‘I’m happy that I’m here’: How Bellefonte football’s new coaching staff is preparing for the season
Vaughn Donmoyer is about to start his first season as Bellefonte’s head football coach. But Donmoyer isn’t new to coaching or to Bellefonte.
Donmoyer had already been teaching at Bellefonte Area High School prior to his hiring as the head football coach earlier this year. His familiarity with the students allowed him to connect with his new players quickly, despite previously serving as an assistant coach on Bald Eagle Area’s staff under coach Jesse Nagle.
“They may not have liked me as much because I’ve coached at Bald Eagle the past couple of years,” Donmoyer said with a laugh. “But they’re happy that I’m here, I’m happy that I’m here at Bellefonte and that’s exactly where I wanted to be.”
Donmoyer retooled the junior high school staff and completely overhauled the varsity staff. He will serve as the defensive coordinator, as well, and has added Evan Reese as his offensive coordinator. Patrick McDermott, Rick Hall, Sandy Breon and Brian Beman will also serve as assistants. The first-year Bellefonte head coach finds him in the midst of installing a new offensive and defensive philosophy with the overhaul of the coaching staff.
It all comes down to the familiarity that he has with Reese.
“Something as a staff had to learn is the terminology with the type of offense and defense that we’d like to run,” Donmoyer said. “He [Reese] was rather versed in it and knowledgeable with the offense that we’re going to be running here at Bellefonte. I knew him prior, I coached with him for a couple of years over at Bald Eagle and we kept in touch. I think he’s going to do a great job.”
Reese served on the staff at Bellefonte prior to taking a two-year hiatus following his marriage and buying a house. He also has coaching experience with Bald Eagle and Schuylkill Valley (Berks County), following his career as a offensive lineman at Kutztown University (2007-10).
Reese is finding ways to get creative in the instruction of his team. He’s used Hudl, Google Classroom and other online tools that became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic to install Bellefonte’s new offense. At the onset of camp with loosened restrictions on in-person meetings and other events, Reese has been able to expedite implementing his offense in a swift, orderly fashion.
“It’s pretty good. [We have] a good group of kids,” Reese said. “They’re learning the scheme — it’s a little different for them because every new staff brings that new terminology. The nice thing is that with virtual learning, we can push a lot of things to them that they have at home with a number of different peer-to-peer video chat services. We push that stuff out and they’re picking up more and more. It’s going pretty well and I’m happy with what we’ve been seeing.”
Younger players like sophomore Cole Crissman look to enter the fray as they get acclimated to the offensive and defensive schemes that Donmoyer and Reese present. Crissman played basketball since the seventh grade and possesses the height at 6-foot-6 to be utilized in a number of situations.
While at practice, Crissman lined up as an outside wide receiver, moved into the slot and then moved in-line at tight end. The Bellefonte basketball center believes that Reese will use his post moves as a way to heighten his opportunities on the football field in jump ball opportunities and to create mismatches.
“I’ve been playing the outside receiver and Z all throughout my years playing football,” Crissman said. “Playing inside — I started doing that a little bit last year, but now I get to combo it and I think it’s really good. I think I’m going to get a lot of opportunities on the field with that. I think it’ll give us a lot of matchups we want and we can capitalize off of.”
Bellefonte running back Jamal Saunders had a breakout season as a sophomore in 2020. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound back had 53 carries for 506 rushing yards (9.5 yards per carry) and a touchdown in just five games. Saunders is expected to be one of the team leaders and to aid others in implementing Reese’s offense.
The latter shouldn’t be a problem, according to Saunders, because of the bond that players have built in previous years.
“It’s definitely different, but they put us in a good spot to win with their coaching and everything they do for us,” Saunders said. “They want us to be tough and play as a family — we’ve all been playing together for quite some time now. The seniors are a pretty tight group and we’re all just a tight group in general.”
Lee Przybys is one of the aforementioned seniors that is getting to know the staff. He’s played on both sides of the ball and made starts at offensive tackle and defensive line.
Przybys understands the importance of building camaraderie on the offensive line, a position group that is expected to be a cohesive unit at all times.
“It’s been really great. I think it’s a good transition and I think we’ll have a good year,” Przybys said. “They communicate a lot with us, they’re very vocal and they’ve walked us through a lot of stuff to make sure that we’re understanding everything. They’re building a connection, just being very personal with us and making sure that we’re making good connections with each other. It’s really good team encouragement — building confidence along with everyone.”
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 4:10 PM.
