Hanson leaves West Greene for South Allegheny
In four seasons as head football coach at West Greene High School, Brian Hanson developed the Pioneers into one of the most prolific offenses in the WPIAL, led by record-setting running backs Ben Jackson and Colin Brady.
Brady will be back for his senior season next fall but Hanson will not.
South Allegheny announced Thursday the hiring of Hanson as the Gladiators鈥� new head coach.
Hanson will be SA鈥檚 fourth coach in three seasons. Former Ringgold head coach Darwin Manges was hired by South Allegheny for the 2022 season, but he resigned in mid-October, citing health reasons. Desmond Ball served as the Gladiators鈥� interim coach for the remainder of the season.
Hanson had 24-16 record in four seasons at West Greene and twice during that span the Pioneers went undefeated in the Tri-County South Conference.
In 2019, Hanson鈥檚 first at West Greene, the Pioneers went 10-2 and defeated Greensburg Central Catholic 36-0 in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs before losing to Sto-Rox in the semifinals. Jackson rushed for 3,076 yards and scored 50 touchdowns during that season.
West Greene鈥檚 2021 team also went 7-0 in the conference and finished the year with an 8-3 record.
鈥淏rian was a good Hudl guy who got a lot of exposure to colleges for our guys,鈥� said West Greene athletic director Bill Simms. 鈥淗e is very good at networking and you need that in the job. That is going to be sorely missed.鈥�
Simms agreed that South Allegheny is getting a quality football coach.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a good coach in a way that he thinks there鈥檚 only football at the school,鈥� Simms said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a compliment. He has a one-track mind for football.鈥�
Hanson posted on social media Thursday that he had accepted the South Allegheny position.
鈥淓motional day today. Today I made it official and resigned from West Greene High School. I will be forever thankful for my players and administration. I know West Greene Football will be in good hands going forward,鈥� Hanson posted on Twitter.
Hanson鈥檚 resignation has not yet been accepted by West Greene, so Simms could not give a timetable of when the job will be posted or when he would like to have the next coach hired.
鈥淲e hope we have a guy on staff who could take the job, but you never know what is going to happen,鈥� Simms said. 鈥淲e have to go through the formality of accepting (Hanson鈥檚) resignation and they鈥檝e already had the December school board meeting.鈥�
South Allegheny had a 1-9 record in the recently concluded season and went winless in five Class 3A Interstate Conference games. That鈥檚 the same conference that includes state champion Belle Vernon. South Allegheny鈥檚 lone win was in the season opener against Yough, 25-7.