By Jeff Schuler
Of The Morning Call

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Denny Douds remembers his first game as a college head coach.

The score? That's not so clear.

"It was Slippery Rock at home. They warmed up in Zimbar Gym, and there was a beehive in the steps. I think about 15 of their players got stung," Douds said, laughing about his 1974 debut as East Stroudsburg's head football coach. "They came out and massacred us, but don't ask me the score."

For the record, the Rockets — who he had played for 12 years earlier — ruined the debut of the eighth coach in school history with a 47-20 victory.

A little over 38 years later, Douds will step onto that same field Saturday afternoon and into the NCAA record books.

The PSAC East game against C.W. Post will be Douds' 393rd as the Warriors head coach, tying the Division II career record for most games as a head coach. He will break the record, currently held by former Minnesota-Duluth coach Jim Malosky, next Saturday when ESU hosts Millersville. He will finish the season in 15th place among coaches at all levels of college football, in a position to surpass the likes of Hayden Fry, Tubby Raymond and Paul "Bear" Bryant over the next three seasons.

"It kind of surprised me when I heard that," Douds, an Indiana, Pa., native, said of the approaching milestone. "To be honest, I didn't know anything it until Greg [sports information director Greg Knowlden] mentioned it to me a few weeks ago. Some day it might be nice to look back and smell the flowers, but right now all it means now is that I've heard a lot of different versions of the Star-Spangled Banner."

ESU coach Charlie Reese hired Douds as an assistant coach in 1966 after he had served as an assistant freshman coach at West Virginia for one season. Reese made Douds his defensive coordinator two years later, and the then 33-year-old succeeded Reese when he stepped down following the 1973 season.

Douds has had as big an impact on ESU as Joe Paterno has had at Penn State — perhaps even more. Through last weekend Paterno has been on the coaching staff for 57.6 percent of all Penn State football games (697 of 1,210) and as head coach for 44.7 percent of them (541).

Including his eight years as Reese's assistant, Douds has been on the sidelines for 60.5 percent of the Warriors' 760 games (460) and has been head coach for 51.5 percent of them.

"Don't give me that — that guy in the middle of the state is in a class by himself," Douds said in his trademark gravely voice.

Douds has been approached over the years but said he's never interviewed for another position. Like Paterno, he and his wife Judy, an elementary school teacher, stayed where they felt comfortable to raise their two children (Jill, a recreation therapist, and Doug, a Marine Lt. Colonel).

"When we first came here I told my wife we'd be here a year or two, because that's what coaches did," Douds said. "But we sat down and talked about what we wanted to have, and at the top of the list was a good place to raise our kids, and this is a five-star community to do that."

While critics complain that the game has passed by Paterno, Douds takes pride in the way the Warriors program has adapted to the way the game is now played.

"When we went to this [wide-open] style of offense, without a tight end a lot of time, people thought we were nuts. Now it's a national offense," Douds said. "We've been on the cutting edge and we're not afraid to do things."

Under Douds — the PSAC's winningest coach and seventh among active college coaches with 230 wins — the Warriors have won nine PSAC titles, qualified for the NCAA playoffs four times and reached the Division II semifinals in 2005. He's mentored 23 AP Little All-Americans and five finalists for the Harlon Hill Award, including 2005 winner Jimmy Terwilliger.

The Terwilligers — Jimmy's father Mike, who was Douds' first quarterback in 1974, has either been a player or coach in every one of Douds' games so far — are one of seven father-son combinations to play for Douds, and are two of the more than 1,000 players who have played under Douds in his 46 years at the school.

Douds, 70, also has a relative on the coaching staff — his grandson, Zac Koerber, a sophomore at ESU, is a video assistant.

"He wants to be a coach someday, and he's seeing a side of grandfather I don't know if he was ready for," Douds said with a chuckle.

Douds has had his clashes with school administrators over the years but nothing that he said forced him to the point of wanting to leave that community.

"A farmer could cut a field in the middle of his cornfield for us and I'd be satisfied with that," he said. "I've had good coaches, good kids, and this has been a great environment to do what you love and make a difference. And that's what I feel I do here."

Douds, a prostate cancer survivor 18 years ago, said he's not afraid of retiring; he just doesn't feel ready for it.

"When you wake up in the morning, if you really like going to work, then you continue doing it," he said.

Bombs away: The Warriors hooked up in a classic shootout last Saturday at Kutztown as the two teams combined for 81 points and 1,221 total yards in the Golden Bears' 49-32 win.

Not surprisingly, the PSAC East's co-offensive players of the week came out of that game — ESU quarterback Ray Wagner and Kutztown tailback Josh Mastromatto.

Wagner threw for 522 yards, a Division II high this season, and through six games has more passing yards (2,164) than Terwilliger had (2,140) in his Harlon Hill season in 2005.

Mastromatto did it all for Kutztown, accumulating 291 all-purpose yards. Including a school-record 100-yard kickoff return. The junior ran for 96 yards on six carries, including a 50-yard touchdown scamper, caught seven passes for 57 yards and added a second kickoff return for 38 yards.

Yet perhaps the most impressive stat line was Kutztown quarterback Kevin Morton, who bounced back from arguably his worst day as a starter to complete 27 of 30 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns. He scattered those 27 completions among seven receivers and didn't throw an interception after throwing five in last week's 49-7 loss to Shippensburg.

"He did an excellent job," said Kutztown coach Raymond Monica, whose team travels to Millersville Saturday night. "He had to be close to a record with his completion percentage, got the checks right, and he ran well. It was one of his better games, no doubt."

Back to action: Both Moravian and Muhlenberg resume their seasons with road games after the Centennial Conference's bye week, the Greyhounds at Susquehanna and the Mules at Gettysburg.

Moravian got good news after the break when defensive lineman Allen Petros (mild concussion) and Seth Payne (dislocated toe) both returned to action.

However, quarterback Matt Johnson, who has missed the last 21/2 games with a concussion, remains questionable.

"He's made slow progression," coach Jeff Pukszyn said. "The odds are better this week than last week that he'll play but we need to evaluate his condition more."

For the Mules, wide receiver Isiah Vaughn remains questionable with a high ankle sprain.

"We'll just have to see how he practices and how he can push off," Muhlenberg coach Mike Donnelly said. "It was a lot better last Thursday than it's been, but we just have to wait and see how much pain he can tolerate."