield Hallam Warriors welcome back former Head Coach Richard ‘Grizz’ Batty, who will be taking up the mantle of Defensive Co-ordinator.
Coach Batty sat at the helm of the Hallam Warriors between 2007 and 2017 and boasts an impressive win percentage of 75% - a superior record to most Head Coaches across American football in the UK.
Grizz made the decision to return to the Warriors back in June, after a discussion with current Head Coach Tom Kharchi: ”Tommy dropped me a line in June asking for some help. I was ready for some coaching but not being the Head Coach and Tommy knew I wanted to concentrate only on the defence as it was time permitting”.
Despite retiring from coaching at the end of the 2016/17 season, Coach Batty was a regular on the side line for the Warriors during their last campaign as a spectator. Taking a step back from the driving seat wasn’t easy for a man who had for so long been in charge: “I hated watching and second guessing. Of course I wanted to add my two penneth but it wasn’t my show. It’s hard to not interfere even for reasons you think are right”.
Life in a slightly more back seat role than his previous one with the side appears to be suiting Grizz nicely: “It’s good. I don’t have to rally the troops. I can focus on making my unit better and don’t have to be so directly involved with the AU, the committee and general background running of the club which is a lot of hard work so it takes the pressure off and allows me to focus better on the defence.”
Hallam kick off their 2018/19 campaign this Sunday where Grizz left off before his retirement – in a clash against the University of Sheffield Sabres. Coach Batty’s last game in charge was the 2017 SteelBowl in the Sheffield Varsity competition, a game which saw Hallam once again retain the trophy – along with the bragging rights – after a 27-14 win.
And the former linebacker is looking forward to getting back into the swing of things come game day: “Training has been exciting. Of course, playing against Uni of is especially tasty but you invest so much into winning you don’t have time to enjoy the moment. But hopefully this time round I’ll be better at enjoying the moment should we come out on the winning side”.
And the winning side is exactly where Coach Batty expects the Warriors to be this year: “I’m feeling good [about this season]. We have a decent set of players who have worked hard at what I have asked of them. We won’t be push overs and will be a tough matchup for anyone this year”.
Coach Batty sat at the helm of the Hallam Warriors between 2007 and 2017 and boasts an impressive win percentage of 75% - a superior record to most Head Coaches across American football in the UK.
Grizz made the decision to return to the Warriors back in June, after a discussion with current Head Coach Tom Kharchi: ”Tommy dropped me a line in June asking for some help. I was ready for some coaching but not being the Head Coach and Tommy knew I wanted to concentrate only on the defence as it was time permitting”.
Despite retiring from coaching at the end of the 2016/17 season, Coach Batty was a regular on the side line for the Warriors during their last campaign as a spectator. Taking a step back from the driving seat wasn’t easy for a man who had for so long been in charge: “I hated watching and second guessing. Of course I wanted to add my two penneth but it wasn’t my show. It’s hard to not interfere even for reasons you think are right”.
Life in a slightly more back seat role than his previous one with the side appears to be suiting Grizz nicely: “It’s good. I don’t have to rally the troops. I can focus on making my unit better and don’t have to be so directly involved with the AU, the committee and general background running of the club which is a lot of hard work so it takes the pressure off and allows me to focus better on the defence.”
Hallam kick off their 2018/19 campaign this Sunday where Grizz left off before his retirement – in a clash against the University of Sheffield Sabres. Coach Batty’s last game in charge was the 2017 SteelBowl in the Sheffield Varsity competition, a game which saw Hallam once again retain the trophy – along with the bragging rights – after a 27-14 win.
And the former linebacker is looking forward to getting back into the swing of things come game day: “Training has been exciting. Of course, playing against Uni of is especially tasty but you invest so much into winning you don’t have time to enjoy the moment. But hopefully this time round I’ll be better at enjoying the moment should we come out on the winning side”.
And the winning side is exactly where Coach Batty expects the Warriors to be this year: “I’m feeling good [about this season]. We have a decent set of players who have worked hard at what I have asked of them. We won’t be push overs and will be a tough matchup for anyone this year”.
While Coach Batty will always be held in the highest of esteem among Warriors old and new, the feeling is mutual for Grizz. His love for coaching the game started at the Hallam Warriors back in 2002 when he was one of the original coaches in the Warriors’ debut season: “The Warriors were my first and longest coaching gig. I like it because I get to be up close in a game I enjoy. I enjoy coaching guys and seeing them become better. That’s the biggest buzz”.
American football in the UK has come on leaps and bounds since the Warriors’ inaugural 2002/03 season: “The game is miles ahead of where it was when I came into coaching. The players are better, coaching better, facilities better. It’s not as good as it should be but it’s miles better. Teams that won championships back then wouldn’t live with current teams”.
A contributing factor to the development of the sport at University level is in no small part down to the investment by Universities in scholarship students. Such investment has recently found its way down to Division 1 of the BUCS leagues, but is yet to come into play at Hallam. However with coaches of Richard Batty’s rich experience guiding them, the Warriors have every chance to compete with the scholar dollars and fight for the Division 1 championship title, a feat last achieved by the Warriors back in 2015.
American football in the UK has come on leaps and bounds since the Warriors’ inaugural 2002/03 season: “The game is miles ahead of where it was when I came into coaching. The players are better, coaching better, facilities better. It’s not as good as it should be but it’s miles better. Teams that won championships back then wouldn’t live with current teams”.
A contributing factor to the development of the sport at University level is in no small part down to the investment by Universities in scholarship students. Such investment has recently found its way down to Division 1 of the BUCS leagues, but is yet to come into play at Hallam. However with coaches of Richard Batty’s rich experience guiding them, the Warriors have every chance to compete with the scholar dollars and fight for the Division 1 championship title, a feat last achieved by the Warriors back in 2015.