David Leasure has been appointed the new head coach of the Fox Chapel Area High School football program. He succeeds Tom Loughran, who retired from the position in November.
Coach Leasure is no stranger to Foxes football. From 2005-2010, he was the program’s defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He was instrumental in helping the program go from a 0-10 record in 2004 to a WPIAL Class 4A qualifier in 2008.
“Besides his impressive background as an experienced play caller and leader, Dave is the right person for the job,” says Mike O’Brien, Fox Chapel Area’s director of athletics. “He has been a teacher in the district for 17 years, so he is familiar with a lot of the players and is very eager to take on this challenge. I like his ideas about moving the program forward and how he will approach the task with a positive attitude and high level of energy.”
In the 12 years since coach Leasure left the Foxes program, he has earned the reputation as an offensive whiz who has a knack for turning football teams into WPIAL playoff contenders.
Part of the reason for his many accomplishments during his 26 years of coaching is the foundation he sets for success, his intuition for the game, and his ability to assess his players’ strengths.
“Right now, the most important message I want to get across is that we need everyone involved with the program to get on board and move in the same direction. I’m going to start right away to get to know our student-athletes as individuals and work toward giving them the tools they will need to be successful, accountable, and responsible. That includes good academic performance, because a person can’t be successful in life without it.”
Impressive Credentials
After departing the Foxes program in 2010, coach Leasure spent four years as the head coach at Springdale. The program already was a winner, but following the exit of longtime legendary coach Chuck Wagner, coach Leasure was expected to continue its high standards despite having a very small roster. In his four years with the team, his squads qualified for the WPIAL playoffs each year, and in 2016, the Dynamos advanced to the quarterfinals. That year, his offense amassed the second most yards in program history. They were also conference runners-up, and the Valley News Dispatch selected him as its coach of the year.
In what might have been his biggest challenge at the time, in 2017, coach Leasure became the offensive coordinator and assistant head football coach at Saltsburg, a program that had 23 consecutive losing seasons. By the time he left in 2020, his teams had advanced to three playoff games, the most in school history; won their first playoff game in 27 years; advanced once to the District 6 semifinals; and his offense averaged 24.8 points a game using four different quarterbacks. In 2017, his offense earned the most yards on the ground and most points scored since the early 1990s.
Coach Leasure’s final position before returning home to Fox Chapel Area was as the offensive coordinator at Freeport Area for the 2022 season. There, in one year, he developed such a strong offensive presence that the Yellowjackets were able to post a 9-1 regular season record and advanced to their first conference championship in seven years. The team’s offense averaged 35 points a game during the regular season, the most since the 1990s. They also earned a trip to the WPIAL semifinals, only losing to Belle Vernon, the eventual WPIAL champions.
Keen Understanding of the Program’s Needs
“I haven’t always had the biggest or fastest kids, or the largest rosters, but we always had a scheme that was tailored to meet our offensive and defensive needs, as well as those of the overall program,” says coach Leasure.
He’s already building that plan from the ground up. He plans to hold baseline testing to get a pulse on where his players stand physically before the offseason begins. The team’s strength and conditioning program starts in January, and coach Leasure will be right alongside his players in the weight room.
He knows a lot of hard work will be required on everyone’s part and that his new position is a 12-month job. But, he likes a challenge and is ready for it.
Eager to get going, he exclaims, “We’re ready to roll!”