Solanco High School's new varsity boys basketball coach is a recognizable face with a familiar last name. Most significantly, David Long is familiar with the student-athletes he will be coaching. That's why Long and Mules athletic director Anthony Hall feel Long is the ideal fit for the position. David Long replaces his brother, Scott Long. Scott Long will take over as Solanco High principal on July 1. David Long has coached at Solanco High three of the last four years. He served as JV and varsity assistant last season. Two years ago, Long was unable to coach because of work commitments. The two years prior to that, he was the Mules' freshman team head coach. "The biggest selling point is as the ninth grade coach he has already built relationships with kids who will be juniors on this year's team," Hall said. "He has worked with the high school team for three years which will make the transition real easy." The familiarity should also speed up the rebuilding process. "When a new coach takes over there's usually a three-year transition period," David Long said. "The new coach can't really hold players accountable because you're still gaining that trust. This saves us time. I trust them and they trust me. We'll be able to get right to work. It's a huge benefit." There is certainly work to do. The Mules were 3-19 last season. "We need to establish an identity," said David Long. "We need to decide what we want to do and it needs to be very evident, stylistically [on the court], all the way down to the way we interact with teammates and officials." Long is an Elkton, Maryland, native who played basketball at Elkton Christian Academy (now Tri-State Christian Academy) and also for three years at Lancaster Bible College. Even during his playing career, Long knew he wanted to become a coach. "Basketball has been such a big part of my life," he said. The timing was perfect. Scott Long became Solanco High varsity coach in 2015, right after David's playing career had ended. "Scott immediately reached out to me and told me he didn't know in what capacity, but he wanted me to be involved with the program," David Long said. Long works in facility maintenance at Lancaster Bible while he pursues a career as a physical education and health teacher. "I've always wanted to have my own program and be a high school coach," David Long said. "With finishing my health and physical education degree, I assumed I wouldn't be able to get a varsity head coaching job until I worked in a building." He decided to apply for the Solanco head coaching position anyway. "I thought about how much fun it would be to continue to see their growth," Long said. "Having a chance to stay with them is pretty exciting." Comments are closed.
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