Staff Photo File/Preston Byers McDonald’s Casey Miller returns a kickoff for a touchdown in the Blue Devils’ 35-34 overtime loss to Western Reserve on Sept. 13 at Berlin Center.
The world of high school soccer has changed dramatically since the beginning of the 21st century.
The number of teams qualifying for the playoffs has doubled. Lawns that were considered a luxury in 2000 are now the norm rather than the exception. Locally, many leagues have come and gone. The ground-and-pound running game that was once a staple of Mahoning Valley has largely given way to the spread offense.
At McDonald’s, on the other hand, the more things change, the more things stay the same.
It was in the fall of 2000 that the McDonald football program brought in a new coach for just the 11th time in the program’s 75-year history. Dan Williams, a McDonald’s graduate, replaced Andy Golubic Jr., who coached at the school for 16 years.
When Williams took over the Blue Devils’ job at age 30, he was not only the youngest coach in Mahoning Valley, but also the youngest of any assistant coach. In fact, several members of his staff had 30 years of coaching experience.
Even with all the changes happening around him now, Williams continues to give McDonald the power to make decisions. Now in his 25th season at the helm, he is Trumbull County’s director of coaching and has been at the school longer than any other coach in the county. He is currently a member of the Trumbull County Sports Hall of Fame and has a 165-92 record at his alma mater.
Williams, who graduated from McDonald in 1988, had just completed his second season as head coach at Jackson-Milton in 1997 when he was persuaded to return to McDonald as an assistant coach. He will serve under Golubic for two years before taking over the program.
Golubic owned 124-40-3 during his time at McDonald.
“Looking back, it’s pretty crazy how it all unfolded.” Williams said. “I was asked to join the staff with the agreement that I would take over if Andy retired. It was a different time. When Andy resigned at the end of the 1999 season, I didn’t even submit a resume. There wasn’t really a hiring process, I didn’t have any interviews, I just stepped in.
“So here I am, taking over a program that I grew up in, but with added pressure because I was handpicked to replace a legend. There’s a lot of pressure to be successful. I put a lot of pressure on myself because I wanted all the kids to have the same experience and enjoy the same type of team success that I enjoyed when I played here. Ta.”
Williams found immediate success in 2000, as McDonald went 9-3 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. However, 2001 ended with a record of 5 wins and 5 losses, and 2002 was a rare losing season (3 wins, 7 losses). It was the Blue Devils’ first losing season since 1978.
However, the struggle was short-lived. By 2010, Williams’ resume included six playoff appearances, four league championships, and two 10-0 regular season records. Over the next decade, they had two more perfect regular seasons (2014, 2018), as well as a conference title and a playoff berth.
“The first few seasons were a wake-up call where you started to second-guess yourself and wonder if they picked the right guy.” Williams said. “But we stayed the course and by 2010, I felt like I belonged.
“I had great staff support. I’ve always had a great coaching staff, so I’ve been very fortunate. These guys know football. They know McDonald’s and what it’s about. He has my back.”
While little has changed at McDonald since Williams took over the program a quarter-century ago, high school football in general has evolved significantly. Williams said he used to watch game film on an 8mm projector during his playing days. Early in his coaching career, he traded VHS tapes with other coaches. Currently, game films are recorded and viewed using a mouse and keyboard.
Williams said the evolution of social media has created an added burden for coaches at all levels.
“It’s unusual for information to be released to the public so quickly.” Williams said. “When I first started, we had to tell the kids, ‘Hey, this week we’re going to play Mineral Ridge.’ Don’t go into Mineral Ridge and cause trouble. Avoid going to restaurants or stores and keep your distance from unnecessary distractions. ”
“Nowadays, you don’t have to leave your house to cause trouble. We have to remind players to stay off social media, but that’s hard to police. Fortunately, we We live in a great community and the kids are smart and seem to inherently know what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Conversely, Williams noted that the recent focus on player safety has helped move the game in a positive direction.
“We’ve always taught you to tackle with your head up and we’ve always stressed the importance of player safety, but putting that extra emphasis on has helped everyone. Great for football in general. That’s it.” Williams said.
Williams jokes that he’s been coaching so long that what’s old is becoming new again. He pointed out that in the late ’90s and early 2000s, most area offenses were run-oriented, featuring two running backs and a tight end. It was largely replaced by a spread offense. He’s now considering moving to the running game.
In fact, when Williams took over the program in 2000, he kept the Wing-T offense that had been McDonald’s staple since 1978. He moved to a spread offense in 2018, and this year the Blue Devils returned to a primarily wing-T look. . Williams noted that the quarterback worked from a shotgun formation. “There were only a few this year, and they all happened in the first week.” In last week’s 42-14 win over Lowellville, the Blue Devils threw just three passes.
“We are always willing to adapt to the talent we have at the time, and right now we feel this is our strength.” Williams said. “I’ve noticed over the last few years that more schools in the area are focusing on their running game.”
Other than a few tweaks here and there, not much has changed in the last 25 years.
“We are old-fashioned people.” Williams said. “We teach the same techniques and drills that we taught when we were assistants. We follow the same practice schedule. The terminology I use today is the same as what was used in the 1970s. It’s the same.”
Since 1978, McDonald’s program has been led by three different coaches: Golubic, Brian Fediski and Williams. To put that in perspective, during the same period, neighboring schools Mineral Ridge and Niles went through 10 coaching changes. Girard has hired nine different coaches since 1978, while Mineral Ridge has had eight different coaches during Williams’ time at McDonald alone, and Niles has had five different coaches since 2000. I was hiring.
McDonald has only had 11 head coaches since 1925.
“Our continuity has been a huge factor in our success.” Williams said. “And a lot of that continuity has to do with the fact that so many of the families that were here when I was a kid are still here today. The same families, but a generation that grew up on McDonald’s football. It’s just different. They’re still playing today and embracing what it takes to maintain tradition and a solid program.”
McDonald is currently 5-2 and will qualify for the playoffs for the 20th time in school history. The two losses were against Clearview (6-0, Division IV) and in overtime against Western Reserve (6-1). Since the loss in the reserve game, the Devils have won three straight games, finishing the season against Campbell, Springfield, and Mineral Ridge.
“After several years of decline, we felt this year could be a turning point for us.” Williams said. “We’ve done a great job preparing during the offseason. We’ve had a great attitude. The pieces are in place to have a good year and we’re where we want to be at this point.
“The most important thing is that kids are having fun playing soccer again. What I always say is, if you’re going to play this game, you’ve got to have fun, because this game has a lot of It’s a difficult game that requires a lot of guts and effort. At the end of the day, it has to be fun.”
Does Williams enjoy the game?
Mr Williams said: “I’m not going to be Bill Bolen.” Although he became a coach in his 80s, he was not yet ready to take over the reins.
“The fire is still there. I still enjoy coming to practice, planning each week and making adjustments on game day.” Williams said. “I still love to see kids succeed. That’s why I’m still here, because I feel like I can bring that out of them.
“My wife Debbie always says I never give up, but I know there will come a time when I will be ready to hand things over to a younger coach who is ready to make his mark on the program.”
MacDonald will travel to Campbell tonight where he can secure his 17th championship under coach Williams.
