Matt Banta has been named Reservoir’s varsity football coach, taking over for longtime coach Bryan Cole.
Banta coached at Dundalk from 2015 to 2021, serving as head coach for the last five seasons, during which he led the Owls to a 39-12 record and two Baltimore County championships, a regional championship and a state finals appearance 2021. This past fall, Banta served as an assistant on the Gators’ staff working primarily with linebackers and special teams.
Cole, who also coaches boys lacrosse at Reservoir, went 63-75 in 14 seasons with the Gators, leading them to their only Class 3A East Region title in 2015. They also made the regional finals in 2013 with regional semifinal appearances in 2012 and 2014.
“First and foremost, I thought Reservoir was the perfect fit for me,” Banta said. “Demographically it’s very similar to where I just came from, so that was attractive to me. Also, I thought this place was a gold mine with talent. It’s a perfect mix of talent and resources. There are some athletic kids here that are starving for success. So, I think if I take some of the things I did over at Dundalk and bring them here, I think we can be pretty successful.”
Reservoir Athletics and Activities Manager Marcus Lewis said he’s “confident Coach Banta will continue to enhance the program while taking it to new levels academically, athletically and socially” and recognized that “Coach Cole’s contributions to the Reservoir Football program over the years is immeasurable.”
“The community is grateful for his contributions,” he added.
Banta met with his players for the first time on Wednesday and said he’s had immediate buy-in. Many of them have familiarity with him working as a physical education teacher at Reservoir, in addition to serving as an assistant on the staff last fall.
In the early part of the offseason training, roughly 65 to 70 players have attended the weight training sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays. That high attendance is something Banta hopes to continue building within the program, fostering a positive culture from the outset.
“Building a positive culture and getting buy-in from the kids,” Banta said of lessons he took from his first head coaching experience. “Recruiting kids within the building was something I was always good at over at Dundalk. I kept watching these kids walking around the hallways here that don’t play and I just didn’t understand it. I started going up to every kid I could saying, ‘Get in the weight room with us.’ That’s why our numbers have been so good. I just really want to bolster the program, get as many students bought in as we can that should be playing.”
Several months away from their first scrimmages and games, Banta had one simple message for them in his first team meeting.
“You’ve got to come here and work,” he said. “We’re moving forward, we’re not looking back. I’ve got big plans for this place and you’re either with us or you’re not. I’ll take the kids that are 100% bought in, we’ll run with those guys.”
