Former coach reflects on his ‘season’
Any telling of Quaker Valley’s storybook year likely will have a resignation as a hook
If John Tortorea had to do it all over again, he would still resign as Quaker Valley’s football coach shortly before the start of this season. But he would not want to relive the past few months.
Tortorea resigned as Quaker Valley’s coach in early August, a week before the start of official practice. He cited parental interference as the main reason for his decision.
Tortorea did not attend a Quaker Valley game this season. He did not watch a quarter or even a play when the Quakers were on television. Although he didn’t watch, he followed the team — and ached.
Mixed emotions torture Tortorea. He is ecstatic about what happened for Quaker Valley, and he has high praise for Jerry Veshio, the man who took over as coach. Then again, it hurts that Tortorea wasn’t along for the championship ride.
“The past few months have been the worst in my life, to be honest with you,” said Tortorea. “Because they kept winning and kept going so long. It was just hard because those kids were like my sons. A lot of people have asked how I could do what I did? Well, a lot of people don’t understand and I don’t owe an explanation to anybody. I wish I was there to go through this ride with those kids. … I have kept asking myself, ‘What can I learn from this?’ I had to step back and I realize that I don’t know if they would’ve experienced all this had I stayed.” Why not? “With the politics that go into relationships with boosters and parents, my presence would’ve been a distraction to those kids and the team,” said Tortorea, who never talked to the team after he resigned. “I made the best decision for those kids. I was getting distracted because certain folks were trying to guide the program a different way. It’s unfortunate that people use high school sports to feed their egos.”
In Tortorea’s six seasons, Quaker Valley made the playoffs once and had a winning record his last four seasons.
Tortorea said he had minimal contact with a few players during the season, only through text messages. But he heaped loads of praise on Veshio and Quaker Valley athletic director Mike Mastroianni. Veshio hadn’t coached high school football since the 1980s and had been the PA announcer for Quaker Valley games.
“Mike Mastroianni made the best decision, pulling that man out of the press box,” Tortorea said of Veshio. “You can’t root against Jerry Veshio. He’s a pure gentleman, so humble and he deserved all of this because his whole life has been about Quaker Valley. He stepped into a rough situation, but just because of how he is and how those kids are, they pulled through. I don’t know if anyone else but Jerry Veshio could’ve done this.”