Full Story: Gallagher steps down as Blue Mountain head football coach
Blue Mountain head coach Tom Gallagher talks with his team during preseason camp (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
ORWIGSBURG — Tom Gallagher didn’t want to leave Blue Mountain.
He felt he had to.
The Eagles’ head football coach the past four seasons, Gallagher stepped down from his post Wednesday after compiling a 25-18 overall record that included three straight District 11 Class 4A playoff appearances.
The 29-year-old has accepted an offer to become the head football coach at a Class 5A Lancaster County school. He didn’t want to publicly name that school until he’s officially hired by its school board later this month.
Blue Mountain athletic director Doug Morgan confirmed Wednesday night that Gallagher resigned and said the school has posted his position. Applications will be accepted until the end of January.
“I’ll always base my decisions as a coach off what my staff and I feel is right for the program,” Gallagher said in an interview Wednesday afternoon. “That’s just how I do things, how I operate.
“We owe it to our players to do what’s best for them. The players are the ones who put all the time in and sacrifice a lot of things. They want to perform well and they want an opportunity to win. That’s our job as coaches to provide that for them.
“As the leader of the program, I have to be able to make decisions and I have to be able to do things my way with what my staff and I feel is the best. If you look at the big picture, I think it’s pretty clear we’re definitely doing things the right way and moving in the right direction.
“But I can’t look over my shoulder leading a program and I can’t wonder what things are going to be coming next. That has started to happen here. That’s something that I don’t want to be involved in and that’s ultimately what led to this decision.”
A standout linebacker at North Schuylkill and Lebanon Valley College, Gallagher replaced Cory Mabry for the 2021 season. After a 4-6 mark in his first season, Gallagher directed Blue Mountain to a 6-5 record in 2022, 8-3 in 2023 and 7-4 this season. The Eagles’ 2024 campaign came to an end with a 29-28 upset home loss to Lehighton in the District 11 Class 4A quarterfinals.
Gallagher’s teams were known for their defense, ranking in the top four locally in team scoring defense the past three seasons by yielding less than 19 points per game each year.
This season, senior defensive back Gaige Guers was named to the Pennsylvania Football Writers’ Class 4A All-State Team and was among the area leaders in interceptions, junior linebacker Reese Miller was among the area leaders in tackles and senior tight end Bradley Renninger was a second-team pick to the Pennsylvania Football News Coaches Select Class 4A All-State Team.
“This move has nothing to do with our players and our staff,” Gallagher said. “There’s a ton of great people here at Blue Mountain and a lot of people have bought into what we want to do and what we’ve been doing.
“Our players have done a great job. I think our program has done tremendous on the field, within the school and in our community. I’m really proud of that and I’m proud of the turnaround that we’ve made. If you look at things the past four seasons and how they were before we were here, a lot of progress was made in those areas.”
Gallagher’s biggest impact was changing the culture at Blue Mountain.
His motto, “Above the Line,” encouraged his players to be leaders on the field, in the classroom, in the locker room and within the school, setting a standard that’s higher than average and going the extra mile to achieve it.
A perfect example was Blue Mountain’s performance at the Schuylkill United Way’s High School Football Challenge. The Eagles won it in 2022, were second in 2023 and won it again in 2024, raising thousands of dollars for the Schuylkill United Way.
Blue Mountain’s football team was one of the most active in the area over the past four years in serving the community. The Eagles’ players were part of several community projects, including donating toys to elementary school students, community cleanups for the Jason B. Jones Foundation, assisting with the Schuylkill United Way’s Stuff the Bus program, conducting clothing drives for needy families and collecting Christmas donations for the Salvation Army.
“I love what we’ve done with our culture. I can tell that our kids love to be a part of it,” Gallagher said. “I can tell that they’ve certainly bought into what we want to do and they care about being part of a football program. I’m happy for that.
“I think we were starting to see the results from four years of hard work. Obviously, you wish some games would go differently. Anybody who’s played or coached this game long enough will tell you that sometimes things don’t go your way. But that doesn’t paint the overall picture of a program.
“People might forget how things looked a few years ago and they may have overlooked the progress that has been made. I think it’s important to step back and look at a full body of work sometimes. I think everyone would agree that we’re all very proud of what we’ve built at Blue Mountain.”
