Robert "Bob" Headen (born November 26, 1939) is a third generation Washingtonian and former Denver Broncos running back in the American Football League. He retired from the District of Columbia Public School System after 40 years of services as athletics director, dean of students, teacher and coach in 2004. Coach Headen is considered a pioneer in developing girls' basketball in D.C., as well as the architect of Washington's most dominant program. He took over as Howard D. Woodson High School's girls basketball coach two years after the passage of Title IX—legislation that barred gender discrimination at schools that receive federal funds.
Headen is the winningest Football Coach in the history of D.C. public schools. Eighteen of his former players have been drafted in the National Football League (NFL). On June 26, 1996, he was the first African-American and the first Washington D.C. inductee into the National High School Coaches Association.
Personal life
Robert Headen was an only child to Ethel, a housekeeper at a downtown hotel. He grew up near 17th Street and Kalorama Road Northwest in Washington, D.C and began playing sports at several boys clubs throughout the city. He developed his football, basketball and baseball skills on the playground. By his senior year at Cardozo High School, he was a three sport starter. Headen played for coach Sal Hall. Upon graduating, he went on to star in both football and basketball at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was there he earned his B.S. degree in Health and Physical Education. While attending, he was inducted into Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He was also selected All-CIAA Running Back of the Year in 1962. Headen spent the 1963 preseason with the Denver Broncos as a defensive back before returning to Washington.
Coach Headen resides in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Gail. He has 2 children and 3 step-children, three of whom graduated from D.C. public schools, and two grandchildren.
Coaching career
Cardozo High School
Varsity Football Headen accepted a teaching assignment at Cardozo in 1964, his alma mater. From the very beginning of his coaching career, he stressed to his players the importance of discipline, dedication, preparation and teamwork as the building blocks of success, both on the athletic field and in life. In 1968, Headen led Cardozo High School to the first of his record eight D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association football championships. Year Champion Runner-up Score1968CardozoMcKinley Tech24-19
Howard D. Woodson High School After three seasons at Cardozo, Headen left coaching for a few months before taking a teaching job at H.D. Woodson in 1972. Over four decades, he served as a teacher, football, girls softball and basketball coach, dean of students, and the Athletics Director, at one time or another. Coming on board as an assistant football coach at Woodson under head coach John Thompson (not the former Georgetown basketball coach), on the second day of practice, Headen arrived to find Thompson had taken another job. Headen became H.D. Woodson's second coach in as many days and stayed from 1972 until his retirement from football in 1999. He remained the girls' basketball coach until his official retirement in 2004. As for football, John Thompson never played a league game before his departure from Woodson, therefore Coach Headen is given the unique distinction of being the first head coach of the H.D. Woodson football team.
Varsity Football Coach Headen retired in 1999 as H.D. Woodson's head football coach. After winning seven city football championships, Headen's vigorous work along the sideline was a trademark for H.D. Woodson. He guided his teams to an unprecedented eight D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association championships, one with Cardozo and seven with Woodson. Over the years, his career record was 284-89. Year Champion Runner-up Score1975H.D. WoodsonDunbar14-01981H.D. WoodsonTheodore Roosevelt7-61982H.D. WoodsonCoolidge33-01985CoolidgeH.D. Woodson35-61986CoolidgeH.D. Woodson32-131987H.D. WoodsonCoolidge21-61993H.D. WoodsonAnacostia14-121994H.D. WoodsonAnacostia6-01997H.D. WoodsonAnacostia26-22
Students First One of the first rules Coach Headen taught his assistants was they were not to yell at a player until they knew something about him or her—like whether they had had anything to eat that day or what things were like for them at home. From the start of his career at Woodson, he always wanted to know what was going on with each player.
Homeless Student Each day after practice, Headen ran a carpool. One of his students was homeless and didn't want his teammates to know. Instead of dropping the player off at the homeless shelter, Coach Headen dropped him off at a fast-food restaurant a couple of blocks away. "Here you go, just in time to go to work," Headen would say. As Headen pulled out of the parking lot, the player would go through the restaurant, out the back door to the shelter.
Raymond "World" Smith In 1984 Coach Headed discovered a 6-foot-6, 435-pound Woodson student named Raymond "World" Smith. Smith wanted to play football, but there were no uniform pants large enough to fit him. He was the biggest high school player in the world. Coach Headen cut two sets of uniform pants in half and sewed them together. He also noticed Smith ate lunch alone in a corner of the cafeteria. Smith was too quiet and no one was taking the time to get to know him. Headen got two female students go talk to him during lunch, other students began to quickly followed suit. World went on to play football at Grambling State University.
Byron Leftwich Coach Headen was an advocate ball runner, until he recognized Byron Leftwich's ability to throw the ball. "I watched him practice with the JV one day, and he threw the ball back to a kid 40 yards or so on a frozen rope," Headen said. "That's the day I asked him to play on the varsity." After pleading with Leftwich to play varsity, because Leftwich didn't want to overshadow the more experienced players ahead of him and being content with a receiver position, Leftwich became the most celebrated quarterback in HD Woodson's history. Headen even installed a West Coast offense to take advantage of Leftwich's passing skills. Leftwich went on to play at Marshall University and was drafted in the NFL by Jacksonville Jaguars in 2003.
Retiring From Football Coach Headen originally announced his retirement from football in December for 1997 after 25 years as head coach at H.D. Woodson. However, because he was also the Athletic Director for the school, he was responsible for finding his own replacement. Since he could not find the "right person" for the job, Headen decided to continue coaching.
