Senisi Looks to Turn Corner at Centennial

Ken Senisi has endured his share of frustration in his first two years as head football coach at Centennial High. His teams just missed finishing at .500 both seasons, twice ending at 4-6, with half a dozen losses coming by a total of 11 points.

Perhaps things change this year for the Eagles, despite Friday's 32-16 season-opening loss to visiting Oakland Mills. Centennial has 26 seniors on the team, including six who have been starting since they were sophomores. Senisi said the Eagles can win – if they stay healthy.

Senisi grew up on Long Island with five older siblings and played junior college ball as a two-way lineman at Dean College in Massachusetts. His brother Mike is the athletic director at Atholton.

Senisi is also an assistant lacrosse coach at Centennial, and also coached lacrosse at Marriotts Ridge. He's a graduate of Salisbury and teaches eighth grade science at Burleigh Manor Middle School.  He lives with his wife Meghan, an assistant principal at Long Reach High, and daughter, Molly, in Mount Airy.

Senisi turns 40 on Sept. 23. His daughter turns 5 the same day.

"She was a good (birthday) gift, huh?" he said.

Ellicott City Patch recently spoke with Senisi about his program:

Ellicott City Patch: Do you have a certain coaching philosophy, and how did it develop?

Coach Ken Senisi: The one thing I started developing over the years is just getting kids to understand the process. Too often everyone gets caught up in the winning aspect. Expectations get destroyed. They're almost molded that way. I want the players focusing on us -- things we can focus on as a team -- not so much being fixated on our opponents.

Patch: What are your thoughts on the 2009 season?

Senisi: Last year we lost three games by a total of four points, and the previous year we lost three games by a total of seven points. We lost our three-year starting quarterback (Greg Edmonds) with a shoulder separation in the first game. That was a tough one to rebound from. In hindsight, it gave our current quarterback (senior Matt Harbinson) a full year of experience.

Patch: What are your expectations for this season?

Senisi: We're looking forward to a good year. We have 26 seniors. One thing I learned over the years in coaching: If you can stay healthy, you'll be in good shape. We have great kids, smart kids, good coaches. It's a matter of if we can keep everyone healthy. We're in every game.The last two years if things had gone differently we could have been 7-3 or 6-4. The last time Centennial was in the playoffs was 1980. We set goals as a program, weekly goals. Sometimes everyone is too fixated on winning. For us it's about getting better each day. It's not about regrets looking back on the season -- what if we did this, did that? We feel like we have the kids in place to do something special. But, sometimes there are too many variables that just don't go your way.

Patch:What kind of turnout did you get for the football program compared to years past?

Senisi: We have 40 kids on varsity. We usually have 35. We had about 65 kids come out for JV and kept about 45. One thing we've been at Centennial is a very strong academic school. We're just trying to get kids to buy in. With the Minds in Motion (academic) program, a student has to be at a 3.2 (grade-point average) or higher. Last year we had about 75 percent of our players reach that. And the (Centrennial) Eagle Advantage program, where grades and behavior are checked on a weekly basis, we've only had to sit a kid twice in five years.

Patch: How did summer practice go?

Senisi: It went real well. We attended a camp at Shenandoah University (Winchester, Va.). It lasted three days and we took about 50 kids. The Shenandoah staff worked a lot with our kids. We also attended a seven-on-seven tournament at Juniata College (Huntingdon, Pa.). We competed against a lot of Pennsylvania schools, and finished like 6-3.

Patch: Are there any notable revelations about your team?

Senisi: One thing about this team is we're not real big. We have a lot of those hybrid-type players – 185 (pounds) or so. We try to be faster out there and put pressure on teams. We need to execute offensively and not turn the ball over. We've always had a  plus margin in turnovers since I've  been here. It's something I've always been proud of.

Patch: How do you see the Howard County  standings shaping up?

Senisi: It's one of those counties where it seems like teams are getting closer to each other. But until someone takes out River Hill. It seems the second tier is getting closer to the first tier. They'll be more teams in the mix this year.

Patch: How do you maintain the balance between coaching, teaching and your personal life?

Senisi: It's tough. I come across some coaches who love it for the x's and o's. Others love it for the kids. I'm in between. I love working with kids and I love football. I try to find a happy medium. I can't do it without support. When football starts my wife says I'll see you in November. I say hopefully it'll be in December. There are the football families. For instance, Ann Hugel, the mother of my three-year starting kicker (Matt), is always organizing events. They make it easier. She does it all. I tell the players things don't just happen; people behind the scenes make things happen.