Football Royalty 2022
It has become sort of the unofficial kickoff to the high school football season in Western Pennsylvania, an annual get together of some of the greatest coaches in WPIAL football history.
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 July 26 at Asti鈥檚 Steakhouse at the Grand View golf course in North Braddock.
A who鈥檚 who of coaches were in attendance, 11 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 Mars鈥� Eric Kasperowicz. Retired coaches included former Aliquippa-Ringgold-Seton LaSalle coach Mike Zmijanac, 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 Tarquinio (Beaver and Ellwood City) and Pat Monroe (Duquesne and South Allegheny).
The group has accounted for 49 WPIAL titles, 18 state championships and 2,604 wins.
Two special guests also attended the luncheon. Steeler great Hall of Famer Franco Harris was there. This December will mark the 50th anniversary of Harris鈥� famous 鈥淚mmaculate Reception鈥� play and Harris gave every coach in attendance at the luncheon a black and gold T-shirt with what he calls 鈥渢he official Immaculate Reception design鈥� on the front. Also there was Tim O鈥橫alley, retired executive director of the WPIAL.
Harris regaled the group with stories about the immaculate reception and thanked the coaches for the impact that they have had on what he described as 鈥淭he Great Game of High School Football.鈥�
鈥淚 know you guys set the tone for kids. I know I appreciate my high school coaches,鈥� Harris said.
Two very newsworthy topics dominated the conversation, the possibility that high school athletes in Pennsylvania could soon be allowed to have name, image and likeness (NIL) deals. The other topic was the fact that the PIAA appears ready to rewrite its competitive balance rule to include all team sports while also making it easier to force successful teams into a higher classification.
The current rule applies only to football and basketball. As now written, it measures a team鈥檚 postseason success and counts the number of transfers added, but the PIAA board has voted tentatively to remove the transfer element from the formula entirely.
The possibility of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals sparked some lively debate.
鈥淲hy not?鈥� said Zmijanac. 鈥淭here are so many kids out there who are underprivileged. I don鈥檛 think this is going to affect many kids, but maybe some kids in high school could really use that little bit of money from these kind of things. What does it hurt?鈥�
High school football in Pennsylvania doesn鈥檛 bring in anywhere near the amount of money of college football. And you can bet not many high school players would get NIL deals. But there would be some, especially top players. Already, a few states allow NIL deals for high school athletes, and some top-notch athletes have prospered.
鈥淚f you have somebody with a lot of pizazz and they know a way to work things, it can happen where they make some big money,鈥� Yannessa said. 鈥淢ost of the people won鈥檛 open the door that big, though. It will be small things.鈥�
鈥淚t will be interesting to see where it goes because I think that if you look at the college model it took off,鈥� Cherpak stated. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 expect to be what it is now, but it鈥檚 hard for me to believe that somebody is going to pay that much money to a high school athlete. It might be someone trying to recruit them to their college, a booster or something like that, but I don鈥檛 see high school kids promotions or autographs or things like that.鈥�
鈥淓verything comes downhill,鈥� Kasperowicz opined. 鈥淚t may get to us. I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to have the affect that it has at the college level, but I think it鈥檚 going to get to us. I think the sooner the PIAA gets out in front of it and is able to have a plan and be able to control whatever it is 鈥� We can鈥檛 let it get to where the college game is now, it鈥檚 just completely out of control.鈥�
One of the worries about NIL deals for athletes is that boosters or those connected with college programs will offer money to high school players just to get their commitments.
鈥淵ou think that鈥檚 not happening now?鈥� Cherpak said.
Zmijanac, joked, 鈥淏oy, that would be shocking, a college giving money to a high school kid.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a slippery slope,鈥� Lyons stated. 鈥淚鈥檓 not so sure and I know the colleges think maybe they have a plan to keep it under control and I still don鈥檛 think we鈥檝e got all the answers to this and I鈥檓 not so sure we are completely prepared to handle it at the high school level. Until that happens I鈥檓 still not sure that this is a good thing.鈥�
The PIAA last month passed on a first reading basis a rule that would allow high school athletes to make money on NIL deals. There are some stipulations in the rule and it must pass two more readings before going into effect.
Changing the competitive balance rule was met with skepticism.
鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely ridiculous,鈥� Zmijanac said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e really good you get punished. If you are well coached and kids are eligible under the state policies and they are really good and you win you get punished. That鈥檚 ridiculous. The Private schools and Catholic schools are motivating this whole thing.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 fair to punish any program who puts work in and the kids come together and they have a run of being successful,鈥� Lyons stated. 鈥淲hy would you punish them? You are actually not punishing the group that won, you are punishing the group coming after them and they haven鈥檛 played one down of football and they鈥檙e getting punished just because of the helmet they are putting on for what somebody did in front of them. I鈥檓 not so sure that鈥檚 the right answer.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why they reevaluate every couple years,鈥� Kasperowicz said. 鈥淭hey are trying to get it right and they made what they thought was the right decision when they put the transfers in and now they look back and saw some crazy situations occur that maybe put teams where they shouldn鈥檛 have been, so maybe they are going to reevaluate and change it back. As long as they are looking forward and trying to do what鈥檚 best for the student athletes. We鈥檝e got to trust that they are going to do their job and do it the right way.鈥�
鈥淚 think that is just stupid because you are going to punish teams for having success even if they follow the rules,鈥� Cherpak explained. 鈥淚f you have a good class that comes through and you win a couple of championships and right away you get bumped up, well you may not have other classes coming through and all the sudden you are going to struggle. Now if you had transfers coming, that is a different story. I鈥檓 not sure why they would not just do away with the rule if they are going to do away with the transfer part of the rule. It鈥檚 not really enforced anyways.鈥�
It will be interesting to see how these two issues play out.
High school football is gearing up. Heat acclimation begins Monday, first practices will start Aug. 15 and Week Zero of the high school football season begins Aug. 26.
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. to noon on Saturdays.