Switching sides: Former Yough star Shoaf takes over Scotties football program
Southmoreland football fans may still cringe at the thought of Dustin Shoaf playing for the Yough Cougars.
It was Oct. 20, 2017 at Russ Grimm Field when Shoaf shredded the Scotties defense for a school-record 428 yards and five touchdowns on runs of 15, 8, 8, 2 and 56 yards. As if that wasn鈥檛 enough, Shoaf also threw a 7-yard TD pass in the Cougars鈥� 49-38 victory.
The next time Shoaf steps on the football field for a game at Southmoreland he鈥檒l do it not as a nemesis but as head coach of the Scotties.
The former Southmoreland foe is now its leader.
Shoaf was hired recently by an 8-0 vote to become the next head football coach at Southmoreland.
Shoaf takes over for Tim Bukowski who originally stepped down in December after guiding the Scotties the past three years to records of 4-7, 6-5 and 7-4 for a combined 17-16 mark. The Scotties made the playoffs each of those years but are still searching for the program鈥檚 first postseason victory.
Bukowski later reversed course and re-applied for the job opening but the board sided with the 23-year-old Shoaf who was a four-year starter at two-time all-conference running back at Mercyhurst University.
鈥淚 feel like the administration has been very supportive already,鈥� said Shoaf, who will turn 24 in April. 鈥淭he people, the community are very excited. I met with the kids and they were fired up.
Things are going to get rolling here.鈥�
A lot of coaches talk about changing or altering the culture of a team. Shoaf did also, but used 鈥渃ulture鈥� as an acronym for what he thought was important to a football program.
鈥淲e have to establish our culture first, and our culture stands for Communication, Unconditional love, Leadership, Trust, Unity, Respect and, at the end of the day, Education,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淥nce we label the culture and lay down the groundwork, the foundation, then all the other sections are going to start building off of that.鈥�
Shoaf remains Yough鈥檚 all-time leading runner with 5,053 yards, was a two-time WPIAL regular-season rushing champion and was named to the all-state team.
Mercyhurst, which is now an NCAA Division-I program after shifting from the PSAC to the NEC last year, was Shoaf鈥檚 college choice.
鈥淭he big difference was obviously the speed of the game,鈥� Shoaf said of adjusting from high school football to college. 鈥淭hings got a lot quicker and I had to adjust and adapt to it pretty fast if I wanted to play right away.鈥�
Shoaf did and wound up starting his freshman year.
鈥淭he second biggest change was the whole capacity of the level of the game, as far as practices are a lot longer, there are hours of meetings each week,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淭hen balancing that with school work and your social life. It鈥檚 a handful.鈥�
Shoaf wound up starting 39 games as a versatile running back counted on for blocking, running and receiving. He ended his career with 255 carries for 1,022 yards (4.0 per carry), 49 receptions for 473 yards (9.6 per catch) and 11 touchdowns. He was named All-PSAC second team in each of his final two years with the Lakers.
鈥淭he whole experience allowed me to grow as an individual,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淚鈥檓 super-happy with the way things panned out. If I had a chance to do it all over again I鈥檇 do the same thing and sign with Mercyhurst. The people I鈥檝e met, the connections I鈥檝e made, the memories 鈥� it was an overall great experience. I wouldn鈥檛 change a thing about it. I was truly thankful to be a Laker.鈥�
Shoaf graduated from Mercyhurst with a degree in Early Education and Special Education and a minor in Administration.
Shoaf then turned to coaching.
鈥淭wo years ago once I got done playing I wound up volunteering at Mercyhurst,鈥� Shoaf pointed out. 鈥淎fter that I jumped on staff at Jeannette. It was just an avenue to be a part of the game again, the game that gave me so much.鈥�
The Jayhawks went 9-4 and reached the WPIAL Class A semifinals this past season with Shoaf as an assistant coach under Tom Paulone.
Shoaf pondered seeking a head coaching job next despite obviously being a younger candidate than most.
鈥淭ommy Paulone was my biggest supporter. He urged me to go for it,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淗e said, 鈥楥oach Shoaf, do it. You never know what鈥檚 going to happen.鈥�
鈥淪o I interviewed at Southmoreland and some other school districts. I saw it as an opportunity to give back to our society, our kids, our youth. It鈥檚 all about building character. Building a culture. Everything I want to do in life aligns with sports. I knew I had to be involved somehow once I was done playing. I wanted to be able to coach and share my experiences on and off the field.鈥�
Southmoreland welcomed him.
鈥淚鈥檓 so thankful to have the opportunity,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淥verall, the interview was a great process. It was two rounds and I used it as an opportunity to compete. That鈥檚 something that will always be a part of me is being a competitor.鈥�
Shoaf said he hopes to relate all he鈥檚 learned to his players at Southmoreland.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be bigger than just football while I鈥檓 here,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to do a lot of things with this program where we鈥檙e going to be good on the field but we鈥檙e going to be even better for the kids individually off the field.鈥�
Shoaf is aware of the Scotties鈥� recent success on the field and said he isn鈥檛 going to step in with a complete overhaul in mind.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of great things they鈥檝e done the last couple years,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a good chance things are going to be modeled or based off of that in a sense.
鈥淭here are things that I鈥檒l bring to the table that I like to do. Without getting into Xs and Os, our mentality is we鈥檙e going to be aggressive.鈥�
Shoaf is aware he鈥檚 got one of the WPIAL鈥檚 star quarterbacks on his roster in sophomore Anthony Smith, who already has a scholarship offer from Syracuse.
鈥淎nthony does a lot of great things, watching him on film,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a young guy whose growth is going to continue and he鈥檒l have an opportunity to continue to be successful.
鈥淭here are a lot of great student-athletes at Southmoreland. Everybody who鈥檚 a part of our program will have a role in some way and their arrow has to face in the right direction for us to be successful. Southmoreland was competitive the last few years. They鈥檝e won games, they鈥檝e made the playoffs, and that鈥檚 great. Our goal is to continue winning football games and competing for that conference championship and finally winning that playoff game and letting that domino effect happen.
鈥淥nce you get over that hump, and I really truly believe we can, then all the other pieces start to fall in place. These are exciting times. The kids there are great. I鈥檓 super-excited to work with them.鈥�
Shoaf, the son of Randy and Patti Shoaf, still lives in the Yough school district but is only a 15-minute drive from Southmoreland.
Shoaf sees similarities between Yough and Southmoreland.
鈥淏oth schools and communities have great people,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淭he administration at both school districts is awesome.鈥�
Shoaf does still remember his school-record performance playing for the Cougars at Southmoreland.
鈥淭hat was great. The kids asked me about it,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淚t鈥檒l be very exciting when I step on that same field for a game as a head coach for the first time.
鈥淭hose are great memories but at the end of the day it鈥檚 all about the kids here now and what we鈥檙e going to do moving forward.
鈥淓xpectations are high and we鈥檝e got to go meet them.鈥