Football
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Dover Sports Hall of Fame: Football has been McKenney's passion
By MIKE WHALEY Assistant Sports Editor
sports@fosters.com
Article Date: Wednesday, November 21, 2007
DOVER — Chris McKenney has made football his life — first as a player growing up in his native Dover and later at Springfield College (Mass.), and for the last 23 years as a college coach. He just recently completed his seventh season as head football coach at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine.
This Saturday, McKenney will be honored by the Dover Sports Hall of Fame as he will be inducted for his exploits as an athlete at Dover High School and Springfield College. He will be joined by fellow athletes Jahn Janetos and Paul LeSieur, along with contributors Jim Dunn — who coached McKenney at Dover High — and Mike and Amy Parratto. The event will be held at the Dover Elks starting at 6 p.m.
At Dover, McKenney was a four-year football standout at fullback and linebacker, earning all-state notice as a senior and leading the team in tackles. He played a key role on the Green Wave's 1977 team, which lost in the Division I state championship to Portsmouth.
He followed his older brother Doug — a 2002 Hall of Fame inductee — to Springfield College and starred there for four seasons at linebacker.
Current Springfield head coach Mike DeLong was the defensive coordinator at Springfield during McKenney's final three seasons. He became the head coach in 1984 and McKenney served under him for two years as a graduate assistant and then later for 10 seasons as the offensive coordinator.
"He was an intense competitor with a tremendous work ethic," said DeLong. "I remember we tried to move him to strong safety. He wouldn't cover the pass and everything was blitz. We had to move him back.
"He was very athletic and very quick," DeLong recalled. "And he was tough and no slow motion with him. He works hard in everything he does."
McKenney also starred in basketball and track and field at Dover, setting the school mark in the high jump (6 feet, 6 inches) at the New England championships; a record he still holds.
Dunn, who will be inducted with McKenney on Saturday, has been coaching football since 1969, but his 1979 stint at Dover High was his first head coaching job and McKenney's senior season.
"He was one of our three captains, an emotional leader on defense and he made all our defensive calls," said Dunn, who is currently an assistant coach with the Dover High football team. "He had a real good understanding of the game. I knew he would be a good college player. It was tough following (his brother) Doug, but he made a name for himself."
Dunn recalls the 1979 football team starting 1-4, but McKenney and the captains led the Green Wave to a 4-1 second-half turnaround that saved the season at 5-5. One of the wins was over Chelsea, Mass., a much bigger school.
Later in the 1990s, when McKenney was the offensive coordinator at Springfield and running the wishbone offense, he connected with Dover coach Ken Osbon and helped the Green Wave to incorporate that system into their scheme, added Dunn.
While serving as Springfield's offensive coordinator, McKenney's offenses set numerous school and conference records, and became one of the premier offensive attacks in all of NCAA Division III. The Pride led D-III in rushing three times during McKenney's tenure, made two NCAA tournament appearances and was the first program to surpass 4,000 rushing yards, setting a D-III record with 4,275 yards in 2000.
McKenney took over the Maine Maritime job in 2001 at a time MMA's program was in a downturn.
"Seven years ago it was a challenge," McKenney said. "The numbers were low and there weren't any winning records. We've been one of the top teams in the conference the last three years, so we're making progress — but there's always work to do."
The Mariners went 7-3 in 2005, earning a berth in the ECAC North Atlantic Championship, and followed that up with a 6-3 mark in 2006 and 5-4 this past fall.
McKenney lives in Castine with his wife Jeannie and their children Jennifer, 11, and Tyler, 8.
