Three goals hang over Millis High School football this fall, and head coach Don Shumaker keeps them short enough that every player can recite them.

"I want a winning September, I want to make the playoffs, and I want to win on Thanksgiving," Shumaker said. "That's all I ask of them."

For a program that won three games last season and did not take a league game, that is an ambitious list. However, Shumaker's confidence in it has less to do with scheme than with the kind of coach he has decided to be.

"Millis is a special breed of kid," Shumaker said. "I've never seen such a small group of kids never quit the whole season."

The system he brought with him in his first year is built on pillars that his players can utilize on and off the field.

"I believe in respect and communication," Shumaker said. "It has to be all the way, from me, to the very last player, all my coaches, everybody. Being heard matters to me."

In the year before he arrived, a number of players walked away from the program. He believes that a lack of belief and love for the game is why.

"If you don't listen to one of your players, they're going to shut down," he said. "I got a chance to talk to these kids, and they talked to the players that have already played for me. Most of them came back."

Millis has doubled its roster for this fall, helped by a co-op with Norfolk County Agricultural School (Norfolk Aggie) that added a handful of players from outside the school. Shumaker made sure every message reached both groups at once, and his captains handled the rest, setting up group chats months before camp opened.

"You would never know that the Norfolk kids weren't already part of Millis High School," he said. "The brotherhood there is just amazing."

Based on Shumaker's passion and desire to turn this program around, the tone has changed in Millis. However, the standard did not, and Shumaker's evidence for that comes from inside the building rather than off the scoreboard.

"I hold my captains to a high standard, on and off the field, in school, at home, everywhere," he said. "They know I have eyes everywhere."

Integrity, hard work, and belief is also what he looks for when a player walks in the door. Experience, in his opinion, is negotiable.

"I'm looking for kids that love to play, that have the heart to play, that have the determination to play," Shumaker said. "We can teach anybody how to play football, but we can't teach them how to love the game."

What makes Shumaker unique is his willingness to put onfield performance aside in order for his players to keep that love they have had that made them want to play in the first place.

"I try to let these boys know that it's a game," he said. "This isn't your life. They all have lives outside of the field."

The clearest verdict on the approach came at the end of that three-win season, when his seniors told him it had been their favorite of the four.

"I try to put the fun back in the game," Shumaker said. "That is what sports are all about."

What Shumaker has brought into the Mohawks' locker room is 15 years of evidence that this is the job he wants. He still hears from the first group he coached, at Blackstone-Millville.

Whether it be texts at Christmas, wedding invitations, or even a flight down to surprise a former player at his Marine Corps graduation, Shumaker builds relationships that can last beyond what he gives them on the field.

"Before I started coaching, all I did was work, go home, work, go home," he said. "Now a lot of my players are grown men with families, and I'm so proud to see that."

Don Shumaker loves the game of football, and his desire to share that love for the game is what makes him a truly special coach.

"If I could retire and be a high school football coach for the rest of my days, I would do that," he said. "When it comes to sports, I love coaching more than anything."

As for Millis, Shumaker may have played for Medway High growing up, but he has found a home in Millis. "They drive me nuts," he jokes, "But in all seriousness, I absolutely love these kids. There is no place I would rather be, I love it here."