Athletics were springboard for Wydo’s success
Like many athletes of his era, South Union鈥檚 Bill Wydo used athletics as a springboard to success.
鈥淚t helped me get a degree,鈥� Wydo explained. 鈥淔ootball was such a big influence on my life, because it opened doors for me.鈥�
Wydo, a standout football player at South Union High School, was a key cog on some competitive Blue Devil squads in the late 1950鈥檚. South Union posted records of 4-4-1 in 1955, 6-3 in 1956 and 7-1 in 1957.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 play at all as a freshman,鈥� Wydo recalled. 鈥淚 played some as a sophomore, and then I lettered as a starter as a junior and senior.
鈥淚n 1957, we were 7-1 and on the verge of WPIAL playoff consideration when German beat us, 33-0, in the final game. Rich Novak and Allen Bierer were both injured in the first quarter of the German game and that cost us dearly. That was also the season when the Asiatic Flu forced postponement of the Waynesburg game and a delay in playing German. We had a nice team a really nice team. A lot of guys got scholarships, it was a good football team.鈥�
The 190-pound Wydo played offensive guard and linebacker for the Blue Devils.
The game with North Union was the big game on the schedule.
鈥淲e beat them my senior year,鈥� Wydo stated. 鈥淲e were happy campers, we marched through the streets and the band would play and we had a grand time. We knew most of the North Union guys, we had a thing called the NUSU, which was more of a social kind of thing and we had events together. Obviously, it was a rivalry, and when we played it was no holds barred.鈥�
Park Glass was Wydo鈥檚 football coach at South Union and Wydo holds him in high regard.
鈥淗e was a grand coach,鈥� Wydo opined. 鈥淗e was a former naval officer and he had that kind of training. He was a good football coach and had a good football mind, but he was a role model, the guy was just somebody that you looked up to. He and assistant Ringy Stefancin were both role models.鈥�
Wydo was on the All-Fayette County Class A team and was honorable mention All-Fayette County as a senior.
鈥淭hat was a nice thing to have,鈥� Wydo said. 鈥淚 was very lucky, we had some great players in the county back then.鈥�
When Wydo graduated from South Union in 1958, he got some help in going on to college at Saint Vincent.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have a real stellar high school record,鈥� Wydo stated. 鈥淚 was having difficulty getting into school. My uncle Frank went to Cornell and Duquesne and I was interested in going to the Ivy League, but I didn鈥檛 have the grades. I had a couple of small schools offer scholarships. Joe Loncaric was assistant principal at South Union and he was a Saint Vincent College graduate. He was a football player and captain of the football team. He took me up to Saint Vincent and he walked into the registrars office and he told them why I should be accepted. The registrar said no, Loncaric wouldn鈥檛 leaveuntil I was accepted, then Al DeLuca knew I played a little football and was a friend of my uncle Frank got involved. Between those two I got into Saint Vincent College.鈥�
Wydo played four years at offensive guard for the Bearcats and was a three-time All West Penn Conference selection on teams that went 4-2-1 in 1958, 3-4 in 1959, 4-3-1 in 1960 and 3-3-1 in 1961.
鈥淲e had small college teams,鈥� Wydo remembered. 鈥淲e had some good ballplayers on our teams. I played four years there. I played left guard and middle linebacker. I was again very fortunate. I like football and I had good time at Saint Vincent.鈥�
Wydo played for Al Deluca at Saint Vincent.
鈥淗e was a great coach,鈥� Wydo said. 鈥淗e was a good guy and he was a tremendous after dinner speaker. He was a very sought after speaker.鈥�
Wydo received a BS degree in Business Administration from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Upon graduation he entered the U. S. Marine Corps and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in December 1962. He served in various command and staff billets in the Marine Corps and retired in the grade of Colonel in February 1990. Highlights of his military career include service as an infantry officer in the Vietnam War, command of an Infantry Battalion and Marine Barracks, Director of Drill Instructor School, Chief of Current Operations U. S. Central Command, and Deputy Inspector General of the Marine Corps. While in the Marine Corps, Bill spent more than 10 years in training and education positions of increasing responsibility. He was director of two schools, and was head of Instructional Systems Development for the Marine Corps.
While at Quantico, he played some more football.
鈥淭hey called us out one day and asked everybody that played college football to step forward,鈥� Wydo explained. 鈥淭hey asked where you played and guys said Ohio State and Penn State, I said Saint Vincent and they told me to step back. I said I know how to play this game. They gave me an opportunity to play on the intramural Quantico base team and then I played on the Quantico Marine team. In 1963 we went 10-1 and won the Missile Bowl for the national service title. I played a total of 11 years of service football at other bases on intramural teams.鈥�
He is a graduate of the Amphibious Warfare School, Naval War College, and The Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Wydo received a Masters of Public Administration Degree from George Washington University in 1982. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Wydo was a Law Firm Administrator. In 1993, he began working on U.S. Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy manpower, readiness, and training matters for Acton Burnell, Inc. of Alexandria, Virginia where he was Director Manpower, Readiness, & Training Division.
Wydo, 74, retired from the private sector in 2006, he and his wife of 50 years, Jean, reside in Burke, Virginia, and they have one daughter, Wendy, and one grandson, Sam Malone.
Wydo was inducted into the Saint Vincent Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.
鈥淭hat was a surprise when they called,鈥� Wydo stated. 鈥淚 was very surprised and honored, that was a nice deal and it was great to go back.鈥�
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Monday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.