Football Team Welcomes New Head Coach Kevin May
By LIZZY KUBANCEK 
“To be completely transparent, I did not have aspirations in my career to be a head coach. It wasn’t even something I wanted to do,” said Seton Hill’s newly appointed Head Football Coach Kevin May. “When he [Former Head Coach Daniel Day] stepped down and the opportunity presented itself, you know, I think it flipped my mindset to really start thinking about what the best thing to do for this program was.”
According to redshirt senior running back Tre Mason, the team was informed during the summer that former Head Coach Daniel Day would be stepping down from his duties, after receiving a text from him that said the team needed to have “an emergency meeting” via zoom. Mason said, “Coach Day just said, I’m stepping down as head coach and coach May is your new head coach.”
Formerly the defensive coordinator for the Griffins for the last six seasons, Coach May “feels good” about quickly stepping into this role. “It’s been a really easy transition and the guys have really really bought in.”
His biggest challenge in this new position has been “less about the football and more so the big picture” of being a head coach. Right now the focus is “building the best football team we can from a mental and physical standpoint”.
“I was a mixture of excited and sad,” said Junior Wide Receiver Jayden Llanos. “Coach Day was a great guy, he was awesome.”
Sophomore Defensive Lineman Dyawne Wright said, “I was sad that Coach Day left but it didn’t feel like a big change because Coach May was our defensive coordinator.”
“Code-Red” is the team’s mantra, which was formerly a saying amongst the defense under coach May, but is now followed by all the players. According to May, “Every one of our players should be able to say this like it’s second nature. It’s to play hard, play fast, play together.”
Llanos said, “We don’t break down on anything else, we only break down on code-red.”
The football team has what they call “influencers,” according to May. “Instead of having four captains, we have thirteen influencers that were voted on by the players.” These influencers are to enforce “the pillars of this program,” and “we work really hard to make sure we’re meeting them.” May added, “Every week our players vote on four of those to represent us as our captains to walk out on the field.”
“Fortitude is a word we use a lot,” said May. According to Mason, “Fortitude is not letting anything break you. Like oh my gosh it’s hot outside, we’re tired … no matter the elements, no matter what’s happening. …”
May added, “If you look at them on the sideline through good moments, through bad moments, they have fortitude about themselves, … they have a lot of fortitude right now.”
“He’s kind of unified the team … and that’s the thing I really have loved most about how he’s been coaching us,” said Llanos. “He talks to us and expects us to do what we need to do. … [H]e’s not a screamer, he’s a straightshooter,” Wright added.
“He’s never going to tell us to do something that doesn’t benefit the team,” said Mason. “I know everything he does is from his heart.”