Coach Wells’ closet: Dr. Phillips football coach donates clothing to students

For about two decades now, following his college football playing days at Syracuse, Rodney Wells has dedicated his professional life to giving back to the school he calls home, Dr. Phillips High, first serving as Panthers football’s defensive coordinator for six seasons, then as head coach since 2011. 

There’s no question, given the unprecedented success he’s had in charge of the DP football program, that Wells could have left his alma mater for more lucrative coaching opportunities. But if you know anything about the Panthers’ former star linebacker, you know he bleeds Panther blue. Because of his love and commitment for the program and the school overall, it’s easy to believe the most successful football coach in program history would jump at the opportunity to give back to the students that roam the halls he once did. 

That’s exactly what he did when a DP student made an observation about Wells donating some of his lightly worn gear to some of his football players.

“If you know anything about football players, they’re always asking for gear,” Wells said. “They are always wanting some swag, and most coaches have gear from colleges they’ve played for or coached at. So the guys are always like, ‘Hey coach let me get that shirt.’ So for like more than 10 years at this point, myself and coaches on the staff, we would bring some of our lightly worn stuff ... and give it out once or twice a year, just depending on how much stuff we can bring together. So we were doing that recently at my office, and I gave the football player some stuff, and they got hyped in the hallway and a student, that’s not one of my players noticed them and said something like, ‘Dang coach, y’all always take care of the football team. All y’all do is give them stuff.’ He said it jokingly, but he was right, and it gave me the idea to open this up for everybody at DP.”

That’s when Coach Wells’ Closet was born. 

The idea is simple: Put a call out to the folks with whom Wells has built relationships and ask them to donate gear for the Panthers' student body.

“I got a lot — way more than I thought I would get,” Wells said. “Guys like Dan LaForest and Lo Wood, one of the deans here at Dr. Phillips, gave us a bunch of donations. So did some of the teachers and administrators at the school. Coach Sam Brown, from the girls basketball team gave us a lot of stuff too. I mean, we had bags and bags of clothes, and (as) this all unfolded, it just happened that we did this on the last day of school … and it was a huge success.”

Not only is this concept something Wells enjoys to do because of the relationships he had with current DP students but also — because of his lifelong journey as a Panther — he’s pouring into students that are connected to his former classmates, teammates and even the children of some of his former players.

“Dr. Phillips is home,” Wells said. “A lot of those students, I either played with their parents or went to school with their parents. I’m getting old now and it’s crazy to see but I’m even getting some of my former players’ kids at the school now. I love these kids; I love this community; I love the school. So it feels really good to be able to give back to the kids, especially knowing that a lot of the stuff we gave away was brand new, some even had tags on them.”

Wells plans to bring the school-wide donation event back next school year and depending on the amount of donations he receives, he can see it happening twice in 2025-26. 

To support Coach Wells’ Closet or donate lightly worn or new clothing for the event, email [email protected].