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One-on-one with Pocono Mountain East’s new football coach Dustin Thomas

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5 months ago

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One-on-one with Pocono Mountain East’s new football coach Dustin Thomas

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The Pocono Record sat down with new Pocono Mountain East coach Dustin Thomas to see how his first few months have gone at the helm. This is Thomas’ first head coaching job after most recently serving as an assistant on Jim McCarroll’s staff at Pocono Mountain West.

This interview was lightly edited for clarity.

Dustin, how have the first four months been serving as the head coach of East while also overseeing the football program?

It’s demanding for sure, but it’s exciting. I’ve had some good mentors along the way, people who have been coaching for a long time, and the opportunity came. Thank God that I got this chance to be here.

It’s been amazing since we’ve been here, trying to change the culture little by little, and the kids have been receptive. We had 80 kids at the spring game and about 50-60 right now during the summer. So I feel like the numbers are good. The kids are buying in, it’s just one step at a time.

What were some things you observed that could be improved regarding strengths and weaknesses?

Culture, for sure. We needed to change that. I wouldn’t say there were a lot of “me-first” guys, but we had guys who showed up when they wanted or didn’t prioritize the necessary things. Now, it’s to the point where it’s not the coaches but the kids holding each other accountable.

They have to wear certain color at practice, and they’ll get on each other for wearing the wrong thing. Whether it’s showing up late, no doing what you need to in the weight room or on the field, you’ll get checked by a player before you get checked by a coach. So the kids are buying in because they want the expectations to be set high.

Pocono Mountain East ran an option offense last year. How fun has it been for the program to transition from very few passes — if any — to almost a West Coast offense?

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I’ve had this offense for a long time and I’ve been working on trying to make it simplistic and easy to understand, so if you only show up for mandatory camp in August you could still pick it up. We have a plethora of formations, but I’d like to be able to run 8-10 of them really well. We took our time the first couple of days walking through the formations and explained why certain players move. I was really surprised during the spring game that everything was signaled in without any mistakes with alignment or assignment.

The kids are excited to throw the ball. Nothing against the old staff, but it’s just my offense and that’s why I wanted to run. And in my opinion, we have the skill and athletes to do it.

Before taking the East job, you were at Pocono Mountain West as an assistant under Jim McCarroll. What are you looking forward to about playing your mentor as the crosstown rival?

Coach McCarroll and I are really good friends off the field as well. Even before I took the job, I went over and we had a good conversation about it. I know when the game gets closer we probably won’t talk as cordially, but we’re both competitors. I enjoyed my time over there; that staff is a great staff and I loved working under them. They’re very cohesive and have a long time working together, so I’m hoping to build that here.

Last question: What are some of your goals for this upcoming season, whether personal or team goals?

I would say to compete. I’ve coached at other places where the score gets to 7-0, 14-0 and kids fold. Doesn’t matter where you are, kids don’t like adversity. They want it to go their way, and when it doesn’t, they fold. So we’re gonna try to teach “response to adversity.” We can only control things that we can control — attitude, approach to the game, mental toughness and accountability.

If we do all those things correctly and play as a group instead of individuals, I think our season outcome will be better than it was last year.

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