WAYNESBORO, Pa. – Scott McClure spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach on the Waynesboro Indians varsity football team.
This time around, the Fayetteville native who was also an assistant with the Chambersburg Trojans and Smithsburg Leopards after spending some time at the youth football level with the Fayetteville Browns, will lead the Indians into the 2026 season as head coach.
McClure, who replaced Mark Saunders, and his staff are busy preparing for the campaign with the goal of snapping a four-year losing streak. Waynesboro was 2-8 last season, and the Tribe’s last winning season was 2021 (9-3) under Josh Sprenkle.
McClure was an assistant under Saunders with Chambersburg from 2009 to 2015. He assisted Mark Luther there as well before joining the Smithsburg coaching staff for four seasons. He got a call from Saunders, who brought him onto Waynesboro as the defensive coordinator.
“I spent the first year (in Waynesboro) up in the booth,” said McClure, who previously worked with outside linebackers and was the junior varsity head coach at Chambersburg. “I’d never been up in the booth. I was always on the field.”
When McClure took over the defense for the Indians, Waynesboro operated out of a 4-2-5 alignment.
“You gotta have some guys who are very versatile at defensive end to run that defense,” McClure explained. “Last year, we switched to a three-man front. We put some kids who were athletically inclined at the outside linebacker position.”
McClure said the defense will look similar to what it was in 2025.
“We started six freshmen (in the season finale) at Hershey last year,” he said. “We’re returning a lot of young players who are going to play a lot of roles. The younger guys got a lot of time at the varsity level. Some guys up front have size and strength but not a ton of experience. We need to plug the gaps and let our linebackers run.”
Waynesboro started heat acclimatization week on Monday. The Indians begin pre-season practices in full pads next Monday in preparation for the regular season that kicks off on Aug. 28 at Greencastle-Antrim.
“Once we get into full practices I tend to go pretty fast, not a lot of stopping and going over things,” McClure said. “I want to get them in the groove and go a little quicker every day.
“We started the week with two practices and one practice on Tuesday. Wednesday will be double day and a single practice the next day.”
McClure said that when the players put on full pads next Monday, he doesn’t expect a lot of full contact.
“I don’t want to do a ton of contact on each other when we get in full pads,” he said. “We’ll do that on Wednesdays in season and that’s it. Tuesdays and Thursdays we’ll do pads in uppers and helmets. Mondays will be film study and recap on Thursdays.”
McClure said the team has been getting tremendous support from the booster club. He also has the coaching staff all set.
Matt Paterno will take on the role of defensive coordinator. His brother Andrew is the defensive line coach as well as the head assistant coach.
“(Matt Paterno) does a great job with players in the weight room in the summer,” McClure said.
Rhyan Day will coach defensive backs.
“I work a little with cornerbacks and outside linebackers,” said McClure. “The staff is largely former players who want to give back to the program and want it to be successful. They’re devoted to getting the program turned around.”
Offensively, Rick Ramsey is the running backs coach. Pat Reed will work with the offensive line. Day will help with wide receivers, and Nathan Long will work with quarterbacks. Erica Vinson-Ondecko is the kicking coach.
Dave Claggett is also on staff, helping out in the weight room and with conditioning.
“He does a great job with all the programs,” said McClure.
McClure said he has been working to get to this point for a long time.
“I’m excited,” said McClure. “I love Friday nights. I love practice. I like the preparation.
“I think things are rolling along well, falling into place. I think it’s a pretty good group. A lot of these kids are anxious. The kids who are seniors haven’t been part of a winning season. They are very receptive and very coachable.”
