Coaches are eager for season to begin
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After more than four months of getting his players on the same page, instilling his own culture and preparing them for the season opener, Chartiers Valley coach Dan Knause just wants the season to get underway, already.
“I’m very anxious and I had some restless night’s sleep this week, just because you put so much into it the first few months, but I’m just ready for the season to start,” Knause said. “There’s no doubt.”
Knause is one of 24 firstyear WPIAL coaches edging closer to their debut at a new school, with Chartiers Valley facing Peters Township at 7:30 p.m. today. Most, like Knause, are experienced coaches starting over at a new school.
Still, that leaves them with the questions leading up to kickoff — do you manage your expectations for Year One, or set the bar high? Have you installed every new play, new technique successfully? Will offseason work translate to the field?
To Knause, hired in April, the Colts have done just about everything they can do in a four-month period to prepare. Looking at the talent he’s working with, he has set his sights high from the start.
“These kids are hungry for it,” Knause said. “I think the previous staff had done a nice job with the kids and put them in positions, even last year, to come close in some really good games. I just think based on the type of kids we have, they’re coachable, they’re competitive, so therefore I’ve set the expectations high.”
That itch to start the season is the same for Baldwin’s Loran Cooley, who’s ready for less anticipation and more football.
“It’s funny, I feel like almost an administrator,” Cooley said, laughing. “One of the best things for me is I surrounded myself with a great coaching staff.”
Cooley gets another week to prepare for Baldwin’s season opener against Woodland Hills Sept. 1, as the Highlanders don’t have a Week Zero game.
“We’ve definitely taken significant amount of strides over the summer,” Cooley said. “It’s night and day from the first day I started coming out. With that being said, we’ve got a lot of room to improve before Woodland Hills.”
Mt. Lebanon
With Pine-Richland, North Allegheny and Central Catholic, the Class 6A Northern Seven Conference is packed with powerhouses.
That doesn’t intimidate Mt. Lebanon coach Mike Melnyk. The Blue Devils, in the Southeastern Conference, lost to Pine-Richland, 42-31, and North Allegheny, 22-15, last year, but strive to dominate in asimilar fashion.
“We recognize that the teams in the north have raised the bar a little bit,” Melnyk said. “The competition between Central [Catholic] and [North Allegheny] and [Pine-Richland] is as good as any in the state… we don’t shy away from that challenge, in fact, that’s where our sights are set.”
“Whether it’s 4A, 6A or whatever, at our school, we have a commitment to excellence and we strive to be the absolute best in everything we do,” Melnyk said. “And in the city of Pittsburgh there are obviously programs that are as competitive as any in the state. And so I’ve always been of the mentality that you either shy away from that challenge or you meet that challenge head on.”
Mt. Lebanon scrimmages North Allegheny and PineRichland in the summer, Melnyk said, so the team can learn from the competition. The Blue Devils will play North Allegheny and PineRichland again this year and open against Fox Chapel tonight.
Week Zero
In Week Zero, there are 35 non-conference games scheduled for tonight.
While playoff berths aren’t exactly at stake, many teams use the week as extra preparation for conference play, according to Chartiers Valley coach Dan Knause. It’s an opportunity to assess the team’s strengths and weaknesses before wins and losses carry more weight.
“This year, having week zero, it shortens camp but I think it kind of ups the focus and the intensity,” Knause said. “Kind of like in college, having an opener against a really strong opponent. I’ve always heard coaches say that and it’s kind of in the same vein … we’ve been on a really strict timeline as far as preparation.”