From as early as 16, Brentford Under-18s assistant coach Kieran Driscoll knew that coaching was the pathway for him.

Now 35, Driscoll has just short of 20 years of coaching under his belt, with his newest helping lead the young Bees at Jersey Road alongside head coach Gary McDermott.

Driscoll’s love of football has always been there, with coaching quickly becoming his passion.

“I always knew that football was something that I wanted to invest in and make my career, so I started my coaching journey at 16, working my way through the ranks at grassroots coaching and multi-sports coaching," he said.

“I gained some experience volunteering at academies and gained my first opportunity at the age of 19 to go into Wigan Athletic’s Centre of Excellence - that’s where my journey began in terms of main milestones.

“I passed my UEFA A license at the age of 23. At that time, I was the youngest in the country to hold the UEFA A license qualification with the English FA.

“I’ve been really privileged to work at Wigan, Everton and now Brentford and gained some really positive experiences and worked with and alongside some really talented people at the same time.”

It didn’t take long for Driscoll to realise that coaching was what he was meant to do, with his passion for players’ development evident.

“I caught the bug really quickly and almost felt like that was the only pathway for me, really,” he said.

“It’s my biggest passion, it’s something that I love doing, I love working with players every day and being able to try and support the young players that I’m working with on their journey, so I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else.”

The lure of Brentford’s exciting academy project was something that drew Driscoll’s attention when the opportunity became available.

“Brentford has been a club that I’ve admired for a long time. It’s a club that is really forward thinking, really progressive and operates at a really high level both on and off the pitch,” said Driscoll.

“The project within the academy, with it being new and fresh, is something I can come in and learn from as well as contribute, help, and hopefully build towards Category One status. It was a really exciting project for me to be involved in.”

While Driscoll didn’t know his fellow coaches prior to joining the club, the coaching group and other staff have hit the ground running, with the young Bees showing promising signs in the early stages of the season.

“It was a blank canvas from the start; I was coming here brand new with very minimal relationships. That was one of the things that excited me most, coming into an area where I don’t know much about the people in this location,” said Driscoll.

“Working closely with Gary and wider academy staff as a whole has been really good so far; we’ve developed strong working relationships and strong personal relationships, so hopefully that will be of benefit to the players.

“It’s been a really promising start in terms of the level of performance and the progression that the boys have made so far. The players make our job easier as coaches because they’re very coachable, they’re willing to learn, they work hard every day in training, and they really do commit to developing each and every day.”

Driscoll and the U18s face west London rivals QPR on Saturday in Professional Development League Cup action, kick-off set for 11.30am at TSG Elite Training Centre.