Conversation with Coach, Kevin Clancy – Strath Haven
Tagged under: Coaches Corner, District 1, News, pfn
Phil Myers | August 30, 2023
He is the winningest coach in the history of District 1 football. He has nine children, eight of them sons who played football, yet he never coached any of them in high school. Why? He began his coaching career at Archbishop Carroll, his alma mater, but eventually took the head coaching position at a fledgling high school named Strath Haven. Why? The answers to those two questions are coming up, plus a whole lot more insight from one of the great high school football coaching minds in Pennsylvania, Strath Haven’s own Kevin Clancy.
Entering the 2023 season, Coach Clancy’s record, in his 41 years of coaching, is an amazing 344-144-2 including at one time winning 94 consecutive games versus District 1 opponents. He is tied for 9th in all-time coaching victories in Pennsylvania with Frank Pazzaglia (Valley View and Mid Valley). By the end of 2023 he should be 7th on that list. He is also 3rd among active coaches behind Jim Roth of Southern Columbia and Bob Wolfrum of Wyomissing. He won two state championships at Strath Haven (1999 and 2000) and is a member of the PA State Football Coaches Association (PSFCA) Hall of Fame.
During our opening pleasantries Coach Clancy said, “There is good football all over the state, from Philadelphia to Erie there is good football. I love to watch that PCN channel when they put on a game from around the state. You see different styles and things like that. It’s kind of neat to see.”
PM: “Could you give a little family background?”
KC: “I’m one of four kids myself. I’m the oldest of four boys. One of my brothers actually films the games for me. Everybody played football growing up. My wife, Alexia (she goes by Alex), and I have been married for 38 years. We have nine kids, 8 boys and a girl. All the boys played football at some level. In fact, at least four played some level of college football. Two played sprint football (for players who weigh 185 pounds or less), one at Penn, and the other at Chestnut Hill College. One played football at the Coast Guard Academy. He was a running back and he now flies helicopters for them. And I had one that played at Ursinus.”
PM: “Where did you go to high school?”
KC: “I was at Archbishop Carroll the day that it opened in 1967 as a freshman. We only had freshmen and sophomores in school then. From there I went to the University of Dayton. Then I came back to West Chester. I wanted to get back closer to home. I played football but spent most of my time on the scout team.”
PM: “When you were in high school, what position did you play?”
KC: “I was a lineman, both an offensive and defensive lineman. Mostly tackle, defensive tackle.”
PM: “Did you play any other sports in high school?”
KC: “Not at the varsity level. I played basketball up to the jayvee level. I played some baseball up to the jayvee level.”
PM: “What was your major in college?”
KC: “Health and Phys Ed. Health and Phys Ed teacher. Still do it. Kids are great. I love the kids.”
PM: “How did you get into coaching?”
KC: “When I was student teaching at West Chester, my high school coach, Joe McNichol, asked me if I would come back and join him at Carroll. He was a great role model. So, I did 7 years at Carroll as an assistant coach. We had some nice clubs there and I really got the bug for it. He introduced me to some really good clinicians and I listened to college coaches speak. I learned a lot of football those 7 years from ’75 to ’81. Then I became the head coach there in ’82. I stayed at Carroll from ’82 to ’90.” (Most resources show his record at Carroll to be 67-39-2 going 45-17-1 versus Catholic League competition.)
PM: “You started at Carroll but then moved on to Strath Haven.”
KC: “I love Carroll. Carroll was a great spot for me, but I had a growing family and I just wasn’t sure from a teaching stand point if I was going to hang in because they kept shrinking the staff. I thought it was time for me to move on to public education. Strath Haven was a perfect spot. People were great to me the minute I got there. The colleagues, the teachers, the administration, the families the parents, and certainly the players. We had some early success. They (the players) got us off to a good start there. Been able to ride this for quite a while. Jim Connor and Dan Shaffer have been with me for 30 years. There are other guys that recently left that had been with me 25 or 30 years. So, we’ve had a group that’s been together for a long time.”
PM: “When you took over at Strath Haven, the school hadn’t been in existence a long time, had it?
KC: “Right. Strath Haven High School is a merger of Nether Providence and Swarthmore high schools. The merger took place in 1983. So, they were 7 years in existence when I got there.”
PM: “That leads to my next question. How were you able to build a successful football program at Strath Haven?”
