Daniel Boone football coach steps down after another difficult season
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
J.D. Okuniewski desperately wanted to turn Daniel Boone’s football program around and return to the glory days he knew when he played for the Blazers.
He wasn’t able to get that done in his three seasons as head coach and leaves the program profoundly disheartened by that.
“At this point I’ve exhausted everything I could do to try to turn it around,” he told MikeDragoSports.com after submitting his resignation.
Okuniewski was a quarterback and linebacker at Boone when the program was at its apex during the early 2000’s under head coach Dave Bodolus. The Blazers won or shared three Inter-County League section titles and three times won 10 or more games under Bodolus.
The program fell off after that. Okuniewski was hopeful he could revive it but never found the right formula. The Blazers finished 1-9 in each of his three seasons, the leanest stretch in the program’s 67-year history.
“Football has always been my passion and my avenue to connect with people,” said the 30-year-old Okuniewski, an English teacher in the Daniel Boone school district. “I really wanted to be a part of making Daniel Boone football what it (once) was; to not have it work out that way has been extremely disappointing.”
The Blazers were burdened by small roster numbers and mounting injuries. Couple that with an unrelenting schedule – they faced seven district playoff qualifiers this season – and the wins were difficult to come by.
“I just burned out trying to create a winning environment,” Okuniewski said. “Emotionally, I’m not at a point where I feel I would be the best option to lead the program.”
Okuniewski’s final year with the program was made more difficult by personal circumstances. He and his wife Kelsey went through a difficult pregnancy before their son was born this spring. He said his players and staff were supportive throughout that time, and he thanked them for it earlier this week when he met with the team to share his plans.
“Personally, it was a very long year for my wife and I,” he said. “You play competitive sports to win and when you’re not winning . . . you start to look around and go: ‘I don’t know if this is going to be viable.’
“I’m not proud of my record here. I’m proud of the things we were able to do. I wanted to win more. I’m rooting for Daniel Boone. I’m hoping they open up (next) year 3-0.”
Boone opened this season with 64-7 loss to rival Exeter, a team that’s currently ranked No. 8 in the state Class 5A. The Blazers went into that game short-handed, because of injuries and other issues that kept some of the team’s best players sidelined, and fell behind 35-0 in the first quarter.
It didn’t get much easier after that as the Blazers faced Schuylkill Valley, the defending Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 champ, and Muhlenberg, which experienced a huge turnaround this season and enjoyed its best season in more than a decade. The Blazers were shut out in each of those two games.
The Blazers’ Section 4 schedule was as tough as ever. Twin Valley, Wyomissing, and Lampeter-Strasburg were each ranked in the Top 10 in the state in Class 4A at some point this season. The other teams in the section were all very competitive: Each won at least four games.
To that end, Okuniewski said Boone will pull back on its 2026 schedule, adding some less competitive programs at the front end.
For just the second time in more than 60 years the Blazers won’t play Exeter. (The only time to date was in the COVID-truncated 2020 season.) The Eagles have entered a different stratosphere in the past decade and the Pig Iron Bowl games have not been competitive. Exeter has won 13 straight in the series.
“We wanted a competitive opening schedule (and) you don’t want to shy away from talent,” Okuniewski said, “(but) to open with a team of that caliber when you’re in building mode is not ideal.”
Okuniewski came up at Boone under Bodolus and was part of the 2010 Inter-County League championship team that set a school record with 11 wins.
Boone has gone 42-99 in the 14 years since Bodolus left, with just three winning seasons.
Okuniewski has taught in the Daniel Boone school district 2018. He graduated from West Chester University and has a Master of Education degree from Wilkes University.
He was an assistant coach on the Daniel Boone staff for six seasons before taking over when Rob Flowers moved to Muhlenberg to be head coach.
He’s grown up in a football coaching family and knows at some point he will return to the game in some capacity; for now he needs some time away from it.
“I’m leaning towards (taking) a year away so that when I’m back in it I have an itch to be a part of it,” he said.
