Football Royalty 2023: Coaches speak out on controversial topics (copy)
An annual get-together of some of the greatest coaches in WPIAL football history has once again become sort of the unofficial kickoff to the high school football season in Western Pennsylvania.
The event is organized each year by my good friend Bill Priatko. It is a chance to gather and break bread and discuss the great game of high school football. This year鈥檚 event was held on Aug. 1 at Asti鈥檚 Steakhouse at the Grandview golf course in North Braddock.
A who鈥檚 who of coaches were in attendance, 12 in all. The list was headed by three coaches who are still active: Thomas Jefferson鈥檚 Bill Cherpak, Central Valley鈥檚 Mark Lyons and Rochester鈥檚 Gene Matsook. Retired coaches included former Uniontown and Upper St. Clair coach Jim Render, Don Yannessa (Aliquippa, Baldwin and Ambridge), Tom Nola (Clairton and Serra), George Smith (McKeesport), Joe Hamilton (Blackhawk, Midland, New Brighton and Hempfield), Pat Monroe (Duquesne and South Allegheny), George Novak (Steel Valley and Woodland Hills), Dan Matsook (Rochester) and Jack McCurry (North Hills).
The group has accounted for 58 WPIAL titles and 22 PIAA championships.
Two special guests also attended the luncheon: former Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert and Tim O鈥橫alley, retired executive director of the WPIAL.
A moment of silence was observed in honor of a member of the group, former Beaver and Ellwood City head coach Pat Tarquinio, who passed away Feb. 27.
The luncheon was a sounding board and the three active coaches tackled some of the issues facing high school football in Western Pennsylvania and around the country.
The ongoing debate about public and private schools was addressed.
鈥淢y viewpoint is that it is what it is,鈥� Cherpak stated. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always been there and it鈥檚 always going to be the same. Quite honestly you鈥檝e seen more kids moving around now through public schools too, and I think it鈥檚 kind of a trickle down effect from what you are seeing in college with the transfer portal and kids moving around trying to find the best situation for themselves. I think if it was more equitable in terms of the rules, you can鈥檛 fault kids for wanting the best situation.
鈥淚 think where it becomes bad is when kids are recruited out of your program, and things like that is where it becomes an issue, but it鈥檚 never going to change.鈥�
鈥淭he only way it gets solved is in the legislature,鈥� Lyons said. 鈥淭hat is the only way to put some finality to this, but again they are tweaking the rules here and there, but I鈥檓 not so sure they can get control of it. Sometimes I think we鈥檙e almost heading towards what Ohio does where it鈥檚 almost open enrollment and in today鈥檚 game too much AAU is going on and too many things going on with kids and what can it do for me personally, not so much for the team, and that鈥檚 going to make it real tough. And I think some kids are happy sitting out of the playoffs just so they can pick where they want to play.鈥�
鈥淭he local governments have been trying to do things and also the WPIAL,鈥� Gene Matsook said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough situation, but maybe the higher-ups can step forward and look into it a little bit more.鈥�
The PIAA tweaked the competitive balance rule in July of 2023. The PIAA competitive balance rule that now targets only football and basketball is expanding to include more team sports and some individual ones.
Under the rule, teams that have postseason success are forced into a higher classification to compete against opponents with larger enrollments. The PIAA board voted to add the rule to baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, field hockey, lacrosse, tennis and boys wrestling. The PIAA voted to remove the transfer element from the formula entirely. That means teams could be forced into a higher classification against larger opponents based on postseason success alone.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 understand it at all,鈥� Cherpak opined. 鈥淲hy have it 鈥� so you are going to penalize a team who has a good class that comes through? You know three or four years ago we had that group come through and they were a fantastic group, every kid from TJ, and we won back-to-back state championships. Now we would be penalized for that, and there鈥檚 a lot of schools who have done that who may not have a group coming through after that really competitive, but they are forced to move up and it just doesn鈥檛 make any sense to me.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very cyclical and it鈥檚 always going to be that way,鈥� Cherpak offered. 鈥淣ow they are sending your base of where you are that鈥檚 ludicrous. How does Aliquippa ever move back to where they should be? How do these teams ever get back down? If you win a game or you win some championships now you are stuck in 5A forever or 6A even though you can鈥檛 compete.
鈥淚t just doesn鈥檛 make any sense and without the transfer part of it now it鈥檚 just like you can鈥檛 be good. If you are a team that won a state championship you wouldn鈥檛 lose on purpose, but you are thinking to yourself this could be very damaging if you know what鈥檚 coming up through your system and there is not much coming up. If you win again you are going to be in bad shape.鈥�
鈥淲hen competitive balance rules came out a few years back I didn鈥檛 think it was the final product,鈥� Lyons said. 鈥淚 think they threw something out and got some feedback and let it play out for a few years and now they took out the transfer rule and it鈥檚 strictly all about the competitive balance and they will let that run it鈥檚 course for a few cycles and see if that鈥檚 serving it鈥檚 purpose and ultimately that levels the playing field out, but they will revisit it every year like they should. I鈥檓 sure we鈥檒l see some tweaks to that also.鈥�
Since the PIAA moved to six classifications in 2016-17 it has been a hot button issue in the WPIAL. Many feel the WPIAL would be better served returning to four classifications.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 been a fight here for the last couple of years,鈥� Matsook stated. 鈥淭he Eastern part of the state has the most population, but it hurts 6A, 5A and 4A over here. Getting that happy balance is going to be the big key.
