{"id":125537,"date":"2025-04-03T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/?p=125537"},"modified":"2025-04-02T11:43:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T15:43:22","slug":"riverhead-welcomes-new-head-football-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/2025\/04\/125537\/riverhead-welcomes-new-head-football-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Riverhead welcomes new head football coach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Riverhead\u2019s athletic director Brian Sacks<\/a> posted an opening for a new head varsity football coach, Donald Nelson knew he had to apply. In his mind, it was his time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson was born in Riverhead.\u00a0He wore the Riverhead blue and white.\u00a0He left blood, sweat\u00a0and\u00a0tears on coach Mike McKillop Memorial Field<\/a>, playing running back in the ’80s.\u00a0He was part of Riverhead\u2019s coaching staff in 1988 when the team won the Rutgers trophy, which is awarded to the best team in Suffolk County.\u00a0He bleeds blue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we interviewed all the applicants, I was looking for a coach with discipline, organization and a belief that we can be better,\u201d Sacks said. \u201cFor Don, this is extremely important for him. Bringing Riverhead back to its football roots. He is someone that knows how to build a football program. He\u2019s a dynamic person. When you\u2019re talking to him, you have to get excited. You truly believe what he\u2019s saying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After four years playing running back at Slippery Rock University, Nelson returned back home to coach the Blue Waves and proceeded to work various coaching jobs all over the island for the next 30 years. After winning the 1988 championship in Riverhead, Nelson took a job at Westhampton Beach High School and won a small schools title. After some time, he went back to Riverhead in the ’90s to coach the JV football team. The team he coached went undefeated and it appeared he was next in line to coach the varsity team when the head coach job became available, but the offer never came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still something I think about today,\u201d Nelson said of the 1996 job opening. \u201cCoaching my hometown team was always my dream job. It didn\u2019t matter where I was coaching at the time, I was always keeping an eye on the Riverhead scores. My family has been in Riverhead forever. Football has been in my blood all my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though Nelson was discouraged, he kept coaching. He went to Bellport High School and helped lead that squad to three Suffolk County championships. From there, he started up the football program at Eastport-South Manor High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI learned so much over all my years of coaching,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI learned so much from Joe Cipp and my years at Bellport. I want to take everything I learned and implement it into the program here. There\u2019s going to be major changes going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before he formally applied, Nelson asked his wife, Tracy, what she thought of him taking the helm of the Riverhead football program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI asked her what her thoughts were,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI stepped away from football for a few years, and life was different. I had more time with my family. But she told me, \u2018Do it. It was always your dream.\u2019 I told her that it would require a lot of time away. I\u2019m going to really give my all to this. She understood. That\u2019s all I needed to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Blue Waves 1-7 season last year, Nelson has a steep hill to climb to turn things around. He knows things won\u2019t change overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a major shock to these kids,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI won\u2019t tolerate the nonsense. We are going to be focused and driven. We are going to be competitive in every game. I need each of these kids and parents and community to buy in to what we\u2019re trying to accomplish here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson has already adopted a slogan for the team: \u201cTogether we win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to do it all together,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re down two scores with five minutes to play we have to believe that the game isn\u2019t over. You have to be able to look over to your teammate and know that you guys have each other’s back. We\u2019re going to play a full 48 minutes. There will be no giving up around here because we\u2019re all in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filling out a coaching staff is one immediate need for Nelson. Applications have been sent in and Nelson will be reviewing everything with Sacks next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving people with Riverhead roots on staff is a major plus for us,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI think growing up here and having success here gives you a sense of understanding for the community. It gives you a sense of pride when you coach. We\u2019re going to take everything into account when we make our decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last few years, low participation in the football program<\/a> has been a major concern. Because of the limited roster, many players had to play both offense and defense through much of the last two seasons. For that reason, Nelson is already recruiting in the hallways. He’s revamping the weight room and making his presence known throughout the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing everything I can to promote the football program,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI\u2019m going to be involved at every level, from PAL<\/a> to junior high and varsity. We have to be one program from top to bottom. We\u2019re going to get people excited to play football again. It\u2019s going to be a grind, but I\u2019m confident we can get things back on track to how it\u2019s supposed to be in Riverhead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson is hosting a \u201cmeet and greet\u201d at the high school for parents on April 3 at 5 p.m. in room 133. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a full circle moment for me in my life,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI need to get the parents to buy into what we\u2019re trying to do here. I\u2019m all ears and I\u2019m ready to work. I want to not only prepare these kids for football but prepare them for life. That\u2019s what this is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Riverhead\u2019s athletic director Brian Sacks posted an opening for a new head varsity football coach, Donald Nelson knew he had to apply. In his mind, it was his time. Nelson was born in Riverhead.\u00a0He wore the Riverhead blue and white.\u00a0He left blood, sweat\u00a0and\u00a0tears on coach Mike McKillop Memorial Field, playing running back in the ’80s.\u00a0He was part of Riverhead\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":331,"featured_media":125539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1743,35,37],"tags":[17725,17726,13186,240,290,52],"coauthors":[16616],"class_list":["post-125537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-story","category-news","category-sports","tag-brain-sacks","tag-donald-nelson","tag-premium","tag-riverhead","tag-riverhead-football","tag-riverhead-high-school"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRiverhead welcomes new head football coach - Riverhead News Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Riverhead\u2019s athletic director Brian Sacks hired veteran football coach and Riverhead local Donald\u00a0Nelson as new head varsity football coach.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/2025\/04\/125537\/riverhead-welcomes-new-head-football-coach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Riverhead welcomes new head football coach - 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