Editor's Note I: This blog appeared 11 years ago on Connect-Bridgeport, and recently showed up on a football message board. It is being ran ahead of the 2026 high school football season.  

 

If anyone remembers anything about former Bridgeport High School football Coach Wayne Jamison it’s that you did things his way. There was no doubt who was in charge of making any and all decisions that had any substance to a successful season or the result desired from a particular game.

 

Here’s what may surprise you. During Jamison’s lengthy and highly successful  27-year career, he only had one player – one quarterback mind you – that he trusted to the point where he actually let him call the plays on a few occasions. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his other quarterbacks, it’s just that this one was on an intelligence level that Jamison said was the best of any player that he ever coached.

 

The player in question was Robert “Bobby” Marra, the quarterback on the Class AAA 1979 state championship team. And Jamison said he trusted not so ironically enough, because he thought like Jamison when it came to play calling.

 

“I sent a kid in with a play one time and the kid apparently got confused when he gave the play to Bobby. Bobby looked at the kid and just told him I know Coach didn’t call that play,” said Jamison with a laugh. “Not only was he right, but he changed the play to what I actually sent in.

 

“I can tell you that if something had my attention during the game and Bobby was waiting for a play, I’d just wave at him and he’d call the play and I never let anyone do that,” Jamison continued. “No matter what, he always called the play that I would usually call.”

 

The conversation on Marra’s on-the-field intelligence took place when Jamison and I struck up a conversation about a former coach that was back in the game that Jamison faced off with many times. Eventually, it led to a discussion on not only who the smartest player he ever coached, but who was the smartest player he ever coached against. Jamison didn’t have to think about it for either question, starting first with Marra.

 

For those that may be surprised that Jamison picked a quarterback, understand that Jamison was equally – if not more so – impressed with Marra’s play in the secondary for Bridgeport. He said Marra took the fundamentals of the game and turned it into a weapon.

 

“On defense, geez, he was always getting to the right place. I can remember watching him on tape and not being in the picture and just as the ball would get to a receiver Bobby would just show up,” said Jamison. “Against Parkersburg (1979 Class AAA semifinals at Hite Field), he was in the end zone defending and it looked like a sure touchdown and there he was knocking it down.

 

“He was always in the right position and because of that he didn’t have to get to a certain point because he was either already there or could get there fast,” Jamison continued. “He learned that if you’re in the right place, because half the battle with defense is lining up right, then you can make the right play. He never failed to be in the right place.”

 

Still, Jamison said Marra was also the best quarterback he ever coached. He said he did something else no one else could – and there was a reason for it.

 

“He was the only pure passer I had over all those years. I had plenty of kids that could throw the ball, but he could pass it and put it exactly where he wanted to put it,” said Jamison. “The thing that really helped was that he worked overtime. He worked after practice with a pretty good receiver in Brad Minetree  and they knew each other’s tendencies. They’d go for as long as they felt was necessary working on plays like the down and out and it benefitted him and the entire team.”

 

While Jamison enjoyed watching Marra, he wasn’t nearly as fond of having to watch and play against the individual that he said was “easily the smartest” player his team’s ever faced. The player he laid the honor on is former Tucker County standout Jed Drenning.

 

“He was just a smart kid. He knew everything going on all the time and kind of knew what was going to happen before it happened. Heck, he took over games for my friend (former Tucker County Coach) Billy (Haddix) when he needed to,” said Jamison while laughing. “I didn’t watch a lot of tape, but I’d watch enough to get an idea of what a team liked to do and I remember seeing him on defense, several times, chasing a guy down the field and he would bat the ball out of the guy’s hands every single time he’d get behind him.”

 

Despite Drenning’s talents, Jamison never changed his game plan for the Mountain Lions. In fact, Jamison said he didn’t do a whole lot of game planning ever.

 

“Sure, we had ideas on what we wanted to do, but the real planning and how we opted to do things took place once the game started,” he said. “I always felt you should plan when the thing starts and that way you could get a feel for it.”

 

One thing he definitely got a feel for was just how good Drenning could be at the next level. He said the combination of skill and smarts was a sure sign for success in college, which Drenning had in record-setting droves at Glenville State.

 

“Here’s a kid in high school that was going with the coaches to coaching clinics so when you know a kid is that smart, wants to learn and can play with the best of them, you know he can be successful,” Jamison said. “I wasn’t surprised at all with what he did. I knew he was going to be a good one.”

 

Editor's Note II: Top photos show Bobby Marra on the sidelines with Coach Wayne Jamison and in action. Photos courtesy of Mrs. Alice Rowe and the BHS Journalism Department. Bottom photo is of Jed Drenning during his record-setting years at Glenville State College.