Catching Up With: Former Phillipsburg High School and Bloomsburg University quarterback Glen McNamee

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Name: Glen McNamee

Local connection: Phillipsburg High School (1993)

Notables: Coached Central Dauphin football team to 2011 PIAA Class AAAA championship

2011 PIAA Class AAAA Coach of the Year

31-6-1 record and three Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships as starting quarterback of Bloomsburg University

Bloomsburg Underclass Athlete of the Year (1994-1995)

Graduated holding Bloomsburg records for career passing yards (7,192), passing touchdowns (57), season completion percentage (60.5) and career completion percentage (57.3) and still holds mark for career total yards gained (6,594)

Bloomsburg Senior Athlete of the Year (1996-1997)

Holds Easton-Phillipsburg game record for single-game passing yardage with 235 (1991)

The Express-Times All-Area second-team quarterback (1992)

Currently resides: Harrisburg
As Glen McNamee prepared for the biggest contest to date in his football coaching career -- the PIAA Class AAAA state final -- he couldn't help but compare it to the largest fixture of his own high school days.

"I joked with some people during the state championship week here that this game is almost as big as the Easton game," the former Phillipsburg High School quarterback said. "People kind of looked at me funny because it's something that you can't really understand unless you're a part of it."

Funny looks or not, the big-game experience seems to have benefited McNamee as his Central Dauphin team defeated North Penn, 14-7, and captured a state title.

"There's no question it was a great experience and a lot of great memories were made along the way," said McNamee, who just finished his sixth season coaching the Rams. "I've said it many times that Central Dauphin is a very special place because of the people and to be able to experience (winning a state championship) with those people, make those memories and seeing those people so excited, it was really a thrill."

While the former Stateliner celebrated success with a group of athletes from the greater Harrisburg area, his football foundation was crafted in Phillipsburg.

"I basically grew up in the shadows of Maloney Stadium," he said. "On Friday nights, when it was a big game, there would even be cars parked in front of my house."

"You watched the players and the teams and dreamed about one day playing yourself. Finally, you get your turn and, with the tradition that exists, you want to make sure you carry the torch. You don't do anything as a player or as a team to diminish that tradition -- so, there's a lot of weight there and it was very exciting."

According to McNamee, whose brother, Steve, was The Express-Times Football Player of the Year in 1976, playing football in P'burg gives you an opportunity to handle pressure at a young age. And that pressure is only magnified when it's Easton and Phillipsburg on Thanksgiving Day.

"I remember growing up, people were talking about games that were 50 years earlier," said the 1993 P'burg graduate. "No matter what happens you need to bring your best because it's going to be remembered by a lot of people for a long time."

McNamee has left his own mark on one of the nation's greatest high school football rivalries. In 1991, he set the record for most passing yards on Turkey Day with 235 in a game the Red Rovers won 24-15.

"That game has often been defined by defense and running the football," McNamee said. "Especially being that late in the year, it's usually cold and snowy. Easton that year had Mark Libiano, they were undefeated, so we really had no choice but to throw the ball, maybe more than most Easton-P'burg quarterbacks have ever had to."

The ex-signal caller continued setting records at Bloomsburg University, where he still holds the mark for career yards gained (6,594).

"I was fortunate enough to play for coach (Danny) Hale at Bloomsburg University, who is still there and enjoying a lot of success," he said. "That was an experience that affected my coaching life and my life in general because he always made it about more than just football. That's what we're trying to do at Central Dauphin. Trying to get the best out of them, not only as players, but as people and as students -- coach Hale was all about that."

McNamee used those coaching lessons to help mold three all-state performers in 2011: junior Zayd Issah, senior Zach Wilk and senior Evan Schwan. Issah was Class AAAA Co-Player of the Year with Nazareth's Dan Harding.

Another coaching trait that McNamee picked up along the way was enthusiasm from former Phillipsburg head coach and current defensive coordinator Bruce Smith. The Central Dauphin coach will get a chance to see Smith and his friend, Phillipsburg coach Ryan Ditze, in action when the Rams visit the Stateliners for a scrimmage 6 p.m. Aug. 24.

"It's going to be really neat for me personally to be able to come back," McNamee said. "An expression that I like to use with our kids is 'Give everything you have for those you came before you, those who are with you and those who will come after you' and I think I got a lot of that from my experience at Phillipsburg."

McNamee, who once played for New Jersey's winningest high school football team, found his match in his wife Carol, who graduated from Mount Carmel, which has Pennsylvania's most successful program. They have two daughters, Marissa and Madison.


"Catching Up With" is a weekly online feature that runs Sundays on lehighvalleylive.com. The subjects are former local high school or collegiate athletes who no longer live in the region. If you have an idea about an athlete you would like to see profiled, send an e-mail to kgary@express-times.com.

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