DALLAS, Pa. — Two months after Mark Ross left the Misericordia football team to take a coaching job at Bloomsburg John Davis was hired as the 2nd head coach in the program's history. Davis comes from the Apprentice School in Newport News, Virginia where he had back-to-back winning seasons. And hopes to do the same here with the Cougars.
"Really focusing in on the task of the day. Which is just getting a little bit better everyday. We have about 60 guys that have not played in a college football game yet, so we are trying to replicate that atmosphere in practice as much as we possibly can," said John.
Misericordia had their most successful season in program history in 2018 winning 8 consecutive games and finishing 2nd in the MAC. Current players like Zachary Orzell sat on a players committee to find Ross's successor.
"We'll I was blessed to be a part of the committee that helped interview for the new head coach. So I got a little insight before everyone else met him, but when we first interviewed him we immediately thought that this was going to be our next head coach. And that he was going to be great for us. He was going to do good things for us, and push us in the right direction, and that was definitely something that we we're looking for in our future head coach," said Zachary.
How is the offensive line looking? "We look good. We are bringing back a lot of experience and we are cleaning some things up over the last couple of years. This spring after having a year off it was kind of rough bringing back the whole offense and meshing together again but we got the ball rolling," said Michael.
RELATED: Williams 2018 MAC Offensive Player Of The Year Leads Misericordia Into 2019 Football Season
"I am extremely blessed to be here. We really came in with a lot of good football players. We have some guys that have some experience, and some four year guys that have had the opportunity to letter a lot of year. So now it's about fine tuning the small things, and then trying to make sure that we kind of keep that train flowing in the right direction," again said John.
This program began in 2011. There was no football a season ago in Division III, so the 10th year for the Cougars to reach that championship now rests with the newcomer.
"Northeastern PA is the home for one thing is tough football guys," added John.
Misericordia will open with Keystone and then play Wilkes in week 2 to start the 2021 season.
Steve Lloyd Newswatch 16 sports Luzerne County.
