EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated with quotes from Andy Harding.
The top high school defensive coordinator in North Carolina is the new head football coach at Bloomington North.
And that championship pedigree, 14 state championships in 18 seasons, is what he’s planning to bring back his alma mater.
Former Cougar lineman Andy Harding was lured back from Tarboro, NC, and its ultra-successful program and was officially approved at the MCCSC board meeting on Tuesday, April 28. The 44-year-old will finish out the school year at Tarboro before settling in as coach and assistant athletic director at North.
A standard was set while turning Tarboro into a state power from scratch. That standard is coming to North.
“I’m not here just to win a few games and have a fun time,” Harding said. “Our basic vision at Tarboro is ‘Aim small, miss small.’ Aim for the stars. We love the kids and coach them hard.
“They say kids have changed. They haven’t, adults have. We’re going to get in the weight room and grind. We’re going to love the kids and do things the right way. The kids will buy into that.”
Harding takes over for Brett Cooper, who left after one season to take over at Class 6A powerhouse Ben Davis. Harding will be the third coach in three years for the Cougars following Scott Bless’ retirement. North still went 15-7 the past two seasons, but stability is what Harding, a former assistant under Tom Allen at Ben Davis, is offering.
“I think the biggest thing is earning the trust of these kids,” Harding said. “Being their fourth coach in four years, these seniors have known nothing but transition. I have to come in and bring calmness.
“The message is, I did not move 1,000 miles to take another job. This is my end game, to have this job as long as I can have it and retire from the school.”
The path back home for Harding
Harding is a 2000 North grad and played under Jeff Scalf, who stepped down after the 1999 season. Harding went on to play college football at Manchester.
While there he was introduced to coaching, starting with a junior high team. His first high school position came at Ben Davis, coaching defensive tackles for Allen and working alongside Steve Purichia and Mike Kirschner.
But he was a victim of reduction in force and in 2007, Harding and his then wife, a kindergarten teacher, decided whoever got hired first is where they’d move. She won, getting a position in Wilson, NC, about 45 minutes from Tarboro.
He started subbing at the schools in Wilson, then in February of 2008 was hired at Tarboro to begin coaching with Jeff Craddock.
“I’ve been here ever since,” he said. “It’s been an amazing ride.”
Tarboro is a school of just over 500 and is located about 70 miles east of Raleigh. The Vikings went 24-24 over the first four seasons, then it took off. The latest title came in 2025 after a 15-0 season. The program had around 80 players, with eight set to play in college.
Afterward, Harding was named the Broyles Award winner for North Carolina as the state’s top assistant coach. Head coach Jeff Craddock was named the head coach for the state’s annual Shrine Bowl game against South Carolina’s senior all-stars and named Harding to be one of his assistants for the game.
“When (Craddock) interviewed me, he said, ‘I don’t know what or how many, but we are going to win state championships at Tarboro,” Harding said. “The standard was set and we never relented from that.
“Being a part of something built from the ground up is amazing. Coach Craddock entrusted me with a lot of things. I’ve been a tech guy, coached offensive and defensive line and was defensive coordinator the last 11 years and we won quite a few more state championships.”
But he had always kept track of his old program.
“Obviously, the position had been open for a while and was thinking much about it,” Harding said. “Then I thought some more and reached out.”
The interview went well, stretching from the usual 45 minutes or so by another hour.
“I’ve been in Tarboro for 18 seasons down here,” Harding said. “This is home. I never planned on leaving. I was going to retire here. But I always told people this is the one place I’d leave for.
“It’s legit home. My mom’s there. My sisters. Almost all my entire family is there. And I want to continue what Coach Bless did. I’m a big fan of the ‘Godfather’ movies and they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Back home again in Indiana
This is not a long-term project and there’s much more to it than teaching football. His resume should help. It includes coaching players such as former Ohio State standout and current Indianapolis Colt Tyquan Lewis.
“It’s kind of like Coach Cig has done at IU,” Harding said of his plan. “Get the guys to win the day. Then you win the week. Then you win the month. Then you win the season and that means you’re the best.
“At Tarboro, these kids have known nothing but winning. The seniors were born the year of our first state championship. So, they know their brothers, uncles, maybe even dads played in the program. It’s not an overnight thing. I know I’ll have to fight a lot of battles.”
As for his preferred style of play, film will show Tarboro playing a lot of run-dominant double-tight T, but the current crop of receivers need not worry.
“I believe in running the ball, but I also want to get the ball in the hands of my best players,” Harding said. “The double-tight T, I know it, I understand it, I love it. I’ll keep expanding it and make it my program.
“Defensively, we will be sound and fundamental. Read your keys and play fast. Think pre-snap, then react post-snap. Tackle well in space. You make get us, but not because we’re making dumb mistakes.”
He plans to meet with coaches and players as he can before the semester ends and will be making the move for good around the time his niece graduates from North.
Harding will guide the Cougars into a new era when they begin play in the Mid-State Conference this fall. He is eager for a change of wardrobe and the season opener against South.
“I couldn’t stand putting on purple at Ben Davis,” he joked. “And then more purple at Tarboro.
“No one understands that rivalry more than me. That team across the city, we want to show them what hard-nosed football is all about.”
North’s Werczynski takes over Paoli
North assistant and former Cougar standout Sam Werczynski has been named the new head coach at Paoli.
Werczynski, a 2020 Cougar grad, played at Hanover and worked with the defensive backs since his return in 2023, Scott Bless’ final year as head coach.
The Rams went 49-17 in six years under Neil Dittmer, averaging 40 points per game in the last five seasons, but haven’t won a sectional since 2018, running into Brownstown, North Posey and Triton Central each time. Dittmer, who has also been Paoli’s softball coach for more than a decade, is moving up into administration and will be became an assistant principal.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington North hires alum Andy Harding as new football coach
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