KC: “I’d like to tell you there was a lot of science and thinking, but we happened to have some real nice players my first couple of years. They got us off to a good start. They were hungry to win. They were easy to coach. We won a couple of big games and then they started believing. All of a sudden you have that positive, winning attitude. When you have that you can do a lot of things. If I’d have to say first, I’d give credit to those early players in the program.”
“I also think a staff you can rely on. Every one of them is a great football coach in their own right. We love working with each other. I really think the continuity of staff has a lot to do with it.”
PM: “What is the most important concept you try to teach your players?”
KC: “It’s going to sound cliché-ish. But the biggest thing is how to block and tackle. We are very specific in how we block and what we’re looking to do with our blocking schemes on the offensive side. And defensively, everybody has to be a competent tackler.”
PM: “It seems that many times these days I see high school kids, especially on good teams, tackle by just trying to knock the ball carrier over with a shoulder hit.”
KC: “Right. They see that on television on the weekends. We have to tell them that’s not what we are about now. We’re high school and we need to wrap our arms and have our heads up. It keeps you healthy too by the way with the concussion thing and all of that. We work on that every single day at practice as part of our individual skill work. I guess the next thing after that, is that we tell them, if you get the privilege to carry the ball, you have to have it at the end of the play.”
PM: “You alluded to it earlier, but what motivates you to keep coaching?”
KC: “I still enjoy it. Friday nights are great. Seeing a new group of kids during summer workouts and trying to figure out how you will fit all the pieces into the puzzle. Who can play where. Seeing the development from the jayvee era to the varsity era, and trying to build a new team. Because every year it’s a new team. Every year you start from scratch.”
PM: “What do you find is the toughest thing about coaching?”
KC: “The toughest thing about coaching,” he repeats in deep thought. “Younger kids have to be patient. They come up where they had success, but they still have to develop skills to be a varsity player. Also, getting the kids out because some sports want the kids to isolate on that sport. We encourage our kids to play other sports. But we want them to be just as dedicated to the freshman and jayvee football level. Obviously, I’d like to have the best athletes in our school out for football.”
PM: “What do you find is most rewarding about coaching?”
KC: “The team concept. Seeing a group of individuals come together where they care more about the group than they do their own individual stuff. We were really blessed the last several years where the kids were so unselfish. They believed in the group more than themselves, and they believe in themselves through the group. You can have individual stars, but you’re not going to be successful that way. When you have a group of kids who all buy in together, you have a true team. The sky’s the limit at that point.”
PM: “How difficult is it to make changes during the game when things are not working according to the game plan?”
KC: “You can make changes if it’s things you’ve practiced during the week. In other words, if you’ve prepared for certain contingencies during the week then, yes, you can make those changes. Or if you’ve done something in previous weeks. But to make changes that have not been practiced is a formula for disaster.”
PM: “How much are you involved in the midget program?”
KC: “We don’t have a strong midget football program right now in the school district. Penncrest next door to us has a team called the Rose Tree Colts. Some of our kids play over there. I am very interested in our Middle School program. Some great men, teacher coaches have done that over the years and right now it’s going really well for us. There is a lot of interest, so Middle School is where I put a lot of my focus as far as developmental stuff. I do kind of keep my hands off the x’s and o’s side of things there. If the kids come out for the team the next year, I feel pretty good about what the coaches are doing.”
PM: “You’ve coached quite a few years and have coached quite a few kids. What do you want your legacy to be?”
KC: “I’m not going to worry about that kind of stuff. We try to do things the right way and, frankly, if I want to get on the soap box a little bit, I’d like football to be part of the educational experience. Something that the school realizes the value to the kids and their development. The idea to work as part of a team or a group has a lot of value educationally. I’d like football to be stronger in our community when I leave than when I got here. The idea of working together and overcoming adversity in sports, particularly football, is valuable. I’m biased but football, because of its physical nature of the game, gives you that. There’s value to take beyond high school with that.”
PM: “Are there any favorite games that come to mind over the years you’ve been coaching?
KC: “Obviously, you’re going to remember the two state championship games. One of which came down to a field goal at the end. They really jump out as amazing games. I can also think of some games early in the program. Ridley had always been a power in our league back in the 80s and 70s. So, the first victory over them jumps out. Overtime games bring a lot more drama with them, and we’ve been in a few of them over the years.”
PM: “Which brings up the question, are there plays you work on in preseason just for overtime games that you stow away?”
