McDonald hits ground running at Connellsville
The Connellsville Falcons football program has been placed into the hands of new head coach Dave McDonald, who says making the transition into Connellsville from the Erie area has been a positive experience.
“Getting here in February has really helped,” he said. “I’ve been able to break our program down into three phases. The first phase was to get the kids into the weight room and get the right attitude and get our program adjusted.”
He explained the second phase of the program was using the summer months to concentrate on teaching his basic offensive and defensive schemes before the start of camp. “That part went okay,” he said. “The attendance was okay, but I don’t think the kids understood the commitment level we were looking for. But things got better as the summer went on.”
The third phase is the actual start of camp. McDonald thinks the kids are making some positive strides. “We’ve got 56 kids in camp, which I think is 20 more than last year,” he said. “Everybody shows up on time and I think the kids are buying in to what we are selling them.”
McDonald was the head coach of Sagertown the last two years and before that he coached at Gannon University. He said coming to Connellsville is very similar to what he had at Sagertown, except the Falcons have more seniors coming back.
He said the first year was rough going only 2-8 while playing a lot of underclassmen, but the second year they improved to 9-2 and made the playoffs. “We’re doing a lot of the same things here that we hope will translate into the things we want them to do on the field on Friday nights.”
McDonald says the situation is not only a new learning experience for the kids, but also a learning experience for his staff. He thinks he has hired a group of men that are going to be super loyal to him and the kids.
He says he likes the fact his staff is not a bunch of “yes” men; they speak their minds during coaches meetings. He says they work through things and when they come out onto the field they come out as a unified front.
“As we become more comfortable as a staff, the kids become more comfortable working with us because they know we’re not out there dog-cussing, we’re out there teaching. The kids are starting to really listen and accept the coaching.”
McDonald pointed out he has started to see the kids make a transition. When he started, there were a lot of excuses. Now, he says, there is more, “yes, coach.” He said the kids are working to make themselves better and the teaching progression is working so far.
McDonald has brought his version of the Wing-T no-huddle offense to Connellsville. He said the basic philosophy of the no-huddle offense is control the tempo of the game. “Veteran coach Charlie Weis (Florida offensive coordinator and former Notre Dame head coach) said you can’t give them too much or they won’t be able to perform,” McDonald explained. “We’re slowly giving them our base packages and we’ll progress from there.”
McDonald thinks the Falcons have the potential to be a good football team and that there is enough talent in the system to help the program progress. He thinks being an assistant principal at the school and giving the kids the opportunity to see him in another role besides coach will be a big benefit.
“I think the kids were starving for leadership from multiple areas,” he said. “Being at the high school will be great because I get to see the kids every day. However being an assistant principal is my first job. Coaching football is a bonus. It allows the players to see me in a different light and see how I interact with other students. We care about these kids more as people than we do as football players.”