Basketball coaches tend to ‘dress down’

sleeve polo shirts,” said Blundo. “We have six or seven and we all wear the same now. As long as everyone is uniform and neat, that’s what matters. We try to do the same with our team. They all have to dress the same.”

Bob Natale is a New Castle assistant and the brother-in-law of Stanley at Union.

“He’s tried to dress me,” Stanley said of Natale. “I look at some of these guys and they look good. I envy them. Even in a tie, I don’t look good. So I figure, if I’m not going to look good, then I’m going to feel good.”

But don’t think that every coach in the WPIAL has gone to the relaxed look. Plenty still wear a shirt and tie. Many still wear a sport coat. David and his staff are fit to be tied and David doesn’t see it changing.

“I just always thought you’re in a position of respect as a coach,” said David.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t disrespect anyone who doesn’t wear a coat and tie. But I started here not long after a legend in Dick Black, who sat there on the bench for 30-some years in a coat and tie. Out of respect to him and the program, wearing a coat and tie was just something I did.”

Then David laughed a little and added, “Sometimes I do get jealous. I see coaches in sweats and sneakers and, man, they look pretty comfortable.”

But in the end, maybe a coach’s attire doesn’t have any effect on his team’s play. Or does it?

“I might be a dying breed,” said David. “But I know this. Wearing a suit coat and tie hasn’t gotten us any extra calls from any officials.”