COACHES ADJUSTING TO NEW ROLES
Bob Petcash said his transition from assistant to head coach at Pine-Richland has been smooth.
Well, aside from dealing with that pandemic thing that has caused some parts of the job to feel like pulling teeth.
Petcash should know. He’s an oral surgeon.
This is not the ideal season to take over as coach of a high school program, but those who have moved into new roles at WPIAL schools are managing as best they can during these COVID-19 times, all while trying to keep a positive mindset heading into a season filled with uncertainty.
Petcash, who took the reigns of one of the top programs in Class 6A, was among the more notable hires this offseason. Some of the others were his predecessor, Jeff Ackermann, going to Baldwin, Dan DeRose heading to North Allegheny, Nick Lackovich returning to Aliquippa and Sean Crummie taking over at Cornell.
“Having been in the system for the last six years as a varsity assistant, the transition was seamless,” Petcash said. “The administration and Sean Simmons, the AD, have been super supportive. Having a good working relationship with all of the players and staff, it has gone really well. We’re going to keep grinding and keep the culture going.”
Ackermann, meanwhile, is trying to create a culture change at Baldwin. A man who has won five WPIAL titles (three at Moon and two at Pine-Richland) will try to continue those winning ways at a school that went 14-29 and won only one section game over the past two seasons.
“I think any time you go to a new place, it gets the fire going again,” Ackermann said. “To go to a place like Baldwin where they tend to have losing teams in a lot of the boys sports, we really want to change that mindset and attitude. We want them to think positive.”
One of Pine-Richland’s rivals, North Allegheny, found an excellent coach of its own when it lured DeRose from Penn Hills. In five seasons, DeRose went 10026 and won the WPIAL Class 6A championship in 2018. North Allegheny has never won a WPIAL title.
DeRose’s departure at Penn Hills created an opening, one that was filled by Chris Giles, an assistant at Woodland Hills last season who was the head coach
at Propel Andrew Street for three seasons.
Like Ackermann and DeRose, Lackovich is a former WPIAL championship coach taking over a program this season. But in Lackovich’s case, it’s not a new gig, just a return. Lackovich won two WPIAL Class 2A titles and a PIAA title in three seasons as Aliquippa’s coach from 2013-16. His 2014-15 team went 29-1 and the 201516 team 30-0.
For Lackovich, though, it hasn’t been a happy return thus far due to pandemic complications.
“It sucks,” he said. “With all of the virus stuff, you can’t plan for anything. It would be nice if they bagged it for a month and then reopened it.”
Lackovich added, “From [the welcoming back] standpoint, it has been all good. It’s just that when you’re a competitor, if it can’t be done right, I don’t want to do it. And it’s just hard to get things done right.”
Meanwhile, Dwight “Dewey” Hines, who guided Aliquippa to the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals the past three seasons, is in his first season at Sto- Rox. The Vikings advanced to the WPIAL Class 2A final last season.
A pair of coaches with WPIAL titles on their resume decided to step down from coaching after last season: Adam Kaufman at Moon and Gary Goga at Peters Township. Tony DiFiore is the new coach at Moon, while Joe Urmann takes over at Peters Township. DiFiore had been one of Kaufman’s assistants. Urmann’s previous head coaching job was at Baldwin.
Crummie has some big shoes to fill at Cornell. Bill Sacco retired after 34 years at three different schools, winning 484 games and helping the Raiders reach the WPIAL Class 1A title game last season. Sacco remains Cornell’s athletic director.
“I’m lucky he’s still there to give me some pointers,” Crummie said.
Crummie has spent a lot of time around another highly successful coach, only he calls him dad. Chuck Crummie collected 635 wins in his career. Sean was a longtime assistant for his dad at Central Catholic before becoming an assistant at North Allegheny last season. His brother, Devin, is in his second season at Allderdice. They are the only set of brothers who are both head coaches at WPIAL schools.
In Sean’s case, another big change is this: He won’t have to play the role of Grinch this year. Cuts often need to be made at those larger schools, but at a school the size of Cornell, that’s unnecessary. The Raiders had 14 kids come out for the team, grades nine through 12.
“It’s a little different,” he said. “You’ve got to get as many kids as you can. But it’s been good. The kids are buying in, which is great.”