Conversation with Coach – Max Shoemaker, Chestnut Ridge

Tagged under: Coaches Corner, District 5, News, pfn

Phil Myers | September 16, 2024

Max Shoemaker was head coach at Bedford, his alma mater, for 13 years.  He never wanted to leave, but through certain circumstances he was forced to give up coaching at Bedford.  Why?  A few years later he’s lured away by Chestnut Ridge for the same position he had at Bedford, plus Ridge wants him to coach football.  Why, and who was responsible for giving him the okay to switch to a rival school?

You will find the answers as my interview with Coach Shoemaker unfolds.  One thing is sure, Chestnut Ridge is happy they have Shoemaker coaching their football team.  In 16 years at the Ridge, he has only had one losing season and that was a 5-6 record.

During our preliminaries, I mentioned that I was retired, I cover high school football for PFN and my wife lets me do it.  “I know the feeling.  I’m retired as well and my wife lets me do it,” replied Coach Shoemaker alluding to his desire to keep on coaching.  We got a good chuckle out of that comment.  I then asked him for some background as to where he went to high school, college, etc. and a little about his family.

Let us hear from Coach Shoemaker in his own words.  “I’m a native of Bedford.  Graduated from Bedford High School in 1976.  Was fortunate to attend Lafayette College in eastern Pennsylvania and graduate in 1980.  My degree is actually in economics and I also received enough credits to earn a PT certificate.  When I came out of college I was looking to go two ways, but couldn’t find a job in either way.  I landed working for Joe Bottiglieri at Mansfield.  He asked me to come on as a grad assistant.”

“That was a valuable learning experience for me.  Dad always instilled in us a strong work ethic.  He always used the expression, ‘leave a place better than you found it.’  It’s kind of how I’ve lived my life.  I coached at Claysburg-Kimmel and that was a real good learning experience for me.  I was there for two years.  Had an opportunity to come back to Bedford.  I became an assistant coach under a Hall of Fame coach, Dean McGee.  I worked under him for seven years.  Then he retired and I was selected as the head coach in 1990 and remained there until 2002.”

Bedford at the time had a policy that if you got elevated to a principal’s role you could no longer coach.   Max Shoemaker had worked to get his administrative papers, so when the position opened up, he naturally took it and stepped aside as football coach.  I’ll continue to let Coach Shoemaker to tell the story.  “I was out of coaching from 2003 to 2007.  I was content.  It wasn’t like I was unhappy or anything.  Chestnut Ridge approached me about doing both.  I talked it over with my wife (who was a big factor as she always encouraged him to keep coaching) and my family.  Then I took a risk and jumped back into the football arena.  I retired in 2020 as the high school principal.”

Coach Shoemaker’s overall coaching record heading into the 2024 season is 217-111-1.  At Bedford his record was 96-47-1.  So far, his record at Chestnut Ridge is 121-64.  He has only had one losing season with the Lions.  That was in 2009 and that year’s record was 5-6.  In his tenure with Chestnut Ridge, they have won numerous District 5 or District 5-8 subregional championships.

Coach Shoemaker’s parents, Harold and Ruby, had three boys with Max being the middle child.  He has an older brother named Rhett and a younger brother named Brooks.  As of 7/24/2024, his father was still living and will soon be 93 years old.  Nancy is his wife’s name and they raised three children.  The oldest is Casey, then Chad, and then their daughter Mollie.  He and Nancy have four grandchildren.

We talked some about the first time I ever saw Chestnut Ridge play.  It was at DuBois in 2009 and was one of the greatest games I ever saw.  C.R. came out on top in overtime.  “We were really excited about that win.  That was a big highlight for us,” he said.

PM: “You had a winning record at Bedford and have a winning record at Chestnut Ridge.  My question would be, what is the key to your success as a coach?”

MS: “I’ve been blessed with great athletes at both schools.  We tried to coach to their strength.  I’m not set in my ways that one system is a cure all.  I think with small schools you have to try to adjust year in and year out to the personnel you have.  One of the things we did at Chestnut Ridge that’s been a tremendous asset for us is offensively we went to a pistol back in 2014.  Our passing game just took off since we did that.  We’ve had some athletic kids that really helped too.”

PM: “How do you measure success in your philosophies?”

MS: “Number one is what are the kids doing when they get out of school and what are they doing with their careers.  Are they becoming fine young men and family oriented.  Those values that you and I grew up with are present in a lot of families today.  Anything we can do to encourage that to take place in their lives I think, that’s the ultimate impact that you like to think you may have.  The other thing is to help the kids develop a sense of work ethic and a sense of responsibility and accountability.”

“In our program we have three pillars of success.  We start with accountability.  Then, the next one is selflessness.  The third one is mental toughness.  We don’t over emphasize that, but I think most of the kids know that those are the three supporting characteristics that we look to develop.”

PM: “How much are you involved with the midget program?”

MS: “Not a tremendous amount.  We do a youth camp where the varsity kids help out.  We try to instill some of the basic concepts.  Some of the youth coaches try to pick that up.  Others have their own ideas.  Some of the youth coaches over the years have helped promote the terminology and the way we do things.  It’s not something we mandate.”

We talked about youth football in general for a while.  Shoemaker says that he believes kids should not start tackle football until the 7^th grade.  He also stated that there are as many youth coaches teaching the basics the wrong way as there are youth coaches teaching basics the right way.  He advocates for the kids to have fun because he wants to see the same kids out for football the next year.  Too many youth coaches end up turning kids off.  “They need to turn the kids on to the game of football,” he said.  “We all have to do a good job of promoting football because, to me, football is the most unselfish team-oriented game there is,” he added.

