The "It's Been A Long Journey: Part I - The Background" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just got home from a trip to Urbana, Maryland where we visited with our daughter Brynn and her family as well as made a visit to the University of Maryland to take in a football game.  Brynn's husband is Dave Mencarini whom I have written about many times over the past few years.  Dave was one of Montgomery County, MD's winningest football coaches ever.  

Dave celebrating his State Championship. Click to enlarge.

He spent 17 years coaching in the county with stops at Seneca Valley and Poolesville before being named an assistant coach at Quince Orchard in 2002.  Two years later Dave was named head coach and over the next ten seasons complied a record of 107 wins and 18 losses.  Yes, you read that right ... 107 wins in 10 years.  Eight of those years his teams won over 10 games, running deep into the state playoffs during those years.  

Celebrating his 100th win.

The program he developed at Quince Orchard became one of Maryland's most successful programs.  His Cougars won the Maryland 4A State Title in 2007 and had back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2012.  In 2011 he was named All-Met Coach of the Year.  Then, on September 24, 2013 Dave's team celebrated their  coach's 100th win.  

Dave, on the left, celebrated with his coaches which
included his dad, Joe, on he right.

100 wins in less than a full 10 years.  What an accomp- lishment.  Then to everyone's surprise, Dave resigned from Quince Orchard to take a job in Frederick County as head coach at Urbana High School.  His two daughters, Carol and my granddaughters, were his main reason.  Instead of close to an hour drive to Quince Orchard, he would now be able to walk to school if he cared to do so.  He decided he wanted to teach and coach in his own neighborhood to be closer to his family.  

The newspaper tells of his move
to nearby Urbana HIgh School.

But then, on September 10th of 2016, an incident during the first game of the season of Dave's second year at Urbana changed Dave's life forever.  According to a police report, Dave was said to have raised his arm and struck one of his players along the sideline of the game.  The player's father notified the school of the incident and in no time Dave was suspended from his coaching job.  Ten days later the father pressed criminal charges and Dave was placed on leave from his teaching job.  A multitude of witnesses came forward and said they had seen the confrontation he had with the player and eventually Dave was cleared of the charge, but the administration said he had violated his suspension by emailing a parent of a player.  Dave decided he no longer had administration backing and for the best of the team, resigned his coaching job.  

Large framed collage shows Dave's reign as State Champs.

Well, this past summer Dave was named Director of Player Personnel for the University of Maryland Terrapins who play in the Big 10.  The attack by one parent to try and tarnish Dave's name became history with Dave's reputation as an outstanding coach and mentor being brought back to life.  All is well once again and Dave now has gained the confidence of the college ranks with his new position.  

Dave was chosen to help coach the Maryland All-Star team
in the Big 33 Game against the All-Stars from Pennsylvania.
This framed collage shows his memories from the game.

His family and friends knew the charge against him was bogus and we are all proud that he now has a chance at his dream of working in college football.  We recently had the chance to go to a game at the University of Maryland to see Dave's "Terps" face the Penn State Nittany Lions.  I realize you may know the score from the game, but check in tomorrow and I can give you some of the highlights from our journey to see the game.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.