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Founder named St. Mary's High School Head Coach
One of our founders was recently named Head Coach of the St. Mary's High School in Annapolis, MD. Below is the article that ran over the weekend in both the Maryland Gazette and Capital Newspaper. Special Congratulations to Coach Mike Clay!
Football: Saints select football coach
By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer
Mike Clay has experienced success in starting up football programs.
Clay founded the Millersville Wolverines youth football program and steadily built it into one of the strongest in Anne Arundel County. He became the first head coach at Southside Academy and quickly turned that program into a winner.
Now Clay will try to jump-start the program at St. Mary's, which has endured back-to-back losing seasons.
Clay, a Pasadena native, was named head coach at St. Mary's yesterday. He succeeds Mike Codd, who retired after seven seasons.
"I liked Mike's vision. He and I were on the same page with regard to what needs to happen to get our football program back on track," St. Mary's athletic director Dave Lanham said.
"Our goal is to be a contender in the (MIAA) B Conference immediately and to get good enough to eventually make the jump to the A Conference."
Clay is a 1990 graduate of Chesapeake High, where he played football for Tom Kraning. He got into coaching with the Anne Arundel Gridiron Rebels before starting up the Millersville program from scratch.
Clay got into the high school ranks at Southside Academy, a Class 1A public school located in the Cherry Hill section of Baltimore. He led Southside to a 6-4 record in its second varsity season (2003) and the team duplicated that mark last fall. A superintendent with Tishman Construction in D.C. and a resident of Centreville on the Eastern Shore, Clay said St. Mary's made more sense travel-wise than Southside.
"St. Mary's is an outstanding school with a solid tradition in football. I feel very fortunate to get this opportunity," Clay said.
Clay remains commissioner of the Millersville Wolverines and also serves as a director for the NFL Junior Development Program. He is slated to run camps at Northeast High, Cardinal Gibbons and possibly in Centreville.
"It's important to have a coach who can get out in the community and attract kids to the program," Lanham said. "I think Mike has a good handle on the youth football landscape in this area."
St. Mary's went 7-3 in 2002 before dipping to 3-7 in 2003. The Saints suffered through a 1-9 campaign this past fall.
"Sometimes I think change can do some good. Hopefully, I can bring new energy and a different mind-set to the program," Clay said. "I think the first thing we need to do is get some true football players in there instead of just piggy-backing off lacrosse."
Kraning, an Annapolis resident, will follow Clay from Southside to St. Mary's as assistant head coach. Clay said he hopes to retain a few of Codd's assistants who teach in the building.
"We're going to hit the ground running and get started on turning this thing around right now," said Clay, who plans to hold a meeting for returning players on Thursday.
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