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A step onto the field during a DeMatha Catholic High School football practice, and the frenetic pace – complete with constant whistles, instructions, and bone-crunching thuds from collisions – immediately overwhelm the senses.
The action orbits head coach Bill McGregor, who has been a fixture at DeMatha for decades.
“You gotta set the tone. You gotta set the tone,” you could hear McGregor’s voice echo across the practice field. “Button them up! Chin straps in! Let’s go!”
McGregor bounces from position group to position group, seemingly teleporting from the linemen to the defensive backs, then off to the wide receivers and quarterbacks.
He has constructive criticism, but also offers up encouragement.
“Don’t put pressure on yourself. Just relax a little bit,” McGregor said while talking with one of the team’s quarterbacks.
That tip is easier said than done.
DeMatha is one of the most well-known powerhouse high school football powerhouses not only in the D.C. metropolitan area, but across the country. They routinely churn out national top-25 finishes, as well as future college and NFL stars in a conference – the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, or WCAC – known to do the same.
Washington Commanders star defensive end Chase Young walked the halls of the high school and terrorized offensive lines while on the gridiron before doing the same at Ohio State University.
“The goal is the same every year: win the WCAC,” McGregor said. “We have to come in every day, do the work, keep our house clean, and do all the little things necessary to try to make us as fine a football team as we can.”
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