Monessen is headed in right direction

Aug 23, 2026 By Bill Hughes 4 min read

It took longer than he would have liked, but sixth-year Monessen football coach Wade Brown is starting to see things where he would like them to be.

“Just in terms of getting the kids to be football players,” he said. “When I first got here, I felt we had a lot of athletes that were playing football.

“Now, with the offseason program with lifting and developing football players, we are going in the right direction.”

Brown has five starters back on offense and eight on defense.

The five returning starters on offense are junior right tackle Roodly Destyl, who is in his third year as a starter, senior fourth-year starting wide receiver Jayveon Jeffries, senior running back Kayden Kolbeck, who started at receiver last year, senior quarterback Kaier Payne and junior center Xavier Bell, a three-year starter.

“Roodly and Xavier will be important for us up front and we could use Roodly at fullback as well,” Brown said. “Jayveon is better, and Kayden said he wanted to get better and he has proven it as he hasn’t missed a day since we started the offseason.

“I am expecting us to be really good on offense, and I think we should be able to pass the ball better this year with Kaier.”

Brown went into detail about how Tony Ruscitto has been working with the quarterbacks.

“I am glad to have him on, and he was my head coach my sophomore year (at Duquesne in the early-1990s),” Brown said. “The kids are learning so much from him.”

Other starters on offense are senior right guard Josh Smith, freshman left guard Derrick Dixon, senior left tackle Jaquan Craggette, junior wide receiver Kezjere Butler, junior H-back Daniel Towler, senior slot receiver Damaje Martin.

Craggette started as a sophomore but was hurt on the first play of last season and missed the rest of the campaign.

The Greyhounds will use multiple offenses and variations within each.

“We feel with Kolbeck we will be able to run the ball. He has put on some strength and will be a viable tailback for us this year,” Brown said. “We hope to be able to both run and throw the ball.”

Defensively, the Greyhounds are looking to make things happen and improve upon last year when they gave up an average of 25.7 points per game.

“We expect the defense to be good, and we have a lot of returning starters,” Brown said. “They understand what we are trying to get accomplished on defense. A lot of them have started two or three years and know what we expect. We want to be consistent.”

Destyl and Payne started on the defensive line last year, although Payne might move to outside linebacker.

“As our starting quarterback, we don’t want (Payne) in the trenches on the defensive line,” Brown said.

Butler returns at outside linebacker while both Jeffries and Kolbeck return at safety.

Another safety from last year, sophomore Ja’cory Minnie, will slide over to cornerback.

Towler and Creggette are middle linebackers, Smith and Dixon will play the defensive line, while Martin and freshman Stefan Hall will see time at cornerback.

Destyl and junior Addye Fields will handle the kicking duties.

Monessen is in the tough Class A Black Hills Conference, and Brown knows his team will have to play hard each week.

“Our goals and expectations are to win the conference,” he said. “We know that with Fort Cherry, and Washington coming down from Double-A, and with Burgettstown, Bentworth, Brentwood and Sto-Rox, it will be tough.”

Monessen’s opener Friday, when it hosts cross-river rival Charleroi, is approaching fast, and Brown knows what has to happen before then.

“We just have to keep working like we have been working,” he said. “If we can get the line on the same page and clicking, with our skill players, we just have to be able to put it together and stay in the moment to make a run.”