Rob Flowers determined to see Muhlenberg football bloom once more
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Even on a blistering hot summer day, the bright sun beating down on his Muhlenberg players as they compete in 7-on-7 drills, Rob Flowers can feel the presence of a dark cloud hovering above.
That cloud was there, he said, even during his playing days, when he quarterbacked the Muhls to an Inter-County League championship. As powerful and successful as their football program was, Flowers and his Muhlenberg teammates felt people around the county looked down at their community and at their school.
“We’ve always felt (that) at Muhlenberg,” says the 42-year-old Flowers, a 1999 grad.
In recent years just about everyone has been looking down at the Muhls – in the standings. They’ve been among the worst teams in the Lancaster-Lebanon League, and before that in the Berks League.
The glory days Flowers and his teammates enjoyed under the legendary John Yocum during the 1990’s and early years of the new millennium, when Muhls won 10 league or section titles, are long gone.
Muhlenberg produced some of the most dominating teams in the Inter-County League had ever seen but the good ’ole I-C now resides in the dustbin of history, along with typewriters, phone booths, and 8-track cassettes.
“Our students don’t know about it,” Flowers says of Muhlenberg’s incredible 20-year football run. “Why would they know? They haven’t seen it.”
The current players were in Mites and Midgets the last time Muhlenberg had a winning record; they were playing flag football the last time the Muhls won a district playoff game.
All they can remember is the least successful period in program history. The Muhls are in the throes of six straight losing seasons, a span in which they’ve gone 5-52. After having just one winless season in the program’s first 74 years they went without a ‘W’ in back-to-back seasons, 2019 and 2020, part of a program-record 26-game losing streak.
Several of those losses came with Flowers staring across from on the other sideline as Daniel Boone’s head coach.
“It was hurtful,” he said of seeing his old team get pushed around every Friday night. “It was very tough. Anyone that’s a Muhlenberg Muhl will say that it’s been tough.”
Muhlenberg lost one game during that stretch 77-7, another 70-0.
Its only win last season came against a Lebanon team that hasn’t won a game since 2020.
“There’s a negative cloud that was sitting over top of our football program,” Flowers said.
Since December, when he was named the Muhls’ 15th head coach, Flowers has been going non-stop to chase away that cloud. He has worked hard to change the culture, instill more discipline and introduce his players to the sparkling new weight room at the school.
“This is the weakest team (physically) we’ve ever inherited,” said Flowers, the head coach at Reading High for seven years and more recently for five years at Daniel Boone. “And the young men know that. We are not strong enough yet. We won’t be strong enough come August; I know that.”
Flowers is realistic. He knows the Muhls will not be challenging Exeter or anyone else for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 title anytime soon. It would be unrealistic to expect them to have a winning season after finishing 1-9, then graduating 17 seniors.
“He has a tough job,” said Yocum, long a Flowers confidant who now serves as a senior advisor to the program, dropping in at practices and sharing his vast football knowledge with coaches and players alike. “The football program has not been successful, and they’re in a tough division.
“Those kids have to learn how to be committed and dedicated and focused. Those kids have to learn how to win again, and you don’t win without having some kind of discipline.”
That, and creating an upbeat atmosphere, have been Flowers’ priorities since Day 1. He knows X’s and O’s alone won’t turn this ship around; he’s building a caring, family culture, similar to the one his former teammate and long-time wing man Rick Perez built around Reading High basketball, and that his brother Matt now does as head coach of Muhlenberg’s basketball team.
He’s building confidence and football skills at the same time.
“We’re gonna demand effort,” Flowers said, “we’re gonna demand attention to details. We (are constantly) reminding our young men that we are going to coach you hard and love you hard.”
Flowers admits this is his biggest coaching challenge, which is saying a lot.
When he took over at Reading High in 2011 the program was coming off a 2-8 season and seven straight losing seasons. In Flowers’ fourth year the Red Knights made the postseason for the first time since Hall of Fame coach Al Wolski departed in 2003; they returned to the playoffs a year later.
Daniel Boone was no easy undertaking, either. The Blazers were coming off a 2-8 record in 2017 and five losing seasons in the six years after the highly successful Dave Bodolus era ended in 2011. Flowers breathed new life into the program and in his first season took the Blazers to the District 3 Tournament.
He couldn’t sustain that success and left following the 2022 season, frustrated that what he was doing wasn’t working well enough. He thought he needed time to regroup, to gain a new perspective.
He accomplished that by spending last season as an assistant coach at Albright. During recruiting visits to high schools he watched how other coaches ran their practices, interacted with players and went about building winning programs.
“I gained some peace, some clarity, some experience, some growth,” he said of his year away from high school football. “I watched and I listened and I talked.”
When the Muhlenberg job opened up he didn’t hesitate to go after it. He felt it was the right fit.
Yocum agrees.
“He is somebody you would think would be perfect for that position,” Yocum said. “Having played there, having been part of a program that was successful. He lives in the community; he has (nephews) who are coming up through (the program). He’s very invested in the school district.
“The kids can see the enthusiasm that comes from him. You can see that he is establishing discipline. How many wins that converts to . . . I don’t know that that’s the most important thing right now. (First), let’s establish the kind of program these kids can be proud to be a part of, and maybe the wins will start to come.”
Muhlenberg opens its season Aug. 23 against a Schuylkill Valley team expected to compete for the Section 5 title and return to the District 3 Tournament. It gets real right away for the Muhls and their new coach.
“We know the challenge that we’re facing here,” Flowers said of himself and his coaching staff, “and we’re confident in ourselves and what we’re doing to make sure that it’s done at a high level. We’re ready to go. We’re going to do everything we possibly can to make this program as elite as possible.”
Flowers was a two-way all-league pick a senior in 1998, leading the Muhls to an 11-1 record. They averaged 38.1 points per game, which still stands as the program record. That team is considered one of the best in I-C history.
For years after Yocum’s arrival in 1989 Muhlenberg football was the standard across the league.
“The community wants to see the football team win again,” Flowers said. “You came to these games before; you know what that looks like. We’re gonna get that back.”
