After a four-year hiatus, Tad Shields is the head coach at Avalon once again. Shields, who led the program in the first three years of its existence, was the offensive coordinator the last few years. But when coach Jerry Sarchett (10-12 the last two seasons) decided to leave the program for Pope John Paul the Great School in Virginia, Shields decided to reclaim the reins.

An Ohio native, Shields attended Bishop Watterson High in Columbus and starred on the offensive line. After graduating he attended Denison University, where he continued his football career as a guard. He earned a BA in math and economics before heading to Michigan for graduate school.

Shields spent the first part of his working career in various management positions, but in 1986 he moved to Maryland to pursue a business opportunity (he became the CEO of Simulation Laboratories, Inc..). But he didn't begin his coaching career until 1997, when he coached his son in the youth leagues.

About six years later, however, he helped start Avalon, a small private school in Montgomery County. He became the school's first football coach in 2004 and stayed in that position for three years, compiling a 6-14 record in two varsity seasons.

But Shields had to drop the head coaching gig in 2007 for personal reasons; he became Avalon's OC instead. But when Sarchett left this winter, Shields stepped up again.

MdHigh publisher Dave Lomonico recently spoke with Shields about his new job. Below is the full transcript from their question-and-answer session.

My son really wanted to play football and he was only seven years old. I wasn't real wild about him starting at that age. And it wasn't as much him getting hurt as it was all those coaches who think they're Vince Lombardi in the youth leagues (laughs).

So I volunteered to coach him at the youth level. I was there for a few years, but when he got to high school - Georgetown Prep - I decided to help start the Avalon School.

I guess I always wondered about the lack of private schools in Montgomery County. I wanted to get one started in the Gaithersburg area. It's just a vision I shared with a few others and something I felt strongly about.

I owned my own business up until that point, but then I sold that business in 1998. Around 2000 I got involved with the group that started the Avalon School, which opened in 2003. Then in 2004 we started the football program - it was just a jayvee program at the time -- and I was the first head coach. I was the head coach for three years.

So, why did you stop coaching? You were only the head coach for a couple of years…

Well, I was also the chief financial officer at the school and had a lot of other responsibilities. Around 2006 we were getting ready to build a new part of the school, and that took up a lot of my time. I couldn't do justice to football and oversee the school.

So I stepped aside for another guy, whose name I can't remember (laughs). Then Jerry Sarchett came along in 2007 and was head coach since 2008. But when Jerry left, my day job had sort of tailed off a bit. So I was able to step up and re-assume the head coaching position. I'm excited about it.

Well, obviously there are different personalities on the team and there's a new staff. So you do things a little differently because of that.

But I'm also running a different offense this time around. I am an offensive guy, but I'm going to let my coordinators do their jobs. I'm letting the defensive coordinator handle the bulk of the defensive play calls.

But, to tell you the truth, coaching again won't be too much different. Coach Sarchett is a good friend of mine and did a fine job. Last year he won the league championship. I'm just trying to keep things going in the right direction.

You know, I don't really pay attention to all that message board fodder. There's a bunch of gadflies who don't have lives out there who spend their time gossiping about various high school football programs. They throw all this stuff out there about Avalon, and frankly I don't have time for that.

But, basically, we're a small private school and we were effected aversely by the economic downturn. But we're still battling and we're doing fine. Last year was one of our better years. Now, we'd like to have more enrollment like most private schools, but that's the way it goes.

Obviously, numbers is a big thing. We'd like to have a few more players. With smaller squads, you really have to be well-conditioned and lucky with injuries. Those are the two big things we face year after year.

I think we're on the right track. I mean, would I like to have bigger, stronger, faster players who are also great students? Sure. I'm trying to attract those players as we speak.

But as far as changing the way things are done and taking the program to some level like the schools in the WCAC, I don't think that's realistic. At least, not until we increase the enrollment.

Obviously you want to see your program improve, but I don't have a particular end in sight. I mean, I don't have aspirations of being DeMatha or anything like that (laughs). I try to keep things in perspective. That's a good philosophy to have even outside of football.

Oh boy, I haven't really thought about that (laughs). I guess I'm an old-school coach. I believe in character building and I put the players first. That's basically my philosophy in 15 words or less.

I wouldn't say I'm a hard-ass guy (laughs). But I wouldn't say I'm right in there with the kids either. I'm sort of in-between.

But, I will say this: I believe in disciple, fundamentals and doing things the right way.

I'm a wing-T guy. I'm a former offensive lineman who learned how to block in that scheme and understands how successful it can be. So we'll run that single wing all day long.

Then defensively, I don't believe in multiple formations or particular schemes. 4-3's, Flex's, 3-4's don't mean much to me. I believe in just sound, hard-hitting defense based around your personnel. This year we're going to be small on the defensive line, so we'll try to bring out the best in our linebackers and d-backs.

Well, you certainly want to match last year's performance and go one better. We'd be disappointed if we weren't able to do that. We have a lot of players back, so it's reasonable to expect. I realize we're small in certain areas, but I'm optimistic about this season.

Sure, this is where I want to be. I've been here since 2003, and I want to see it through as long as my health permits. Now, I'm not Joe Paterno, but as long as I can do the job and do it well, this is where I'll be. That said, if Bill McGregor decided he'd like to coach at Avalon, I'd be happy to step aside for Bill (laughs).

Our football program has to be looked at in the framework of the school we're dealing with. We're a small private school. And for what we have in terms of resources and enrollment, I think we're overachievers. I'm very happy with the kids we have as far as their attitudes and work ethic.

As a coach, my view and my goals are to provide my players with the character-building benefits that football offers. That's my motivator: We want to turn out great kids who are not only great athletes, but also great young men. Wins are great, but it's not the ultimate goal.