A part of Coach Headen's decision to retire was because he was exhausted from being the only coach available to run daily practices. Upon learning of his decision, two former Woodson players joined the Woodson staff as assistant coaches. One, Kevin Robbins, had played from 1989 to 1991 as an offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams in the NFL. Headen didn't officially retire from football until 1999 when he replaced himself with Coach Gregory Fuller who has continued the winning tradition at Woodson with six DCIAA Championships of his own as of 2016.
NFL draft Coach Headen is the only coach that has won football championships in both the East and West. At the end of his career, Headen had a total of 18 players drafted into the NFL from Woodson and Cardozo. AthleteSchoolClassCoachPositionDraftedFree AgentSigned ByTim BaylorCardozo1971Bob HeadenDefensive Back1976Baltimore ColtsWillie GartrellCardozo1971Bob Headen?1976Chicago BearsLeonard KennedyCardozo?Bob Headen??Baltimore ColtsGregory BrownH.D. Woodson1976Bob HeadenDefensive End Tackle1981Philadelphia EaglesDwayne PughH.D. Woodson1981Bob HeadenFullback1986Tampa Bay BuccaneersDerrell MarshallH.D. Woodson1984Bob HeadenOffensive Tackle1989Buffalo BillsKevin RobbinsH.D. Woodson1984Bob HeadenOffensive Lineman1989Los Angeles RamsDamien RussellH.D. Woodson1987Bob HeadenDefensive Back1992San Francisco 49ersOrlando BrownH.D. Woodson1988Bob HeadenTackle1993Cleveland BrownsAustin RobbinsH.D. Woodson1990Bob HeadenDefensive Tackle1994Los Angeles RaidersJose WhiteH.D. Woodson1990Bob HeadenDefensive Tackle1995Minnesota VikingsMarcus SpriggsH.D. Woodson1994Bob HeadenDefensive Tackle1999Cleveland BrownsGiradie MercerH.D. Woodson1997Bob HeadenDefensive Line2002New York JetsByron LeftwichH.D. Woodson1998Bob HeadenQuarterback2003Jacksonville JaguarsJosh MorganH.D. Woodson2003Greg Fuller Bob HeadenReceiver Kick Return2008San Francisco 49ersDominique HarrisH.D. Woodson2005Greg Fuller Bob HeadenDefensive Back2010Buffalo BillsEddie McGee H.D. Woodson2006Greg Fuller Bob HeadenWide Receiver2011Oakland RaidersTavon WilsonH.D. Woodson2007Greg Fuller Bob HeadenDefensive Back2012New England Patriots
Out of Retirement Coach Headen always took the position of helping others achieve their goals. Though Woodson alumni didn't agree with his position, Coach Headen belonged to Woodson. Despite what others thought, In 2010, Headen came out of retirement to assist Natalie Randolph, the head football coach of Calvin Coolidge Senior High School in Washington, D.C., who was believed to be the only female varsity football head coach in the nation at that time. Before taking on the job, Randolph was a special-teams MVP for the semipro D.C. Divas and under Coach Headen, had formally coached wide receivers at H.D. Woodson during the 2006-2007 season. Switching roles, head coach Randolph and assistant Coach Headen, within one year, took Coolidge from 4-7, all the way to the championship game on November 24, 2011, Coolidge lost the DCIAA Turkey Bowl to Dunbar High School.
Alumni Loyalty Several former NFL players who played under Coach Headen and Coach Gregory Fuller have provided financial support to Woodson, including funding for championship rings and equipment. Some players provided airline tickets for the Headens and the girls' basketball team for national tournaments. Former players maintain contact with Coach Headen. The Headens permitted players to call collect, which resulted in high costs.
Orlando Brown In 1997, the start of the DCIAA season was almost delayed because there was no money in the league's budget for the mandatory reconditioning of helmets and other equipment. Woodson was the only team not affected by the crisis. Former Woodson All-Met and NFL Player Orlando Brown donated enough money to cover the reconditioning. He also purchased championship rings for the Warriors.
Championship Ring Donations Orlando Brown
Byron Leftwich
Josh Morgan
Tavon Wilson
Uniforms Tavon Wilson
Orlando Brown
Girls' Basketball Coach Headen ended his career with a record of 637-98, including two city title game championships, 17 district public school championships, 21 East Division titles, and a number one ranking in USA Today. At the time of his retirement, Headen was one of only two district teams to post victories in the girls' city title game, which pitted the DCIAA champion against the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) champion during his time. As of today, he and his chosen predecessor, Frank Oliver, Jr., are the only coaches in DCPS to have won back to back DCIAA championships against WCAC. Coach Headen was inducted into the first DCSAA Inaugural Hall of Fame in June 2017.
Woodson's girls' basketball team made their first appearance ranked No. 1 In USA Today's Super 25 on Jan 2, 1986.
Girls' Basketball DCIAA Championships
Year Champion1978H.D. Woodson1979H.D. Woodson1980H.D. Woodson1983H.D. Woodson1984H.D. Woodson1985H.D. Woodson1986H.D. Woodson1987H.D. Woodson1990H.D. Woodson1991H.D. Woodson1992H.D. Woodson1994H.D. Woodson1996H.D. Woodson1997H.D. Woodson1998H.D. Woodson2002H.D. Woodson