(This article is meant to highlight coaches and members of the high school community getting prospects to reach their full potential and ready for college football)
Byron Dovales played left tackle at IUP and earned his Master of Science in Kinesiology and Exercise Science. In 2009, Dovales helped the Crimson Hawks to the second-best rushing average in the PSAC. In 2011, he was named to the Don Hansen All-Super Region One second team and the First-team All-PSAC West selection. In 2012, he started all 14 games and earned a spot on the All-Super Region One second team and PSAC West first team. Over the course of his career Dovales started 46 games for IUP at LT, was a 3x 1st Team All PSAC (2011-2013), 3x All-Super Region One (1x 2nd team 2011, 2x 1st team 2012-13), 2013 Don Hansen 2nd Team All American, and was one of Curt Cignetti (Indiana's current Head Coach) 1st Team captains (2011-2013).
Dovales then went on to play arena football for the Erie Explosion.
At the end of his career, Dovales focused on coaching football and strength and conditioning for all types of people. Dovales became the Strength & O-Line Coach at Pittsburgh's Central Catholic from 2017-2021, where he helped lead the Vikings to two WPIAL Championships (19-20), and a state championship appearance in 2019.
While coaching Central Catholic, Dovales was awarded Best Personal Trainer by the Pittsburgh City Paper for his training ability off the field.
Despite all these accomplishments, Dovales has taken the next step in his professional life, becoming the premier football lineman trainer in the northeast. Recently, Dovales started a Pittsburgh area 5 v5 team competing in tournaments organized by the Battle of the Trenches Foundation (BOTF). The BOTF is a specialized program focusing on offensive and defensive linemen, offering elite training, competition, and exposure opportunities. Led by NFL veteran Julius Williams, BOTF was established in 2015 to develop young athletes through coaching, character building, and football. The Coalition started by Trench Mob is an invitation-only league and Dovales was able to get an invitation based on his reputation and talent in the Pittsburgh area.
Next year, Dovales and his group of talented prospects, have been invited to Giant Skills Athletics' (GSA) Invite only 5on5 tournament which is the biggest in the country based on the performance of Dovales' team this year.
What are the benefits of the Battle of the Trenches Foundation program for prospects?
To improve some of the most important skills in football, pass protection and pass rushing in a manner where the kids are taught the effective techniques and tools, they'll need for the next level. I think the biggest disservice a coach can do to a lineman is not prepare him for the most important drill at a college camp but send him to that camp expecting him to earn a scholarship. What's so special about the 5on5 pass rush circuit is we collect some of the best kids around the area to practice and compete against each other. Most of these kids are the biggest kids at their schools if not the biggest kid to come through there school ever so it makes it hard for their teams to get them valuable reps. Every practice is more work than these kids can get at their respective schools, not to say anything negative about the school, but people that big are just rare to find. We're looking for kids who are the .5% of people in the world, that's what college coaches want in lineman and we gather as many as we can and build a very competitive environment. It's also the 1st time these kids have to honestly fight for a spot, if you're the biggest strongest kid in your school you've never honestly fought to win a position. The biggest and strongest play no matter what on 99% of teams at the highschool level. Everyone knows that's not college and for a lot of our kids it's the 1st time they actually won or lost a "starting spot", and how they react to it is what we're here to coach more than the football itself. Not only do we prepare them for on the field and camp season but off the field as well. Our program is built to coach boys into men who just so happen to play football. So on top of competing we practice life skills and how to conduct ourselves in front of a college coach, we took 8 college visits together (UNC Charlotte, Youngstown, Akron, Toledo, Kent State, Bowling Green, Penn State and Rutgers) and even planned and assisted in various other college visits for our guys. Our biggest focus in giving these boys the tools they need in life to succeed cause that's the stuff that's going to last and from a football perspective Curt Cignetti once told me "It's easier to win football games with men then boys, I'm not good enough to win with a team full of boys." These visits have given our guys some new found perspectives and opened their eyes up to how big the world really is and how many kids out there play football and work hard just like them.
What are the goals for the 2/10ths 5v5 program?
