New Daniel Boone football coach knows there’s ‘a long road ahead’
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Throughout his six seasons coaching at Fleetwood Steve Pangburn always kept close tabs on the football program at Daniel Boone, where he grew up.
When the Blazers’ head coaching position opened following last season the 47-year-old Pangburn knew he had to make a bid for the job.
“I always had an interest in coming back,” said Pangburn, a long-time youth coach in the Blazers system who still lives in the district. “I’ve always kind of had my eye on that.”
The Daniel Boone school board made things official Monday night, hiring Pangburn to replace J.D. Okuniewski, who resigned last fall following three seasons as Blazers head coach.
Pangburn has known for weeks he would be the next Boone coach and has spent much of that time watching and re-watching last season’s games, even at the junior high level.
“I just feel there’s a lot of potential there,” he said.
The Blazers have struggled in recent seasons. They won just once last season, and just three times over Okuniewski’s tenure. They’ve made it to the District 3 playoffs only once in the last decade, in 2021 under Rob Flowers.
Pangburn knows all about Boone’s mostly sub-.500 football history and about the difficulties of recent seasons. He is undeterred.
“I understand we’ve got a long road ahead of us,” he said, “but I’m excited for the journey. I come into this position very excited; very humbled, too.”
Pangburn was Fleetwood’s head coach the past four seasons. The Tigers finished 2-8 last season and 3-7 the year before but enjoyed a strong 2023 season, which they ended with an Eastern Conference championship.
They also won an EC title in 2021, when Pangburn was the offensive coordinator under Steve Beatty.
Prior to that Pangburn enjoyed success running the Blazer Midget Football program. He was head coach from 2012-2018.
He has been impressed with what he’s seen at Boone over the past month. Chris Mentzel and Greg Herbst, assistant coaches last season at Boone, got the offseason weight program up and running in December and Pangburn likes what’s been going on.
“I see a group of hungry kids,” he said. “I think our future’s going to be very bright.”
There were just half-a-dozen seniors on the team that went 1-9 and was outscored by more than five touchdowns per game a season ago. Chief among the losses are all-league quarterback/running back Hadyn Moyer and all-league lineman Maddox Roy.
“Our main focus will be on culture, accountability and mindset,” Pangburn said. “I tell these guys they have to wake up winners every day. Everything starts with that belief. We’ll build on that day by day, brick by brick.”
One thing that should help the Blazers right away is their revamped schedule. Gone from the front end is long-time rival and powerhouse Exeter. Also gone are Schuylkill Valley and Muhlenberg, each of which is coming off a district playoff appearance.
In their places are Lebanon — which has lost 52 straight games — Pottstown – which went 0-10 last season — and Hamburg.
Pangburn has his staff in place, with three coaches from last year’s Boone staff — Herbst, Mentzel and Anthony Razzi – joining former Fleetwood assistants Bob Kutzler, Randy Harders and Mores Manoyrine, as well as Charles Speyerer and Steve Olexy.
Fleetwood now has the only open head coaching position in Berks County.
Pangburn said it was not an easy decision to leave.
“I fell in love with the community, the staff, the kids,” he said of Fleetwood. “I wish them nothing but the best. The relationships I built were hard to walk away from. I hope they have a successful season.”
