By Phil Myers
He is the winningest coach in the history of District 1 football. He has nine children, eight of them sons who played football, yet he never coached any of them in high school. Why? He began his coaching career at Archbishop Carroll, his alma mater, but eventually took the head coaching position at a fledgling high school named Strath Haven. Why? The answers to those two questions are coming up, plus a whole lot more insight from one of the great high school football coaching minds in Pennsylvania, Strath Haven’s own Kevin Clancy.
Entering the 2023 season, Coach Clancy’s record, in his 41 years of coaching, is an amazing 344-144-2 including at one time winning 94 consecutive games versus District 1 opponents. He is tied for 9th in all-time coaching victories in Pennsylvania with Frank Pazzaglia (Valley View and Mid Valley). By the end of 2023 he should be 7th on that list. He is also 3rd among active coaches behind Jim Roth of Southern Columbia and Bob Wolfrum of Wyomissing. He won two state championships at Strath Haven (1999 and 2000) and is a member of the PA State Football Coaches Association (PSFCA) Hall of Fame.
During our opening pleasantries Coach Clancy said, “There is good football all over the state, from Philadelphia to Erie there is good football. I love to watch that PCN channel when they put on a game from around the state. You see different styles and things like that. It’s kind of neat to see.”
