Q&A With New Viking Coach Danny McGrath
Out in Purcellville, it's been a rather unusual type of offseason. First, there was the unorthodox 2-8 season which very few people could have seen coming. Then came the resignation of head coach Bruce Sheppard in May, and a head coaching vacancy in May is like buying Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve. Most schools fill up any holes they have in their football staffs by April at the latest, so it's safe to say the Loudoun Valley administration was scrambling.
Eventually, Park View assistant coach Nick Mullins was tabbed as the next head coach at the Purcellville school, but resigned the same week he was hired due to personal reasons. As if Loudoun Valley wasn't already scurrying, they had to take action and quick. This time, they turned to a local standout who is no stranger to any fan of Northern Virginia football.
Who was their pick? 25 year-old Danny McGrath, a former Virginia Tech star and captain who also made headlines as a three-year starter at Herndon. After graduating from Tech in 2005, McGrath served as offensive line coach for one year at Park View where he helped guide the Patriots to a 10-2 record. We recently sat down with McGrath to get his thoughts on his recent hire and to find out more about the local standout.
Gameday: What are your emotions like right now?
Danny McGrath: Well it's been kind of a roller coaster. I'm very excited about the opportunity and I'm very excited to work with this community and be a part of it, and I'm glad to work with this group of kids out of Loudoun Valley High School. Then again, it's bittersweet when you leave something good to be a part of something that could be just as good.
I was named the coach on Friday, then went to see their 7-on-7 on Saturday at Millbrook and was excited about watching them play football, but I was torn over what I was going to say the kids at Park View this afternoon. I had to say bye to them for the last time, and that was pretty emotional for me because those kids put in a lot of good work and I learned a lot from those kids at Park View and I think the world of them. I came from there to my parent meeting at 7:00.
G: What exactly did you say to your players at Park View?
DM: I just wanted to let them know that I was leaving them, but I wasn't going too far away. I'll always be there for them if they need me. I respect them very much, I care about them, and I'm proud of them. I'm proud of the way they've been preparing for the season. It's always hard to leave something good than it is something bad, and there's a lot of good things going on over there and I was fortunate enough to be a part of it. I learned how to become a better football coach by being with Andy Hill for a year.
G: Speaking of great coaches, you got to play under Tommy Meier at Herndon and then football legend Frank Beamer. Talk about what you learned from both of those guys.
DM: Well, you know, Tommy Meier is a good representation of Northern Virginia football. It was real smash-mouth, good defense, it was that tough brand of football found in Northern Virginia. When I went to Virginia Tech, it was kind of the same way. Playing under Frank Beamer was of course a great pleasure, and again, learning how to play tough smash-mouth football and good defense, and of course, good special teams. So after being around that tough brand of football all those years, coming back to coach at Park View with Andy Hill and being a part of the spread offense was something very new to me. So I've been on both ends of the spectrum, but coaching with Andy Hill and playing for Tommy Meier and coach Beamer brought me new perspective on how to do things offensively on the football field.
I tell the story several times how one week last season when I was with Andy, and I was preparing for the defense, and I didn't know how to block them. I had to figure it out, but I kept saying, 'How come I can't block them?' Then I realized it was because Andy wouldn't let me use a tight end, and we were only allowed to block with five people, and Andy wouldn't allow me to use the fullback either. So we had five people to block eight, and said, 'so I need to figure out how to do this the best way I can.' So again, I learned a lot from last year's experience. I'm going to take all the good that I've learned there and try and translate it into a good year over here at Loudoun Valley.
G: At 25, will your youth as a coach play a factor for you early on?
DM: If I could honestly say I was 35 on a résumé, I would. If I could say that I was 45 years old on a résumé, I would. I can only say that I'm 25 years old, and in those 25 years, I've never been one to pass up a learning opportunity. I've kept all my scouting reports with Virginia Tech over the years, I've gathered resources and I've had resources that maybe people who are older than me and more experienced than me, don't have which they can go to.
Preparing for football season in June and July is nothing new for me. It's kind of become a habit and I look forward to it every year. And if told you I was 35 years old, I don't think being captain of the Virginia Tech 2006 football team would be very relevant. Also, I'm not old enough to be set in my ways yet, so that works with what we're trying to do. I'm looking forward to getting as many ideas as possible and formulating a plan that will be tailored to our personnel and hopefully we'll be good at what we do come September.
G: The last coach hired from the Northern Virginia area at 25 was Chris Beatty at North Stafford. Later he went on to revolutionize the game in the Tidewater area, and now 10 years later, he's changing the way the University of West Virginia recruits. As a young coach yourself, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
DM: Haha. Well, the best way for me to answer that is to hope that I have at least nine successful seasons as the Loudoun Valley head football coach. That's where I want to be in 10 years.
G: Loudoun Valley switched over to a spread offense last year, but with you being used to a pro-style and option offense, what exactly do you plan to run for an offense?
DM: Well, again, I've become well-versed in a variety of offenses. We ran the spread last year and improved it during my time there this summer. With these things, we just have to find out what kind of personnel we have on the field. Until I know that, I'll figure out that question.
G: What do you like the most about Loudoun Valley?
DM: I think it's a real unique opportunity in a way that we have a lot of room to do a lot of good in Purcellville and in the surrounding areas. Growing up in Herndon, you never knew where Herndon ended and Reston began, or where Herndon ended and Chantilly began. Then you've got Sterling, which is now sprawling out into Ashburn and you don't know which town you're in sometimes. Then Ashburn kind of goes into Leesburg, but once you leave Leesburg, you actually hit Hamilton, then you actually hit Purcellville. I think Purcellville is one of the last towns that's truly left. So I think we get a great opportunity as a football team to be a big part of the town of Purcellville, and being a part of one of the last true towns that there is.
G: Have you met yet with your coaching staff?
DM: I've met with all the current assistant coaches and I'm excited to work with them. I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better, but I think our biggest challenge is establishing our core and getting on the same page as the coaching staff so we can go forward everyday that we work with them. I'm excited about the people that are currently there and we're all excited about the team. There's no reason we can't have a successful team at Loudoun Valley High School.
G: If I must be honest, this is a tough situation for you to be in. With the whole coaching carousel and you being hired late in the process, how tough of an uphill battle do you have right now?
DM: Well, I had the good fortune of meeting [former head] coach [Bruce] Sheppard last year as I was coming out of school and looking for coaching opportunities. He's a standup guy who ran a first-class program all the way, and I think we shared a lot of the same values in that we wanted these young men to be good people as well as good football players. So I don't think I'm walking into a terrible situation at all. I wish both coaches well in their personal lives as I know that had a factor in their decisions, but I can only control what's in front of me now. I'm excited for this opportunity, it is something a little unorthodox in the way that it came about, but again, preparing for football season in July is nothing new for me and we're going to do everything we can to get everything in order.
G: Any prediction as to how your team will do this year?
DM: Haha. I'll just say that the Loudoun Valley football team will do as good as it wants to and that comes with preparation and hard work and taking advantages of situations throughout the year. So we can be as good as we want to be. There's nothing really holding us back. Like I said at the parents meeting, adversity is part of football. You face it every time you strap up and play. How else would you explain moving the ball 30 feet with 11 guys standing in front of you? That's adversity right there.
