Guilderland Football Championship "Still Settling In"

Nobody deserves his first Section II high school football title more than Dan Penna, whose been the head coach at Guilderland for 16 years. Penna is one of the really good guys in the coach ranks who cares about his players far beyond the playing field, and I know that, because my son Matt played for him and had a great experience. I have never have a conversation with coach Penna without him asking about Matt. Unfortunately, coaches at every level are judged on winning championships, and now Penna has that elusive championship to go along with all the other qualities that make him a great head coach and person. Friday nights thrilling win over Shaker was long overdue, but so well deserved.

Make sure to listen to our interview with Coach Penna above and a few of the highlights from what he takes away from the win below:

Every football coach is extremely competitive and so many fantastic football coaches don't make it to a championship game. What Coach Penna was able to learn is it is more about the process of taking care of the kids and developing them and let the results take care of themselves. Only one team can win so Coach was not feeling like he needed to win and the players would still be great had the game turned out differently.
Having to go through Covid made this even sweeter because there were so many uncertainties. There were pods, screenings and testing as well as having to practice at Schenectady High. The kids really rose to the occasion.