The biggest goal is to get ALL of our kids into college to play ball. They don't even have to play to be honest. I just want them aspiring to be leaders and positive contributors in society and if college is that route then that's where I want them. So it's really about finding the right fit for kids. Like do we have some studs who have and will have D1 offers and possibly beyond? Absolutely but my goals for them are so much bigger than that. I want to groom great husbands and fathers and mentors before anything else. A lot of our kids won't play D1 and we're realistic with our kids and parents about that. That's what I think is unique about our program. We have guys who will play D2, D3, even JUCO and NAIA, even some kids who will be done after High School, it's all about finding the right fit for the kid and teaching them to use football as a tool of advancement. I've even told some parents if this is a way your kid learns discipline and navigates his way into adulthood there's more value in this game than you may be able to comprehend at the moment. Our secondary goal is to win a Coalition championship which means winning the most tournaments in the league in an off-season. That should be every team's goal but I think here in Pittsburgh it's a standard to be a Champion and our kids understand that and understand on every trip what's at stake. This is a gritty city and has a long standing history of great lineman so it's only right we bring one home. Our biggest motto is "Development over Exposure" which to us means, when we get good enough to win a Coalition Championship we'll get all the exposure and recruits calling and college offers we're looking for. That line is getting blurred in today's game, kids want it the other way around, and I can understand that. For some kids football is the only place they recieve high levels of praise and that on us as the adults but that's another conversation for another article lol. As a staff we plan on growing our program outside of the confines of Pennsylvania we already have some kids from as far as Scranton, Reading, Erie PA, and even West Virginia, New Jersey and Boston. There are some areas in the east coast who don't get as much football exposure or respect as the WPIAL so for me to keep all that for our boys isn't fair. I didn't play in the WPIAL so I understand how hard it is to get recruited when you're not playing great competition week in and week out if at all in your schedule so it's important we spread the wealth.
Very mature young man not only physically but mentally, you'd never know he was 13 when he started with us, has some special traits as an athlete, 6'4 already, long arms, huge hands and a will to get better. This kid hasn't missed not only a practice but a session with D Brown since we started unless on a college visit. I mean an 8th grader getting invited to college visits and already having a Syracuse offer should tell you enough. But outside the football player he's a special kid, I've had the pleasure of being around a couple in my time and he checks all the boxes of one of those players you get every 5-10 years who not only has the ability but the mental capacity to handle it well. He's hungry and has high expectations of himself and is learning what it takes to get there but he's willing to sacrifice and pay the price to get there you can see it in the kids eye's when you ask him about it. Football wise he's really getting comfortable in his pass set, learning how long his arms are and when his strength catches up guys are in trouble. I think he finishes his High School career as a nationally ranked recruit and I've only said that about one other player in my 12 years training O Linemen and that's Jimmy Kalis.
Has some special abilities, a huge kid 6'6 295lbs, he's one of those kids that if he plays in the WPIAL he'd have about 30 offers, I think he's a top 5 OL in his class on the west side of the state. Really fast off the ball and super aggressive, that's what caught my eye about him outside his size at our tryouts to let me know he was going to be a big-time player. One of those kids where every rep is just a 4-6 second fight and that's his favorite part of the game.
Probably one of the most college ready athlete's I've worked with over my 12 year coaching career mentally. He's a 1st one in last one out kind of guy and is in love with the actual process of developing. He was one of our leaders this year. When you look at his frame you can see he can put on the size and play inside at 3-tech and with his long reach can keep guys off his body. He's a coach's dream when it comes to the intangibles, honor roll student, early to everything, and only knows how to go the extra mile
(Taylor is currently committed to Kent State but Power 5 coaches have still been keeping tabs. A player with a Syracuse offer, Taylor is a prospect to keep an eye on.)
Since he was in 9th grade, I thought Daiveon was one of the best pass rushers in Western PA and probably even the state. He's had advanced pass rush ability since then and if you don't believe me go and ask Aaron Donald. When it came to 5on5 he did a really good job of developing his craft, can't say he lost too many reps so the whole season was about him developing his moves over getting points. He's a kid you can leave out on the edge or if you add about 40lbs to him in the next 4-5 years he can become one of the best 3-techs in the country. Idk if there's a pass rush move out there I haven't seen him win with. Rushing the passer is one of the most valuable traits on the football field and he's one of the best around at doing that.
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