KC: “You have to practice those each week. You got to spend time offensively and defensively in the red zone. You’ve got to practice to be good at it.”
PM: “Let’s do some ‘fun’ questions now. If you could pick the brain of any football coach, past or present, who would it be?”
KC: “Wow! Any football coach past or present?”
PM: “Yes.”
KC: “I have to be honest, when I first started coaching, the staff at Delaware, Tubby Raymond, Ted Kempski, and even the younger assistants on that staff would answer my questions. I picked up the phone and called those guys. The type of things we do offensively is still to this day is very close to where they were (at Delaware). In terms of a high school coach, if Mike Pettine (Sr.) was ever talking somewhere, I went to the clinic. I was a great admirer of Coach Pettine at C.B. West.”
PM: “What do you do with your spare time?”
KC: “I teach Phys Ed. I do football. And then the rest is at home. There’s always family stuff. There’s always family stuff that gets cheated because of football. Football has become year-round now.”
“My wife has put up with me for what, 38 or 39 years. Talk about a saint. And the kids too. I didn’t see all their freshmen/jayvee games or even their varsity games. It was difficult to get out and see them play. I don’t live in the district I teach in. So, each of those 8 boys that played football, we played against them. They played for Haverford High School nearby. I never really enjoyed the part where you played against your own kids. They had a great coach there, Joe Gallagher.” (Gallagher coached 29 years at Haverford and had a winning record overall).
PM: “Is there somewhere in the United States you’ve never been, but would love to see.”
KC: “I have not been out west. That would be a wonderful ride for me to go across the country. That would be a thrill for me. And frankly, if I were retired, I could go watch a little high school football in those other parts of the country.”
PM: “What does Coach Clancy’s favorite meal consist of?”
KC: “Everyone says my offense is boring. My meal selection would be boring too. A hamburger, a steak. I like a little red meat. Nothing fancy.”
PM: “Along those lines, what’s your favorite dessert?”
KC: “Vanilla ice cream.”
PM: “Do you have any favorite movies?”
KC: “When I get a chance, I like to watch the old movie channels. I’m kind of a bit of a student of history. All history, but really the second World War and all those old movies.”
PM: “If you could go back in time, is there someone you’d love to meet?”
KC: “Boy, there’d be so many of them, wouldn’t there? Any of the former Presidents, but Roosevelt jumps out for whatever reason.”
PM: “Which one, FDR or Teddy?”
KC: “Either one, but I’ll go with FDR.”
PM: “What is the one thing that most people may not know about you?”
KC: “It may be my interest in history. I love teaching Health and Phys Ed, but a lot of times I wish I could go back and be a history teacher. When you get down to it, it’s not teaching subject matter, it’s teaching kids.”
PM: “What’s the outlook for the upcoming season?”
KC: “We lost our skill kids. We had an outstanding backfield that graduated. Trying to replace those guys is the biggest challenge right now. We do bring back our offensive line intact. So, if we can get the backfield guys together and performing at a high level, I think we’ll be okay.”
PM: “Which is tougher, replacing the skill guys or replacing the offensive line?”
KC: “To answer your question, it’s tough either way. The real question is, how much depth do you have behind the guys who graduated. I like the kids we are bringing forward right now.”
When I told Coach Clancy that Strath Haven has one of my favorite high school bands he said, “I would put our band with any. The old band director, Jack Hontz and I would go out to dinner before the game. That was when the games started at 7:30 and we had more time.” (Hontz had built the marching band up to over 400 members. He passed away unexpectantly in 2017. The new band director, Nick Pignataro, is carrying on that tradition.) Coach Clancy continued, “There is a lot of respect between the band and the football team. In fact, every year at least one or two kids from the football team plays in the band. Last year it was one of our starting running backs.”
I am so thankful and blessed that one of the state’s premier coaches took time out of his schedule to talk with me for 45 minutes. Coach Clancy just loves coaching and working with the kids. That certainly came through as I spoke with him. Additionally, he has no apparent aspirations to slow down or step aside, which is certainly good news for the Strath Haven Panther faithful, but it spells bad news for Strath Haven’s future opposition on the gridiron.
He finished our conversation with this, “you guys at PFN do a great job covering the state and I will definitely follow PFN. You’ve done a great job of keeping the state smaller for all of us.” Thanks Coach!!
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