Following an extensive search, David Gueriera was announced as the new head football coach.

On February 20, Mr. David Gueriera addressed the Malvern Football team for the first time as their new head coach. It was the beginning of a new era — an era that may last for a long time.

Dave Gueriera has coached at numerous schools throughout his career, including a stint as the Quarterbacks coach at Malvern in 2009, but he is now the man in charge.

“He’s made his loop through a couple different schools, [coaching at West Chester East] the last three years and now he’s coming here to be our head coach.” Athletic Director Kurt Ruch said.

After starting at Malvern as a Quarterbacks coach in 2009-2010, Gueriera became the Offensive Coordinator at Harriton High School, and then Episcopal Academy. He would then take a 2-7 Episcopal team to an undefeated Inter-Ac Championship the following year.

“When I came [to Episcopal], they were 2-7 and averaged about 8 points per game, and the year after I was there, they were 10-0 and averaged about 36 points per game.” Coach Dave Gueriera said.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“What I learned was that I could not make the same mistake twice. If you do make the same mistake twice, you will really not succeed or grow. I learned to just get better at everything I did.”

-Mr. Dave Gueriera[/perfectpullquote]

From there, he became the head coach at West Chester East, and Gueriera says he learned a great deal while there..

“I learned a lot about being a head coach,” Gueriera said. “Before you are a head coach, you really don’t know what you don’t know.”

After struggling his first year, Gueriera would ultimately help West Chester East end a 10 year playoff skid amongst other accomplishments and learned his biggest lesson along the way.

“What I learned was that I could not make the same mistake twice,” Gueriera said. “If you do make the same mistake twice, you will really not succeed or grow. I learned to just get better at everything I did.”

As for becoming Head Coach at Malvern, Gueriera finds this place home-like.

“Having already been here with the mission of the school, the administration, it is just a very familiar place to me,” Gueriera said.

According to Ruch, Gueriera is a man fit for the job.

“He is someone who is definitely passionate about Malvern and we were passionate about him as we went through the process,” Ruch said. “He got the job because of his knowledge of the area, his knowledge of the school and tradition and history we have. We felt he was the best fit for the school at this point.”

Ruch also sees Gueriera as a long-term solution at the coaching position for the school, and does not see him leaving anytime soon.

“I feel very comfortable saying that I don’t see him using this job as a stepping stone,” Ruch said. “From our interview and conversations, I could see him being here for 30 years.”

From the player’s perspective, next year’s team can’t wait to begin working with the new coach.

“I am really excited about Coach Gueriera. Just from our short meeting with him, I can tell he is the right man for the job,” Junior Liam McKnight said. “He is really passionate about winning and we are all looking forward to the season with him.”

When Gueriera addressed the team, he was very open and honest about what he expects his team to do next season, and promises to treat his players like his family.

“What I said to the players was that I want to win the league outright,” Guerira said. “There is really no gray for that. We want to win the league each year.”

To the current seniors who will not be able to play under Coach Gueriera, they also believe he is the man for the job.

“He is a great guy, and from what I have seen, he is a great coach,” senior Jerry Curran said. “I think that he will do big things in the years to come and hit the ground running, taking the Friars to a 2017 Inter- Ac title.”

In order to win an Inter-Ac title, a team needs to be disciplined and able to run the plays the coaches call. And the plays that Gueriera calls adapts with what the talent calls for.

“I have historically been a spread offense,” Gueriera said. “I think we will start the year with no huddle, but we would able to go back and forth. I like to adapt what we do to our talent.”

According to Sportingcharts.com, a spread offense is an offense that uses multiple receivers with the goal to stretch the defense along the line of scrimmage. The receivers also run routes to different areas of the field to stretch the defenders vertically and horizontally.

Another key component that Gueriera brings to the table is his familiarity with the current coaching staff.

“I met Dave back in 2015 when he was still at West Chester East,” Quarterback Coach Sam Mora said. “I think it was a great hire. He is a great family man. He has a good plan on what he wants to do at Malvern. I think he is going to be real successful.”

All in all, Gueriera says that he could not be more excited to be a part of this school.

“The football program has a rich tradition and a long history,” Gueriera said. “Just knowing that and trying to become a steward to that was another reason I wanted to come back here. Also the academic environment here is something I would love to bring kids to,” Gueriera said.

Athletics and academics aside, the decision to come back to Malvern was somewhat faith driven.

“Another reason [to come back to Malvern] is I can outwardly embrace my faith,” Gueriera said. “Something that was missing the last 5-6 years was being able to talk to a player about praying for strength, or just praying in general. That was really big for me.”