As school—and consequently football season—gets underway, a lot of students, players, and even coaches are dealing with jitters or butterflies.
Good Counsel's Andy Stefanelli might be one of them.
This will be Stefanelli's first year as "head" coach of the Falcons. He's been on the staff for a decade.
The 1983 graduate of the Montgomery County private school takes over from Bob Milloy, who helmed the team for 16 seasons.
"There's a little bit of pressure that goes with that, but it's eased for me because I'm so familiar with the school and the players and our system," he said.
"We're going to take as much of what Bob had built and continue on with that tradition, but being realistic, we're going to have our own way of doing things and I think it's going to have it's own flavor," Stefanelli added.
Bob Milloy won 405 games—the most by a high school football head coach in Maryland.
He says all his games are special, but there won't be any more after 16 years of coaching at Good Counsel in Olney.
Milloy began his high school coaching career at Dematha in 1967.
That’s where he met legendary basketball coach Morgan Wootten—the second winningest hoops coach at any level.
"I've never made a decision in my life, besides getting married I guess, without checking with him first. We had lunch and he said, 'Bob, better too soon than too late.'"
Milloy also spent time at Whitman, Springbrook and Sherwood for a total of 50 years.
He says what he'll miss most in retirement are the players. Some of them he'll be able to watch every Sunday.
Falcons alums in the NFL include Jelani Jenkins, Blake Countess, Stefon Diggs and Kendall Fuller.
Milloy remembers when Fuller, who plays for the Burgundy and Gold, hosted Diggs' Vikings last year.
"You're so proud of that especially when the Vikings were here and Kendall Fuller was mashed up on Stefon Diggs almost every play. They used to do that right down here during practice it was serious,” he recalled.
Milloy's teams have won eight Maryland State Championships over the years. While those come and go, how he made players feel will last.
"I hope it's good. I hope it's positive."
Now he'll be making a positive impact at home, spending more time with his family, including his wife Susan—who also just retired—his three children and his 1-year-old grandson.
And if Coach Milloy wants to keep impacting young people, he'll have another chance.
He plans on working in the concession stands on occasion all season long, just for fun!
Coach Milloy said one of the biggest changes he's seen over the years is social media.
He always told his players to "sleep on it before hitting send because you can't take it back."
