There was an unusual sighting at the Texas High School Coaches Association convention in San Antonio in July. A person was walking around the exhibit hall introducing himself to high school coaches and exhibitors as the head coach of Schreiner football – a position he had held for a mere three weeks.

It is vital for Mountaineers' new head coach, Kenny Treschitta, to connect with high school coaches as he assembles the first roster for the Schreiner football program since 1956.

“It was a huge point of emphasis to get down there, connect and introduce myself, and bring the message of Schreiner football to the great coaches throughout the state of Texas,” Treschitta said. “My focus was introducing myself and getting to know the high school coaches in Texas. It’s important to bring our message to the coaches and listen to them speak, and it was a positive reception.”

Treschitta didn’t check every box Schreiner Director of Athletics Bill Raleigh mentioned during our interview in February. Still, he checked enough for Raleigh to believe he was the right fit to restart the program from scratch among the candidates who applied. The one box he didn’t thoroughly check was ties to recruiting Texas High School football players.

Treschitta brings to Schreiner first-hand knowledge of starting a program from the ground up and experience as a defensive coordinator. His career began in Fairfield, Conn., at Fairfield Warde High School, where he spent three years before serving as defensive line coach at McKendree in 2013. One year later, he became the linebackers coach at Becker under head coach Mike Lichten. When Lichten was tabbed to build the University of New England football program from scratch, he brought Treschitta along to be his defensive coordinator.

What interested Treschitta in the Schreiner position was the similarities to his time at UNE, where they improved their win total each season.

“Building a football program is part of my professional identity. It’s who I am. I’m a husband, father, and a program builder, so the opportunity to build a program at Schreiner was important,” Treschitta said. “After researching the school, I saw how it’s an incredible academic institution in Hill Country serving a great student population. Seeing how Schreiner does a great job supporting their students and student-athletes and the support from the administration for football really hammered home that Schreiner was where I want to be.”

Treschitta credits Lichten for preparing him for this opportunity.

“I’ve worked with Coach Lichten for 10 years between two stops. He’s a tremendous person and has been a tremendous influence on me as a mentor,” Treschitta said. “I’ve learned a lot from (Lichten) and not just X’s and O’s. His ability to relate to and have the pulse of 120 players and 10 staff members is something I’ve always admired about him. He does a great job of thinking on a macro level, and I admire his ability to think and plan for the long-term, which is something I hope to do well.”

The first order of business for Treschitta is recruiting players. He hopes to sign between 40-60 players in the initial 2025 class and have a roster of 100-120 players when the Mountaineers begin competing in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference for the 2026 season.

Schreiner expects to play a developmental, or outlaw, schedule in 2025, mainly against other NCAA Division III junior varsity teams. Treschitta hopes to play five to seven games in preparation for the 2026 campaign, which means Treschitta is spending the 2024 season on the recruiting trail.

“My relationship with Texas football has been small. We recruited Texas when I first arrived at UNE and other places I’ve been in my career. I dipped my toe into Texas before, but now I’m jumping into the deep end,” Treschitta said. “The recruiting base is phenomenal when you’re two hours from the Austin area and an hour from San Antonio and Central Texas, and we know Texas high school football has tremendous talent.”

Treschitta said he expects to have at least 15 players on a visit before the end of September.

“Having a year to recruit and get out front is essential. You’re bringing on a larger class to fill a roster, so this year is essential for us to recruit and spend most of our time meeting with coaches, student-athletes, and their families to get them on campus, hopefully,” Treschitta said. “The only thing that stinks is you’re not playing games or practicing, but you have to do it this way.”

Treschitta also plans to use the transfer portal to assist in building the roster. He expects to sign a handful of transfers in 2025 and target more for the 2026 season. Currently, Treschitta is the only coach on staff, which he expects will change at the end of the 2024 season.

“I was hired very late in the offseason, so the administration and I decided to hold off on hiring coordinators and other staff until after this season,” Treschitta said. “The coordinator jobs will be posted in November and December and we’ll start the process of filling in the rest of the staff once we have our coordinators in place.”