Ahead of the Commanders' Sunday Night Football game against the Falcons, Steve Rapp, the head football coach of Dr. Henry A. Wise, met up with Washington Legend Santana Moss. All the Commanders' Coach of the Week selections were invited to the regular season home finale, and, Rapp was told, all of them were talking to Moss for a podcast conversation. It turns out the Commanders had a surprise up their sleeve.
"I'm talking to Santana Moss. He asked me a couple questions that I answered, and then he ended with, 'So how does it feel to be the Commanders' Coach of the Year?' I said, 'Shoot, I don't know!," Rapp recalled with a laugh. "But then [Commanders Director of Youth Football Dan Levy] popped around the corner with the [customized] jersey and congratulations. It was surreal."
With the honor, the Commanders donated $5,000 to Dr. Henry A. Wise high school and Rapp becomes one of 32 nominees for the Don Shula High School Coach of the Year award. At halftime of Week 17 game, Rapp was featured on the Northwest Stadium videoboards along with the Commanders other high school Coaches of the Week.
Rapp became a standout in the Commanders Coach of the Week pool after leading the Pumas to an 11-2 season. They shut out teams eight times and scored 530 points en route to an appearance in the Maryland 4A state championship. And while the record and stats from his first year as a head coach are impressive, what's more powerful is all that Rapp achieved and navigated this season that isn't reflected in a box score.
As Wise's offensive coordinator for over a decade, Rapp helped the Pumas secure five 4A titles under then head coach DaLawn Parrish. In early 2024, Parrish opted to leave the program, and after a coaching search, Rapp was tapped to inherit the Prince George's country powerhouse. Athletic director Jason Gordon felt confident in both the experience and tools Rapp would be bringing to the role.
"One of the biggest things we look for in our athletic program is continuity, and Coach Rapp was very familiar with the student athletes, very familiar with the process and with the athletic department's goals. So, it was a natural fit once he interviewed," Gordon said.
Rapp immediately got to work on putting his stamp on the program, hammering home values such as personal accountability, structure, seeing through commitments and more. He preached focus and called for ignoring outside noise -- whether that came in the form of media expectations, college coaches on the recruiting trail or anywhere else. Rapp's motto for the Puma's season in 2024 became, "Purpose Greater Than Anybody's Opinion."
"That's how I wanted to brand our program. That no outside opinions matter, it's just us versus us all the time," Rapp explained. "Each individual player is greater as a person, an athlete and as a unit than anyone's opinion of them."
All through the spring and early summer, his football players prepared to execute for the 2024 season. And then, just after the July 4 holiday, before high school football training camps around the country had kicked off in earnest, an unimaginable tragedy struck the Dr. Henry A. Wise community and made national news. Three former Wise teammates, Isaiah Hazel, Anthony Lytton Jr. and Khyree Jackson, were killed in a car crash in Prince George's County.
"I know that Coach Rapp was close to the young men and that was a heavy burden on him. And actually, once he got hired that was probably one of his first big responsibilities," Gordon said. "Coach Rapp stepped in and stepped up, handled the vigil and a lot of the responsibilities on the school's behalf to make sure that we had a fitting tribute for these young men."
It was a period full of pain and confusion where life and football were put in perspective. Rapp navigated it the best he could and found solace and meaning -- for himself and for his players -- in seeing Wise as a family, one that would be able to get through any challenge by leaning on each other.
"We're only focused on us and that 'us' is anybody that has ever attended Wise, played at Wise, is a part of Wise, whatever. That focus is always on us as a unit," Rapp said. "And whatever that looks like, whether it's helping your brother, holding your brother down or looking out for your brother, it always involves 'us.' That's our message, and that's never gonna change."
That message was a guiding force as the season got underway. On that first Friday night of September, the air was thick with questions and possibilities. What would this year hold for the Pumas? How would the team fare under Rapp? In the season opener, they stumbled, but Rapp "shook it off and kept it moving."
"We returned a good amount of defensive players, so I knew we were going to be stout defensively. The question just kind of was how we were going to be offensively," Rapp said. "I think, like most teams, it took a couple of weeks for the offense to catch up, but as the offense caught up, right then things kind of took off."
After that first week loss, Rapp and the Pumas went on to win ten games in a row. They were flying high. Players set school records and emerged as highly-touted college prospects. Rapp was making some of the most cherished memories of his coaching career. He logged his first-ever win, which happened to be a victory against his alma mater Eleanor Roosevelt. He coached alongside two players he used to coach at Wise who decided to come back in what he described as "like a proud dad moment."
In measuring success, it would be easy to fixate on scorelines and win percentage. So, too, would it be easy as a high school coach to only care about players when they're in high school. But that's never been Steve Rapp.
"He doesn't just look at a football player for their current 'use.' He looks at them for their future goals and aspirations, and he tries to prepare them for their future," Gordon said. "He shows genuine concern with where the young men are going and helps them in the [college] decision-making process with trying to find the best fit."
Rapp knows he can be an influence on his student-athletes' lives. He views it both as a serious responsibility and one of his favorite parts of the job.
"I love that I have an opportunity help build young men," Rapp said. "I love seeing young men get the opportunity to go to college and better themselves and kind of lay the groundwork for the next 40 years of their lives."
That holistic care approach creates a culture that fosters success in multiple forms. On the field this year it helped propel Wise to the state championship. True to form and his 2024 motto, Rapp is quick to credit the whole support system -- from his team and staff to his administration and wife -- for making the run possible.
Unfortunately, Rapp's inaugural season as head coach did not finish with the cherry on top of a state title. Major injuries, including one of the team's best players breaking a leg in the first half, didn't help the title game against the Quince Orchard Cougars go the Pumas way. Though Wise fell in that final game, there's little doubt as to whether Rapp deserves praise for his 2024 season.
"I think he did an outstanding job," Gordon said.
As for Rapp, there's no rest for the weary. He only let himself take a day or two after the state championship before getting right back to work "trying to get it right" for 2025. For Rapp, molding his group into great football players, but more importantly well-rounded men with a future outside of sport, doesn't have an offseason.
"You got to try to win every rep, whether that's in the classroom, in the weight room, on the track, in life, whatever that looks like," he said. "Ultimately if you can put those unique reps together then usually, you're going to end up in a good place."
