'Dreams really do come true': New Pequea Valley football coach is anxious for his debut
May 7-The final Lancaster-Lebanon League football coaching vacancy has been filled.
Pequea Valley has its man. If you're a Braves or Garden Spot pigskin aficionado, you're certainly familiar with this coach.
Andy Tibbins on Thursday received school board approval to become the ninth coach in Pequea Valley's football history. He succeeds Mike Choi, who stepped down after his second stint in Kinzers in March to take the football head-coaching job at Upper Merion in King of Prussia in District 1.
"I wasn't sure if I'd ever get this chance," Tibbins said. "I told my wife that I guess dreams really do come true. This opportunity is a real blessing."
This will be Tibbins' first head-coaching job. The 2002 Garden Spot grad previously coached in the Spartans' youth program for seven years and was an assistant for Garden Spot's junior high team for one season.
Tibbins spent the last three years coaching middle linebackers, offensive linemen and special teams for Pequea Valley under Choi. He called Choi and veteran Garden Spot coach Matt Zamperini his mentors.
"Now I'll kind of blend what I learned from those guys together," Tibbins said, "and make it my own."
Tibbins' son, Drew, is a senior at Linville Hill Christian in Gap. Drew was an all-star running back and linebacker for Pequea Valley and an All-State basketball player - and state champion - at Linville Hill.
Pequea Valley football went 1-6 in Section 5 and 3-7 overall last fall. In 2024, the Braves won five games and played in the postseason - the 3A Eastern Conference championship - for the first time in program history, which dates back to 1998.
Tibbins' first order of business will be working on team culture. He already has multiple events scheduled for this summer to help with chemistry and camaraderie.
"I'm a huge culture guy," he said. "That's something you have to build and you have to buy in if you're going to move forward as a program. The guys understand that, and we're already headed in the right direction. We have to stay focused on the task at hand. Do the little things right. That will allow us to play faster and be more successful on the field."
On the field, Tibbins isn't planning on junking everything and starting from scratch. He said he'll stick with Pequea Valley's base 4-4 defensive scheme. And on offense, the Braves will continue operating out of the Wing-T, with potentially a few tweaks mixed in.
Pequea Valley is also adding a weight lifting class as an elective in the 2026-27 school year, giving the football crew another opportunity to hit the weights.
"That," Tibbins said, "is huge for us."
Two of Tibbins' new assistant coaches have plenty of football experience; defensive coordinator Gavin DuBree previously coached at District 1 kingpin Coatesville, and offensive assistant Gabriel Jackson was the head coach at Fairfield in the York/Adams League.
Tibbins said he'll call the offensive plays and that he hopes to have 30-plus players on the field when heat acclimatization practices begin the first week of August.
"We have a good piece of our core coming back, so we're in a good place," Tibbins said. "I have high expectations. Our message to the kids will be 1-0. Whether it's a workout you're doing. Practice. School work. Whatever it is, go 1-0 that day. If we can do that - and we really believe it - we'll have a great opportunity for success."
Pequea Valley's season opener is set for Aug. 29 at York Tech.
Earlier this offseason, former Lampeter-Strasburg coach John Manion took over at Donegal, and Northern Lebanon tabbed Nate Monroe as its next head coach.
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