Kasperowicz, Holl take on big roles in all-star game
Under-19 squad to take on team from Mexico
Coaching in end-of-year all-star games is nothing new for Pine-Richland football coach Eric Kasperowicz. But the International Bowl X Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, isn’t just any all-star game.
“We’re pretty much the closest thing there is to an Olympic football team,” Kasperowicz said.
Kasperowicz helped coach the U.S. Under-19 national team as a defensive assistant in last year’s International Bowl, and he also served as an assistant coach in the Under Armour AllAmerican Game on Jan. 3.
This time around, he’s the one calling the shots. Kasperowicz is the head coach of the U-19 team that will take on Mexico’s national team in the main event of the eight-game showcase Friday night.
This year marks the 10th iteration of the International Bowl, an event put together by USA Football to highlight not only the top American high school players, but also those from all over the world.
The matchups feature eight U.S. all-star teams and eight foreign national teams across four age groups: under 16, under 17, under 18 and under 19. NFL stars such as Todd Gurley, Jameis Winston and Tyrann Mathieu played on the U-19 team before starting college careers.
While Kasperowicz has already experienced the spectacle of coaching in a high school all-star game inside the Dallas Cowboys’ billion-dollar stadium, the feeling will be brand new for the assistant coaches tagging along with him. Along with the four assistants joining him from his Pine-Richland staff, he tabbed Slippery Rock defensive coordinator Dom Razzano to run his defense.
But he also found a bit of an unlikely ally to be his offensive coordinator: Gateway head coach Don Holl.
“I would have been happy to be coaching the long snappers or punters or anything,” Holl said, laughing. “First he said, ‘We’ll give you an offensive position and we’ll work with it from there.’ Then he said, ‘Why don’t you just run the offense?’”
With Pine-Richland competing in Class 6A and Gateway competing in Class 5A, Kasperowicz and Holl aren’t exactly bitter rivals. They coached against each other in the past when Holl was at Seneca Valley, but the two have developed a mutual admiration for each other’s work.
“Just like in the business world, you kind of gravitate toward like-minded people,” Kasperowicz said. “Don [has] been successful and I’ve always admired what he’s done at the places he’s been.”
Kasperowicz said he and Holl run identical offenses at Pine-Richland and Gateway, with the only difference being the terminology used within the play calling. Knowing that, he had no issue with stepping back and giving Holl full control of the playsheet.
Kasperowicz and Holl aren’t just like-minded when it comes to football strategy, though. They’re both approaching this game with the same outlook, and it’s safe to say they won’t be treating it like your typical all-star football game where tackling is optional and defense is minimal.
For Holl, who played for four years at the Naval Academy and served as a lieutenant in the Navy before starting his coaching career, the game will take on an added significance.
“I got to play in four Army-Navy games, and I’ve been in the state final and WPIAL championship games at Heinz. … That being said, maybe I’m a little bit of an old soul. I love our country, I love the USA, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about being involved in a game,” Holl said.
Kasperowicz captained the Pennsylvania All-Stars in the annual Big 33 game after graduating from North Hills High School as a Parade All-American in 1993, but he did admit to being a little jealous that national all-star games like this weren’t around back then.
With the USA winning three out of four matchups on the first day of action Jan. 11, the pressure is on the U-19 team to put on a similar performance Friday night in the grand finale.