The Mahanoy Area School District didn't waste much time in naming its new head football coach.
Assistant coach Dave Holman was hired during a special school board meeting on Saturday morning. He will take over for Wally Hall, who resigned late last month.
"I guess they wanted to make the process as quickly and as smoothly as possible," said Holman, who will turn 28 on April 19.
"I'm excited, I'm truly honored and my heart and soul is here at Mahanoy Area," said the Mahanoy Area graduate, Class of 2001.
Holman said he wasn't totally sure if he should apply for the job after Hall resigned.
"I talked it over first with my family," Holman said. "I wanted to discuss it with my wife (Theresa). Once we sat down and went over things, I said, 'OK, go for it!' My dad (Clyde "Champ" Holman) has always encouraged me to try to excel and to accept challenges."
Holman had been assistant on Hall's staff for the past three seasons, coaching the receivers and defensive backs.
"Now it is going to be everything," Holman said.
The new head man added that he doesn't expect to make many changes to Hall's blueprint.
"I respected so much what Wally has done for the program, so why change or fix it," Holman said.
Holman said he played for Hall, then the coach at Shenandoah Valley, in the Schuylkill County Coaches All-Star game following his senior year at Mahanoy Area. After graduating from Wilkes University, he joined Hall's staff as an assistant coach.
"I have so much respect and admiration for Wally Hall," Holman said. "He turned the program around. His discipline and his ability to get it across was such a quality trait of his. I really don't plan on changing much, if anything at all."
Holman, who teaches in the Schuylkill County Vo-Tech School's North Campus, said that he would love to go back to his alma mater and teach.
"If the opportunity arose, sure I would love to teach at Mahanoy Area," he said.
Holman said he hasn't met with the Golden Bears players, who are on extended Easter break.
"I was down at our track practice and I met with a few of the players (informally) today," Holman said. "But I plan on meeting with the team this week."
Although Holman hasn't named his staff, he said that he hoped to have it in place by the time of the next school board meeting later this month.
"I'm anxious to get things rolling with our weight program and our summer workouts," he added. "What we have is an enormous challenge in front of us. We lost some of the best leadership any team could want in (Mike) Gaval and (Neal) Goodman. We need to find that leadership right away and to continue what has been set in the past."
Holman said he plans to continue using Hall's preferred offense, the "flexbone,'' a form of the veer, and a base 52 for his team's primary defensive alignment.
"Why change it? It worked in the past, so we will run it," he said. "The big thing (is) our players know the system. My job is to put it back in place and not to try and miss any beats."
Holman said the possibility of being hired as the Bears' new head coach led to many sleepless over the past few weeks.
"Once I knew that I was going to apply for the job, I really haven't slept much," he chuckled. "I'm all (fired) up and ready to go."
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