Colonial League coaches hold 1st football media day
Players and coaches from the league's 14 teams attended Thursday's Colonial League Media Day at The Phoenix in Nazareth
NAZARETH — It’s often tough for small-school football leagues in Pennsylvania to get media exposure for their athletes, especially when they’re not located near a major metropolitan area like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or Harrisburg.
The Colonial League is one of those leagues.
Stretching from Bucks County north through the Slate Belt into Carbon County, the Colonial League comprises 14 teams that compete in the Schuylkill/Colonial Football Cooperative. They play good, hard-nosed football that often gets overshadowed by the bigger schools in the nearby Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
The Colonial League Football Coaches Association recognized this. Thursday, those coaches took a major step toward giving the league’s players some preseason attention on an annual basis.
The CLFCA held its first-ever Colonial League Football Media Day on Thursday evening at The Phoenix in Nazareth. The two-hour event, put together by Pen Argyl head coach Brady Mutton, featured all 14 league teams and media representatives from eight outlets: T102SportsNow.com, Allentown Morning Call, Lehigh Valley Live, Blue Ridge Cable, EasternPAFootball, D11Sports, Penn Sports Radio and Northwestern Lehigh’s Ndubsports Roundup.
In a setup that mirrored the 21st annual Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association Media Day held July 31 at Schuylkill Haven, each team was represented by 3-4 players and its head coach, with each team having its own table. Name tags were provided for each coach, player and media member, and a 26-page packet that included a schedule, division breakdown, past league champions, 2023 records and an informational sheet on each team was distributed to all in attendance.
Media members circulated throughout the hall for the two hours, conducting interviews and taking photos. A food buffet, sponsored by The Funding Zone, was set up in the banquet hall lobby and available to those in attendance throughout the event.
“It’s a nice affair,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger, who was joined by senior wide receiver/defensive back Justin Yescavage, junior quarterback/defensive back Cole Lazorick and junior wide receiver/defensive back Aaron Curran. “Really nice event and I think it’s going to continue to grow, just as the Schuylkill County one grew to what it is now.
“Anytime you can get together to talk about high school kids, put these kids in the limelight and give them the opportunity to socialize with adults, what more can you ask for? It’s a great opportunity for myself as a coach to bring these young men here for this opportunity.”
Mutton, who played for Pen Argyl, said a media day event didn’t exist when he was in high school. He said the Lehigh Valley Football Foundation held one for a few years that featured all of the Lehigh Valley schools, but it was poorly attended.
The Colonial League Football Coaches Association, which was formed just a few years ago, kicked around the idea of holding a media day for a few years before making it a reality this fall.
“When we got to our last year’s end-of-the-year league meeting, I brought it up that I just think it’s a really good idea,” Mutton said. “Most of the leagues do it and it gets good exposure for everybody. Every coach was behind it. It was like ‘Get the media there and we’re there.’ It worked out pretty well. We had a good turnout.
“It’s just a good way to get everyone exposure. We’re a pretty good football league and I just don’t think we get our names out there enough.”
Northwestern Lehigh head coach Josh Snyder echoed Mutton’s comments. Seniors Eli Zimmerman, Josh Wambold, Bryer Reichard and Jared Meck represented the Tigers, who went 15-1 a year ago and reached the PIAA Class 3A state championship game.
“A couple of years ago we started to kick around the idea of coming together and having a media day, really piggy backing over to Schuylkill County,” Snyder said. “We were always envious of the attention. It just seemed nice to have the captains and everybody come together.
“We talked about doing it each and every year but we just didn’t have a pot of money ready until this year. Brady really took the reins and put everything together. It gives us time to get together … we’re not enemies all the time. To see other teams and other coaches in a different atmosphere, it’s kind of neat. It’s something that we’re definitely going to be able to move forward with every year and make a little better.”
Jim Thorpe and Lehighton left the Schuylkill League to become full members of the Colonial League for the 2024-25 school year in every sport. For football, the Olympians and Indians compete in the nine-team, big-school Red Division of the cooperative, along with Bangor, Northwestern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh from the Colonial League and Blue Mountain, North Schuylkill, Pottsville and Tamaqua from the Schuylkill League.
The cooperative’s nine-team White Division is comprised of the remaining Colonial League teams — Catasauqua, Northern Lehigh, Notre Dame-Green Pond, Palisades, Palmerton, Pen Argyl, Salisbury, Saucon Valley and Wilson.
Mutton, who lives in Nazareth, said he choose The Phoenix because of its central location for the schools in the league and its willingness to work with the Colonial League coaches.
“It was somewhat central,” Mutton said. “I’m familiar with the place. I’m from Pen Argyl and I live in Nazareth now. I have a good relationship here with them. I asked them if we can do it and they said, ‘Yeah, no problem. Just let us know and we’ll do it.’ ”
Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll, whose team had attended the Schuylkill County media day every year since joining the Anthracite Football League for the 2014 season, said he missed the Schuylkill County event. He praised Schuylkill Haven head coach Mike Farr, the president of the Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association, for working hard to build that event into what it is now and providing a blueprint for the Colonial League coaches to follow.
Senior linemen Joey Houser and Yadiel Acosta-Rodriguez, junior quarterback/defensive back Jayse Lawrence and junior wide receiver/linebacker Blake Roberts represented the Indians.