鈥淚t has helped in 1A and 2A who have the most teams, but 6A only has five teams. Hopefully they can get that rectified.鈥�
鈥淭he other part of it is the competitive balance it doesn鈥檛 exist anymore,鈥� Cherpak said. 鈥淚 think if you looked, we are in 4A and if you looked at 4A last year there were probably three really quality teams and some other ones. Look at 3A, Belle Vernon didn鈥檛 have a game that I think they didn鈥檛 win by mercy rule. There is just no competitive balance because of if they are pushing teams up or down and we have all the single-A schools in the Western part of the state, the East has all the big schools. And to satisfy the few it really has changed a lot of other schools for the worse.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have those rivalries anymore that we used to have. We don鈥檛 play Elizabeth Forward anymore, we hardly play Belle Vernon in anything. Those were such a big part of our rivalries and being a part of high school football and high school sports, even basketball. You need those rivalries and they don鈥檛 exist anymore. We have three games where it鈥檚 an hour trip to get to an away game. It鈥檚 a sign of the times and changing, but I don鈥檛 think it was a step in the right direction.鈥�
鈥淭he six classification has helped some of smaller classifications,鈥� Lyons said. 鈥淚 think you saw that with new teams deep in the playoffs and new teams winning some WPIAL titles. I鈥檓 sure that was one of the purposes behind it. It might have fixed part of the problem, I don鈥檛 know if it fixed all of it.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 help 6A. They are still trying to navigate that. I still think on the horizon you may see some sort of hybrid approach with the 6A classification, but it鈥檚 a work in progress. I鈥檓 not so sure this is set in stone.鈥�
Recruiting and social media drew some interesting comments.
鈥淚 think where it becomes bad is when kids are recruited out of your program and things like that is where it becomes an issue, but it鈥檚 never going to change.
鈥淭he thing about it now through social media in the past to make contact with a kid you had to do some research,鈥� Cherpak said. 鈥淣ow one click and you are in contact with the parents and the kid. It is so different. I鈥檓 old school, I don鈥檛 do social media and I鈥檓 not involved in any of that online stuff. But that鈥檚 how the kids live and that鈥檚 how schools recruit, college coaches that鈥檚 how they recruit kids. So for a high school kid to reach out to a high school coach or to a player it鈥檚 simple now, whether it鈥檚 recruiting or tampering or whatever they want to call it they are trying to do whatever is best for their program.鈥�
鈥淲ith social media you get trapped,鈥� Lyons offered. 鈥淲hat happens when somebody reaches out to you and gets your phone number and shoots you a text? That text is on your phone and the next thing you know you are connected to maybe having communication with a player. I鈥檓 not so sure that it鈥檚 probably going to get worse before it gets better.
鈥淪ocial media is a gray area and I don鈥檛 think you can ever get your hands around it. And again I honestly believe we are headed to it getting worse before we can really wrap our hands around it. The decision makers, they got there hands full. They are going to have to make some tough, hard decisions. What those are I鈥檓 sure we are going to find out in the near future.鈥�
鈥淭hings are filtering down from the colleges,鈥� Matsook said. 鈥淜ids are moving different places and high school kids see all that and they want to do the same thing. Somebody needs to step in and settle it down a little bit so it gets on an even playing field.鈥�
Colbert was thrilled to visit with the high school coaches and offered this message.
鈥淗igh school football and coaches were a big part of my life,鈥� Colbert stated. 鈥淩on Hughes was my coach and I was a very average player, but what Ron did for me and my career I can鈥檛 measure. I think everybody at this luncheon would say the same thing about their high school football experience and their high school football coach.鈥�
As for the state of the game of high school football in Western Pennsylvania, let鈥檚 give the last word to Cherpak.
鈥淚 think numbers are up,鈥� Cherpak stated. 鈥淚 think kids are involved. I think you see a lot more teams now that are able to be competitive in terms of numbers. You鈥檝e got teams that are building up their programs. The taboo of if you play football you are going to get hurt is kind of diminished and I think people are a lot more comfortable with it. If you do things the right way with the youth organizations, I tell our youth people and our middle school that I just want the kids to enjoy football so they want to keep playing.
鈥淚t鈥檚 still a great sport and it still has an enormous effect on so many people.鈥�
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Sunday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m.-noon on Saturdays.