BUTLER TWP — Before being handed the keys to Butler's varsity football program at the Feb.10 school board meeting, Rob Densmore had never been a head coach.

He's making up for lost time.

“It seems like he's been up here every day since, doing something with the kids and establishing his program,” Butler athletic director Bill Mylan said.

Densmore, the former Pine-Richland defensive coordinator who still teaches at that school, has his coaching staff in place. Everyone on that list has coached football for the Golden Tornado before.

“I haven't been told anything yet (about a teaching job at Butler), so it was important to me to get coaches who will be around the kids in school,” Densmore said. “I want that familiarity between coaches and players.

“Everyone on the staff is on the same page. They like the direction I want to take the program and that includes being about the kids first and about football second.”

Eric Christy, Butler's freshman coach the past three seasons, is now the Tornado's offensive coordinator. Densmore will serve as defensive coordinator.

Bill McElroy is the offensive line coach. A West Virginia graduate who played in bowl games for the Mountaineers, he last coached on Butler's varsity staff in 2006. Bill Elliott returns as defensive line coach, Jeff Wagner as running back-linebacker coach, Kirk Bergbigler as defensive back-wide receiver coach.

Volunteer coaches Tim Ammon and Adam Dovenspike return as well.

“Once I talked to him, I wanted to work with him,” McElroy said of Densmore. “This guy is filled with passion. He's going to get this done.”

Christy and Bergbigler both applied for the head coaching position themselves.

Christy was the starting quarterback for Butler's playoff team in 1998 and Bergbigler is head coach of the Butler County Bears.

“I just want to help turn the program around and I'm grateful for the opportunity to join the varsity staff,” Christy said. “I'm impressed with the way Coach Densmore is building this thing from the ground up.

“He's already got the team doing things together and supporting other sports. When he first started coming up here, we had 10 guys in the weight room. Now that number's up to about 25 and he's in there with them every day. A lot of our other players are involved in other sports right now.”

That's more than fine with Densmore.

“He's encouraging that,” Bergbigler said. “He's backing up everything he's preaching in terms of commitment. Football players who do other sports are staying in shape and improving their athletic skills.

“Besides, this is a fiery guy. It's hard not to be drawn to that.”

Densmore, his staff and football players — numbers totaling more than 40 — attended a Butler boys volleyball match recently. They plan to attend more spring sporting events as a unit.

“We want to support other programs, just like we're hoping other programs will support us,” Densmore said.

Butler football players are talking to athletes in other sports. Elliott said Densmore has already put together offensive and defensive playbooks.

The head coach has organized movie nights, dinner nights and other activities for the team to do as a team.

“Coach Densmore is all about family and pride, working hard for each other,” Elliott said. “He's already developed a family atmosphere with these kids.

“Going to that volleyball game ... It put us in the public eye. We want to be part of what you're doing. We're just after athletes, people who can make plays.”

Christy said he's excited about the long and short-term future of the program.

“While we are building a foundation for the future, we still have to play the big boys on our schedule now,” he said. “Coach Densmore is working on that end of it, too.”

Densmore has met with Butler Area Midget Football League president Hank Leyland — another former Tornado varsity assistant — and has given his playbooks and a “coaching book” to Leyland, the varsity assistants, freshman and junior high coaches.

“We're not telling the youth program to run our plays,” Densmore said. “Hank asked if he could make copies of our playbooks and I said 'absolutely.'

“The coaching books explain the terminology we'll be using with the kids and how we'll be teaching the basics. Those elements will be consistent from the youth program on up.”