Mount Vernon hires football coach

Mount Vernon announced Tuesday that it has hired Barry Wells to coach its football team, the first step to rebuild a program that went 0-10 this past fall. Wells has coached in Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 1988; he spent the past four seasons as an assistant at Neptune (N.J.) High.

Wells, who played football at Virginia State University, started his career at Virginia AAA National District rival Edison in Alexandria and currently works for a management-consulting firm in Fairfax.

"Barry was prepared to make the changes necessary to bring our program to the next level," Mount Vernon athletic director Bernie Forte said. "I think he had a strong commitment to improving our weight program which is important."

Wells will work out of the school building several days a week in order to have access to the student body, Forte said. He is expected to meet with the team sometime this week.

"Barry was very articulate, he had a very good working knowledge of the game," Forte said. "He is also very familiar with our student body and student population."

Wells replaces Tom Glynn, who coached the Majors for five years, compiling a 21-32 record. Mount Vernon went to the playoffs in 2007 and 2008, finishing 9-3 in 2008, one game shy of reaching the Virginia AAA Division 5 Northern Region championship, but did not win a game this past fall.