We spoke with new Dunmore Head Coach Kevin McHale on the fly.
“Kevin McHale with me right now. Ready?”
“I’m ready, Jim.”
“Let’s do it. You take over for Jack (who was) here forever. What’s his legacy? In fact, he’s still over there watching the team, so is his imprint still on this program?”
‘Well, his legacy is he’s always done things that right way. It’s not always the wins and the losses.” said Coach McHale. “But it’s how our kids conduct themselves on the field and off the field and how they represent their family, their school and their community. That’s some of the things that I think of.”
“Now what are some of the things that you want to instill, you and Coach Mills?”
“Well, we want to continue to do the things we’ve done here in the past. The things that I am referring to there are developing our student-athletes as best as they possibly could, making sure they conduct themselves the right way,” suggested McHale. “Our team spends a lot of time in the community with different volunteer work and that’s always going to be a forefront of our program and we want to continue to do better with the stuff.”
“You’ve got Christian Buckley on my right, and on the other side here Ray Dawkins having a couple of guys like that in the backfield is a blessing. How do they complement each other?”
“Well, they’re two great kids and it starts in the weight room with both of them. They have great work ethics. They come from great families. They are both able to do a bunch of things for us. It’s much more than carrying the ball or blocking. They’ve been great leaders and have been great examples for the younger kids in the program.”
“Once again, you open up with Scranton Prep — a four-time district champion. How important is it to have a big opponent, in a big game to start the season, when you are trying to get these kids to focus?”
“It’s a really good thing, and unfortunately, we haven’t been on the winning end the past three times we played them,” admitted McHale. “Opening up with Scranton Prep who is a powerhouse program in the state. They’ve very well-coached by Coach Gallagher. They have some tremendous players coming back, so we know the capabilities of their football team and we’re expecting a great challenge on August 24.
Super 16 Team #13, the Dunmore Bucks.
