Bruce Harbach feeling at home at Schuylkill Valley — and back in Lancaster-Lebanon League

Bruce Harbach knew he would encounter problems trying to build the football program at Schuylkill Valley, but not like this.

“We’re running out of numbers,” he said following a Monday morning workout. “We need to order more linemen jerseys, more pants, more helmets.”

Schuylkill Valley has been plagued by numbers problems for decades — it had to suspend the program from 1992-96 because there weren’t enough players — but nothing like this. Harbach, now in his second season with the Panthers, counts 57 names on the practice roster. For a program that’s often struggled to stay above 35 players, that’s a staggering number.

“That’s a good problem,” he said of needing more gear.

He’s about to turn 67, still hobbled following knee replacement surgery and might not have the energy he once did but, he’s been reinvigorated after accepting the challenge of taking the Panthers to their first championship of any kind.

Even after going 2-9 — the most losses he’s ever accumulated as a head coach — his enthusiasm for the game and his new program was not dampened.

“I knew we’d struggle, because of the teams we were playing,” he said of a schedule that included District 3 Class 3A champ Wyomissing, District 1 Class 4A finalist Pottsgrove and five other playoff teams. “We played a lot of sophomores and freshmen.

“Disheartening? I don’t judge success by wins and losses, I judge it by the progression we made from the beginning to the end of the year. Last year was a transitional year; new staff coming in, playing bigger schools. And we competed every game.”

When Harbach took over as head coach at Lancaster Catholic in 2002 it wasn’t until his third season that he got over the hump; the Crusaders went 9-2 and won the first of eight straight Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 titles.

He expects to see success come faster in Leesport. He said last year he had more talent on hand than he did in his first season at Catholic; he heads into his second season with 15 returning starters. He fully expects to challenge for the Section 5 title in the newly configured Lancaster-Lebanon League.

“You make the biggest transition from Year 1 to Year 2,” he said. “Our linemen are back, our skill kids are back. This is the best bunch of skill kids I’ve had since 2011 (when Lancaster Catholic went undefeated). I’m excited about this group.”

He’s also excited about returning home to the L-L. He admits it’s a big reason he took the job at Schuylkill Valley.

“That was the (icing) on the cake,” he said. “There’s parity now. If we can compete every year for a section championship this program will take off.”

Schuylkill Valley hasn’t enjoyed much football success. It has finished with a winning record just 10 times in 49 seasons, the last of those nine years ago. The Panthers had some brief success in the early 1970’s under Mark Snyder; for a couple season with Preston McKnight in the early 2000’s; and then with Jeff Chillot, who took them to four straight playoff appearances from 2010-2013.

The Panthers will be competing in Section 5 with old Berks 2 rivals Hamburg and Kutztown, four programs Harbach faced in Section 3 of the L-L — Annville-Cleona, Columbia, Northern Lebanon and Pequea Valley — and his old school, Lancaster Catholic. That’ll be the Panthers’ season finale.

Other than Catholic, which won four district titles and a pair of PIAA championships during Harbach’s 16 seasons, and Columbia, which has a pair of Class 1A district titles, none of the programs have distinguished themselves in the sport.

The eight schools are, for the most part, on even footing. There’s no reason to think that over the next decade most, if not all, could produce winning seasons and challenge for a section title now that they don’t have a monster such as Wyomissing or Berks Catholic in their path, as the Panthers always did.

“I know those schools,” Harbach said of his competition. “They’re not gonna have the numbers we have. I don’t think anybody has as many kids coming back (this season) as we have.”

Harbach, who was inducted into the Berks County Football Coaches Hall of Fame last month, has enjoyed his life in football and doesn’t seem nearly ready to pull the plug. He played quarterback for John Gurski at Wilson in the 1970’s and later was an assistant there, as well as at Reading High, Albright College and West Chester University. He also coached at Roanoke Rapids, N.C., and Indian River, Va.

He said he was ready to leave the game when he stepped down at Lancaster Catholic following the 2016 season, but he wasn’t. Before the next season kicked off he was at Conrad Weiser as a strength and conditioning coach and assistant coach.

During those years he applied for head coaching jobs at a couple of Berks schools before landing one at Schuylkill Valley. His football itch still needs to be scratched.

“You think you’re done and you want to take some time off and be with your family,” he said after taking the Schuylkill Valley job, “but then you go to the clinics in the summer and you get fired up and you want to come back and do it again.”

Harbach has been talking about leaving the game for years, but never has.

He seems perfectly content at his latest and most likely final stop. The drive from his Wernersville home is not nearly as long as his former daily commute to Lancaster. Better, the upside at Schuylkill Valley is great. There are no banners on the the gym wall, no high standards to live up to — other than his own.

There’s a beach chair with his name on it in Delaware but Harbach’s not thinking about settling into it anytime soon.

“(Retiring) hasn’t entered my mind,” he said. “Once I start something, I’m going to stay there. I’m not gonna give it a one-year shot. No, I’m going to stay here till this program’s established, then turn it over, whether its one (more) year, two years, three years, whatever. I’m having too much fun with these kids (to leave).”