PM: “What is the toughest thing about coaching today?”

MS: “Well, I think injuries and the adjustments that are needed because it is something out of your control.  We’ve had years where we stayed relatively healthy and then we had years where we were scrambling.  Depending on the type of injury, and seeing a kid suffer through that, especially if it ends his season and he’s a senior.”

Coach Shoemaker also mentioned media in a positive manner, with modern technology and all that goes with it.  But he said that people can see replays of games or certain plays and scrutinize and question play calling, defenses, etc.  It doesn’t help any when a few of those people question everything a coach does.

PM: “What’s the biggest thrill you’ve gotten out of coaching?”

MS: “Seeing the kids faces after a big win.”

PM: “What do you want your legacy to be?”

MS: “That I cared about kids, and helped a few along the way achieve their career goals.  Through the years, I think the greatest sense of pride that I have is seeing a kid that stumbled through your program or stumbled into your program, that by the time he graduates, you can see he turned a corner and is on the right path.  Then twenty years later you run into him.  He has kids and a family and a nice job.  That’s what brings satisfaction to my heart.”

PM: “What is the most important concept you try to teach the kids?”

MS: “Discipline.  That’s where it all starts.”

PM: “How has coaching changed since you first started out?”

MS: “I think defenses.  I can remember back in the day a team aligned in a 4-4 front on the first offensive play.  The last offensive play (of the game) they ran a 4-4.  There was no deviation in their alignment.  Today defenses are tremendously sophisticated and they are jumping from one look to another.  It changes by play or by moment.  Then on the offensive side of things, you’d have to say the sophistication of the passing game has changed the offensive philosophies in many cases.”

PM: “Is there anything you’d like to see changed in the high school game?”

MS: “Not really.  I think the PIAA and the Board of Control do a nice job of staying on top of what’s best for the student athlete.”

PM: “We talked earlier about the DuBois game that Chestnut Ridge won in overtime.  My question is, do you have a favorite game that really sticks out in your mind?”

MS: “Probably the most dramatic was a game, I’m not sure of the year.”  (It was 2014.)  “I was at Chestnut Ridge at the time and we were playing our arch rival, Bedford.  It was a District 5 championship game.  We were playing at Northern Bedford High School.  There was a stiff crosswind and the score was tied 14-14.  Late in the 4^th quarter, our drive got stopped at about the Bedford 25-yard line.  We had a solid field goal kicker.”  (Sean Van Meter.)  “He nailed a 41-yard field goal inside a minute to go.”  (It was actually with 1:51 left.)  “As far as a single game, that was special.  I, myself, refer to it as ‘The Kick.’”

PM: “How long do you plan to keep coaching?”

MS: “I go year to year.  It’s based on the health and well-being of my wife and my family and myself.  As long as I feel I’m still contributing and the kids are getting something out of it, I want to stay.”

PM: “How important is that support from your wife and family?”

MS: “It’s now a year-round job.  It’s a year around process.  My wife, to answer your question, has always, I think, seen the enjoyment I get from coaching.  So, she’s always supported that.  She’s been a big advocate of me continuing to coach.  I’m gracious that she feels that way.”

PM: “Okay coach, let’s do some, what I call, fun questions, ones that have shorter answers.  What do you do with your spare time?”

MS: “Well, within the last year a lot of the time is taken up with a golden retriever we purchased.”

PM: “Is there anywhere in the United States you haven’t gone, but would love to visit?”

MS: “What I’d like to do is take a tour of college football game of the week and from over a span of x amount of years, see all the stadiums like Alabama, Florida, and the Coliseum in Southern California.  Just go around the country and experience college football games on their campus.”

PM: “You sit down to your favorite meal.  What would it be?”

MS: “I love shrimp.  My family went on vacation last week and we had a meal of shrimp, fresh corn on the cob, and squash.  That would probably be my favorite.”

PM: “And to top it off, what would your favorite dessert be?”

MS: “Ice cream.”

PM: “Do you have any favorite movies?”

MS: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

PM: “What’s one thing most people don’t know about Coach Shoemaker?”

MS: “I like to cook.”

PM: “What’s the outlook for the upcoming season?”

MS: “We’re optimistic.  We lost a great player in Nate Whysong.  He was our quarterback the last three years.  The heir apparent I think will fit in quite well.  We’re bigger up front.  The last ten years or so we’ve lacked size to battle the big boys, week in and week out.  This year we do have a little bit more size than what we’re accustomed to.  And the kids that are bigger are also very athletic.  So, hopefully that’ll turn into success along our offensive and defensive line.”

PM: “I just thought of a question I’ve never asked any coach before.  Is there a team or coach that over the years your teams struggle with?”

MS: “We struggle in our encounters with Richland.  Also, we’ve never gotten over the hump of beating a District 9 or District 8 team in the playoffs.”

We talked about a few other things in general and signed off.  Coach Shoemaker was very pleasant and thoughtful.  I did get him a little off balance as he thought the interview was just for the upcoming football season.  It was a fun fifty minutes talking with coach about football.  From the articles that have been written about him, he is well-respected among his peers.  And I have no doubts that the Lions of Chestnut Ridge will one year advance deeper into the state playoffs and Max Shoemaker will be beside himself with joy seeing the players’ happy reactions.

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