Defensive coach and business teacher Brandon Villarreal is going into his sixth year with the leopards. Better known to most as Coach V, Villarreal recently spent some time with The Red Ledger’s Katie Curry.

The Red Ledger: What is your football background?

Villarreal: “I played high school football at Allen High School, graduated in 2001, played at Purdue University from ‘01 to ‘05, and then spent about a year and a half in the NFL with the New Orlean Saints.”

The Red Ledger: You have a website that you advertise that is known as “PurdeHuddle,” can you explain that?

Villarreal: “It’s a group of guys who used to play at Purdue and we all got together and are part of a company called HuddlePass. HuddlePass is a website that we put together about a year and a half ago that allows people to come to the website and see people talking about the ‘x’s and o’s of football’, what the games were like over the weekend, all from the guys who have played it before. So everybody that’s in the Purdue huddle, played at Purdue, everybody that’s in the Nebraska huddle played at Nebraska at some point. And so if you wanted to get something about a specific sport that you love and you go to HuddlePass, you’re going to get it from somebody that knows it and understands the game. So HuddlePass has sub-huddles and Purdue Huddle is just one that I’m apart of with a bunch of guys that I used to play with.”

The Red Ledger: How did you spend your high school years?

Villarreal: “I did a lot of football and I did broadcast. I was a broadcast guy. So I went to national conventions for that kind of stuff and we won all kinds of national awards and that what I initially wanted to go into college doing but football kind of took over.”

The Red Ledger: If you weren’t a football coach or teacher, what would you be?

Villarreal: “That’s such a good question because there’s so many things I think I have interest in. I love art and I love music. I love to draw and I listen to all kinds of music so I would probably be some sort of sound engineer to be around music all the time and I would probably draw in my free time. Or making highlight videos for people, I like doing that stuff too.”

The Red Ledger: What is your favorite family memory?

Villarreal: “I have two kids and this past vacation, this summer at Disney was awesome. We spent 10 days in Florida 4 of those were at Disney and 4/5 were down in Naples at my wife’s family reunion so that was probably the best vacation we’ve had because the entire family was together.”

The Red Ledger: If you had to live in warm or cold weather which one would you choose and why?

Villarreal: “Cold. I’m a hot-natured person I sweat very easily and so when it starts to get into the mid 80’s I’m drenched in sweat. I would much rather live in a climate 50 degrees year round than I would of 85-90. Because I can always put more clothes on to get warm.”