Walter Barr, who coached the James Wood football team to its only state title--one of only three in all sports in James Wood history--has died, it was announced today.
Walter Barr began his illustrious coaching career at James Wood as an assistant coach in 1962 under Jim Casey and was named the head coach in 1967. During his first three seasons at the helm, Barr’s teams compiled a record of 38-2-1 and captured the 1970 Group AAA Virginia High School League State Championship. Many of his players from that state champion team are on the field this evening. Coach Barr also coached boys’ track and field for the Colonels, and his 1968 won the district championship.
After his initial stint as the head coach at James Wood, Coach Barr went on to coach 15 seasons at Shepherd College from 1971 through 1986 where his Rams compiled a record of 104-48-4. He was later enshrined in both the Shepherd University and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Halls of Fame.
Coach Barr was the head coach for the 1990 season at Loudoun County High School, and from 1994-1998 was head coach of Sherando High School where he led the Warriors to two AA state runner-up finishes in 1995 and 1996 while compiling a record of 38-13.
In 1998 he was named the head coach at Shenandoah University to start the football program and coached the Hornets for two seasons.
In 2004, Coach Barr returned to James Wood where he began his coaching career, taking over the Colonels football program for three seasons and leading the team to two regional playoff appearances, the first in 25 years.
Coach Barr’s total head coaching record stands at 210-94-5. He was inducted into James Wood High School’s P. Wendell Dick Hall of Fame in 2001, and he is also a member of the Clarke County High School Hall of Fame.
Coach Barr was not just a great football coach, but a great motivator and an outstanding role model for the hundreds of his players, students, and fellow coaches with whom he has worked over the years. He believed in not just preparing his players to win on the football field, but to succeed in life and to always conduct themselves with honor and with integrity. Although he is no longer coaching, his legacy will live on in everyone he has touched.
For all of his career accomplishments, and especially for his contributions to James Wood High School and Colonels football, the football field was formally dedicated as the “Walter Barr Field at Jerry Kelican Stadium” on August 30, 2019.
