Olean Huskies first year head coach Terry Burrows to lead young team with potential, hopes to surprise some people

After a decade under the leadership of Phil Vecchio, the Huskies have a new man at the mantle in Terry Burrows. While Burrows hasn’t been the starring role on Olean’s sidelines, he’s spent an ample amount of time alongside them. 

“I’ve been with the Olean program. I was an assistant coach with Mike Kane and then all through Phil Vecchio’s tenure, so I’ve been with the program for probably 20 years, in a variety of roles,” said Burrows. “It’s a little different (being head coach,) a lot more responsibilities. I’ve worked on the offensive side of the ball and being on the defensive side of the ball the past few years as the coordinator, I feel like I’ve got a general good feel about everything that we’re trying to do.”

Now holding the keys in hand, as well as the clipboard and whistle, Burrows is tasked with renovating the Huskies, a team that graduated their long-tenured talent. That recently departed group includes Olean’s four-year quarterback Joe Mest (1,226 passing yards, 11 touchdowns last year), their brute force running back Domonick Hirliman (643 yards, 10 touchdowns), as well as over 700 other all-purpose yards. 

While the offense will feature a mixed cast of new and familiar faces, such as Dom Myers, who came away with 330 combined yards and a pair of touchdowns during his freshman season, the Huskies’ true veteran leadership comes from the opposite side of the ball. 

Returning to the defense alongside Myers, who also came away with 44 solo tackles and 61 total tackles in the secondary – both second highest on the team – is junior and defensive end Colby Booth (42 solo and 67 total) and linebacker Owen Tingley (37 solo, 56 total), a senior. 

Mixing their youth with experience and athleticism, Burrows and Co. are ready for the task at hand. 

“If I had to characterize our team, we have some athletes who are young. It’s how quickly do they pick up to the speed of the game, competing at varsity level,” said Burrows. “Potential is a dangerous word. We’ve got potential. We’ve got dangerous guys. We have a chance to surprise some people. I’m not sure a lot of people are expecting much from us. I guess we just have to show up and show them that we think we’ve got something”

Olean opens their season this Friday at home against Pioneer at 7 p.m.

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