Less than two years removed from his playing days on the gridiron, former Yough star Dustin Shoaf was unanimously approved as the Southmoreland head coach earlier this week. Shoaf, the Cougars all-time leading rusher and a 2019 grad, replaces Tim Bukowski, who served as the helm of the program for the previous three campaigns.

“It was a dream come true,” said Shoaf, who was an assistant coach at Jeannette last season. “It’s a great day to be a Scottie.”

Following Shoaf’s record-setting career on Cougar Mountain, he matriculated to Mercyhurst University. After five seasons playing running back for the Lakers, Shoaf hung up the cleats and quickly shifted to the coaching ranks. In his lone season as an assistant with the Jayhawks, Jeannette went 9-4, reaching the WPIAL Class 1A semifinals.

The Scotties had a successful season of their own in the fall, going 7-4 overall, including 3-2 in the Class 3A Interstate Conference. The team was plagued by injuries over the final few weeks of the campaign, though, including during a 56-20 home loss against Highlands in the first round of the WPIAL postseason.

In mid-December, Bukowski stepped away from the program with the status of the co-op with Geibel Catholic in doubt. However, that agreement will remain in place for the upcoming campaign.

Despite his relative inexperience as a coach, Shoaf displayed plenty of attractive qualities during his interview process at Southmoreland.

“The first thing that stood out is the energy I brought,” he detailed. “One of the things that I’m huge on is creating a culture. I’ve learned in college that when you lay down that foundation, when you have a culture that people believe in, when you have the arrows all facing in the same direction, success is there.”

While Shoaf is still finalizing his coaching staff, he’s already focused on the upcoming campaign, with offseason workouts commencing next month.

Maintaining the level of success established by Bukowski is among his top objectives, as is winning the first WPIAL postseason game in school history. However, Shoaf believes the success of his student-athletes extends far beyond the field.

“We’re not just here to coach. We’re here as leaders, role models,” he said. “It’s much bigger than football.”