Holman returns to sidelines at Mahanoy Area

Dave Holman never wanted to leave coaching.

He was in the midst of an eight-year run as the head man at Mahanoy Area, his alma mater, and worked in the school district from which he graduated in 2002.

Then life took Holman on a different path.

As he and wife Tess were expecting the couple’s third child, Holman moved into the school’s administration, first as an assistant principal at the high school, then into his current role as Mahanoy Area elementary principal.

So, after three years as a Mahanoy Area football assistant under Wally Hall (2009-11) and eight years as head coach (2012-19), Holman had to make the difficult decision to step away from the game he has been involved with for most of his life.

“I missed it from the second I left it,’’ Holman said at Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association Media Day. “It just wasn’t ideal. The first year I was out was the COVID year, so in hindsight, I’m glad that I didn’t have to take part in that.

“At that point in time, it was my first full year as elementary principal,’’ Holman added. “My wife and I just had our third kid, so it was an ideal time to step away.

“But the last few years, I really missed it. … I’m fortunate to be an administrator and a coach,’’ he continued. “They’re letting me do that, so I thought I’m going to take advantage of this. I’m not sure how many more opportunities I’ll get, so I wanted to step back in.’’

Before all that happened, the 40-year-old Holman had to get the go-ahead from the people in his life who matter most to him: wife Tess, 11-year-old daughter Vienna and sons 8-year-old Max and 4-year-old Miles.

“It was a decision I obviously had to get their permission to do,’’ Holman said, “and they were all pretty excited for me to get back into it.’’

From his days as a student to his tenure in the administration, Holman’s Mahanoy Area roots run deep.

An example on the gridiron: Senior Levi Terry returns at quarterback for the Golden Bears, and Holman recalls coaching Terry’s two older brothers.

“That’s a very Mahanoy thing,’’ Holman said.

During his first stint as head coach, Holman’s teams consistently competed, even when the Bears had to play up against bigger schools like Blue Mountain, North Schuylkill, Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua.

His teams compiled a 44-44 overall record, with seven playoff appearances in eight seasons. They made the district playoffs six times.

In 2019, his final season, Mahanoy Area went 7-4. The Bears lost to Bishop McDevitt in the District 11/12 Class AA subregional playoffs but won the District 11 championship based on rating points.

Mahanoy Area had its best record under Holman in 2013 when the Bears went 8-4. They defeated Nativity in the Eastern Conference semifinals before falling to Marian in the EC final.

“We’re a school district where sports mean a lot to the players, to the community, to the school, and it’s really something special to be a part of that, to run a program where you’re really part of that,’’ Holman said. “The kids at Mahanoy Area, I was one of them. They are tough kids, they are committed kids, they are dedicated kids.’’

That dedication has shown up this summer as the Bears have held voluntary workouts at 7 a.m. sharp four days a week. Learning the playbook, working position groups and team groups and lifting weights are all part of the workout.

“He brings a lot of energy,’’ Terry said. “He gets all the kids pumped up, wanting to do more. … Even when we practice at 7 in the morning, he has a lot of energy, more than us, and he really gets us going.’’

Added senior lineman Kaiden Komosinsky: “I think it’s great. We have a lot of energy, being out there at 7 a.m. We have a lot of kids showing up. We have 36 on the roster and 25-30 are showing up every day.’’

Part of the summer work consists of installing and instilling an offense that will look familiar to long-time Golden Bears fans: The flexbone and veer are back.

“We’re going back to what we did before, which is the true identity of the option game,’’ Holman said. “I think it’s extremely important to be sound in some things as opposed to being OK at a lot of things.’’

Those early morning practices are building camaraderie among the players and spotlight the toughness he wants his Bears to have.

In Division III of the realigned Schuylkill/Colonial Cooperative, Mahanoy Area will face a lot of traditional foes and opponents of similar student-body size; Marian, Minersville, Nativity, Panther Valley, Pine Grove, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah Valley, Tri-Valley and Williams Valley.

“I want them to take on that personality that they’re happy to be at Mahanoy Area,’’ Holman said. “They’re happy to be a Golden Bear, and that we’re going to work on being consistent every week. We’re going to work hard throughout the course of the week so that those consistencies and small details take care of the bigger picture on Friday night.’’