The Hardy County Board of Education approved the hiring of new high school head football coaches as Matt Altobello will take over at Moorefield High School and Devon Orndorff will step up at East Hardy High School.
Both coaches grew up in the Potomac Highlands as Altobello hails from Keyser and Orndorff is from Wardensville.
Excitement is in the minds of both coaches stepping into the helm of these football programs.
“I’m excited. It’s an exciting opportunity. It’s exciting to be a part of a good community, one that’s supportive. I’m glad to be a part of the program. I’m glad to be able to step in and have the opportunity to be a head football coach of a tradition rich program,” Moorefield Football coach Matt Altobello stated.
Orndorff took his excitement one step further to say he felt ecstatic to take on this role.
“Using the word ‘excited’ to describe my feelings may be an understatement. I’m ecstatic. There’s nothing more exciting than taking over a program you bled and sweat for,” East Hardy Football coach Devon Orndorff remarked.
These coaches were high school standouts and have been assistant coaches for a handful of years.
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Altobello graduated Keyser High School in 2004 and was an all-state and all-PVC offensive lineman for the Golden Tornado as well as a state semifinalist. Altobello was chosen as a member of the Keyser Football All-Century team.
Altobello was accepted as a walk-on at Marshall University and by the time he was a fifth-year senior was starting all 12 games as an offensive guard including a Friends of Coal game against WVU and Moorefield alum Reed Williams in addition to being named to the Conference USA All-Academic football team.
Another fun fact is Altobello played alongside Super Bowl champion Doug Legursky as a member of the Thundering Herd.
Altobello received his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Marshall University, following in the footsteps of his parents who were both teachers and received a master’s degree in secondary education and math. The next degree to be obtained in May is for administration.
Altobello was an offensive line coach, run game coordinator and assistant strength coach for two years at Lawrence County High School in Louisa, Kentucky and two seasons at Cabell Midland High School in Ona.
Altobello became a defensive line coach and director of strength and conditioning at White Knoll High School in Lexington, South Carolina for three years before returning to West Virginia for the past two years at Petersburg High School as the dean of students and athletic director.
Orndorff graduated from East Hardy High School in 2010 and was selected as an all-area, all-state honorable mention and all-PVC wide receiver for the Cougars.
During his senior season, Orndorff made 986 receiving yards.
Orndorff set school receiving records for a single game, season and career and recently helped coach players breaking those numbers.
Orndorff attended West Virginia University and received a bachelor’s degree in physical education and teacher education.
Orndorff currently teaches physical education at Moorefield Elementary School and Moorefield Intermediate School.
For the past four seasons, Orndorff was an assistant football coach at East Hardy High School specializing in wide receivers and defensive backs.
Orndorff spent two years as the EHEMS Track coach and and has been the EHHS Track coach for two seasons.
“The thought was always in the back of my mind, but as I worked with the athletes here at East Hardy over the past few seasons I knew it was something I wanted to do. I was an assistant for four seasons and I truly believe my transition to head coach will be easier because of that,” Coach Orndorff said.
Building relationships with the players is a vital part of being a coach.
“Relationships are key. Coaches demand a lot out of their athletes and without a strong foundation at the base of each of those relationships the athletes are liable to give up,” Coach Orndorff noted.
Coach Altobello’s experiences with the coaches at Marshall helped mold him.
“The impact athletics has on me, that would be great to get into coaching. We had a lot of good coaches that were around our program. I got to experience a lot of these types of relationship building atmospheres and that’s what molding me to get into coaching. Plus what really helped me was my first coaching job from Luke Salmons who played offensive line at Marshall. He was the first one to give me an opportunity to come into a program and see how to run it and do the things the right way and build relationships with kids to get them to peak performance at all times,” Coach Altobello commented.
As the director of strength and conditioning in South Carolina, Coach Altobello understood the impact the weight room has on athletes leading to camaraderie.
“It is one of the biggest portions an athletic person can have in their lives from injury prevention to flexibility to speed to strength. The biggest thing that comes from it is that you build camaraderie among your teams, then you develop leadership and mental toughness. It was good to see those athletes become bigger and become better, but also more mentally tough athletes when it came to adversity,” Coach Altobello noted.
At White Knoll High School, Altobello trained 400 athletes a day from all across the board of sports.
Coach Orndorff’s coaching philosophy in simple terms is to be aggressive.
“Be aggressive. We’re going to compete with one another in everything we do; weight lifting, conditioning, drills, etc. East Hardy will earn through hard work and determination, everything we get out. Our scheme not the field will reflect our mentality,” Orndorff added.
Orndorff has been an assistant coach during two trips to the state championship on Wheeling Island and understands the importance of work ethic.
Altobello and Orndorff have begun the process training these athletes in the weight room and appear to be on the right track to building a successful future for both Hardy County gridiron teams.
Welcome messages from the Moorefield and East Hardy principals for the coaches were received.
“I am excited that Matt accepted the position here at Moorefield High School. He has a big challenge ahead of him,” Moorefield High School principal Pat McGregor stated.
“He’s a hard worker and very passionate about what he does. I hope he brings that passion to Moorefield High School and little bit by little bit brings Moorefield back to winning years in football. Hopefully he can get the fans excited and the kids excited. We’re looking forward to a good relationship with him this year and years to come. A big welcome to him from Moorefield High School.”
“I am looking forward to his organized outlook and high expectations with the football team,” East Hardy High School principal Jennifer Strawderman noted about coach Orndorff.
One person Yellow Jackets fans should thank is Coach Altobello’s wife Emily for giving him the extra push to apply for the job.
“My wife and I talked about getting back into coaching with the timing and doing it right is the biggest thing. Having almost a three-year old son named Lane, it takes time away from family and at the same time she is very supportive and understands the lifestyle. She knows it is my passion. I was siting there reading the Sunday newspaper and I had been praying about it and thinking about it whether I was going to apply. I didn’t mention it to her and she puts the section of newspaper down and looks at me and said I need to get back into coaching. The Moorefield position is open, I know it is. I just looked at her and asked the Lord if this was what you’re telling me to do, then this is what I am going to do. What are we going to do, just go for it. It is your passion, why not apply and see what happens. It has been a dream to be a head football coach and I have been around great ones in great programs on both sides of the ball. Looking at it, I love being around these kids and building a relationship with them,” Coach Altobello concluded.
The Moorefield Examiner and Hardy County welcomes Matt Altobello and Devon Orndorff to the head football coaching positions.
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