The "Coach" Story

It was an ordinary day. My daughter Brynn, son-in-law Dave and two grandkids Courtney and Camille are visiting for the holidays. Gets pretty hectic with four extra people in the house and Rocco. Oh yeah, Rocco is their dog. Otis our cat is never happy when Rocco comes to visit. Otis has to stayed penned in our bedroom to protect him. We always have a great visit and I get to see Dave a little bit more than when we visit at our daughter's home in Maryland. Dave is the head coach at Quince Orchard High School in Montgomery County, MD. He has been coaching football for many years now and has finally reached the top. In 2007 his team won the Maryland State Championship and almost did it again this year. For Christmas this year I gave him a memento of the season and one of the articles in it was about his special award. Rather than tell you about it, I'll just include the story I wrote about him. Here goes:

Mencarini named 2011 “Coach of the Year”

Washington Post picks Quince Orchard coach for annual

prestigious award.

Since taking over the Cougar Football program in 2004, Dave Mencarini and his staff have helped to build Quince Orchard into one of the state of Maryland’s elite programs. Mencarini oversees all aspects of the program while coaching the quarterbacks and coordinating the special teams.

Coach “Mac” has guided the Cougars to 8 consecutive state playoff appearances. The Cougars capped off the first undefeated season in school history going 14-0 and winning the 2007 4A State Championship, the schools 2nd state title, the other being in 1991.

The 2007 team was ranked #1 in the Washington Post and State AP Poll while finishing ranked 40th nationally by Rivals.com. The Cougars won the 4A West Regional title in 2007 and 2011 and were runners up in the region in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2011 the team finished with its third undefeated regular season in 5 years. The Cougars won 10 or more games starting in 2005 through the 2009 season, and again in 2011.

This year’s team made it to the State Championship with play-off wins over Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Churchill, and Charles H. Flowers while advancing to the state championship game at M&T Bank Stadium on December 3rd in Baltimore against Old

Mill. The thrilling Championship Game went to overtime where the Cougars lost 36-35 when Old Mill successfully ran for a 2-point conversion. Quince Orchard ended the season with a state ranking of #3.

Coach “Mac” received the 2007 Maryland State Coach of the Year award, the Montgomery Sentinel Coach of the Year, the Washington Redskins Coach of the Year and was also picked by the Montgomery county coaches for the same honor.

Before taking over as head coach at Quince Orchard, Dave was an assistant coach for the Cougars from 2002-2003 and was an assistant coach at Seneca Valley High School from 2000-2002. Dave began his coaching career in 1998 at Poolesville High. He was a former Rockville High receiver during his playing career.

With a record of 85-14, Dave Mencarini has been picked as the 2011 Coach of The Year by the Washington Post. Congratulations Dave!

This award is a very prestigious award in that it covers the states of Maryland and Virginia as well as the District of Columbia. Quite a few high schools in those three areas. An added feature about coaching for an extended amount of time and having such an excellent program is that you get to watch Bowl Games over the holidays and see some of you former players. This year Nebraska and Stanford are both in bowl games and both have starting players that graduated from Dave's program at Quince Orchard. As you can imagine, we are extremely proud of Dave and his accomplishments. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.