McConnell to coach Chartiers Valley girls
because of how successful he was as Chartiers Valley’s boys coach. He won 552 games in only 25 seasons, and his six WPIAL championships ties for the fourth-most in league history.
“There is part of me that’s sad and I’m very grateful to the people of Chartiers Valley for letting me get started here,” McConnell, 54, said. “But I feel rejuvenated. I feel like the girls job is a new beginning. I almost feel like it’s my first job again. I’ve got excitement in my body and I’m really looking forward to the challenges. People will question everything you do, and I’m sure people will wonder how I will be with the girls. But you’ll see, it will be a great experience.”
The question many around Western Pennsylvania sports want to know is why would McConnell walk away from a program he built into a power and take over the girls team? McConnell made the WPIAL playoffs in every one of his first 24 seasons as the boys coach but had his first losing record last season (8-14) and did not make the playoffs for the first time.
On the girls team, McConnell will get to coach his daughter, Megan, one of the top juniors in the WPIAL. In his years as the boys coach, McConnell coached both of his sons, T.J. and Matty. T.J. now plays for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and Matty at Robert Morris University.
“I’m not doing this just to coach my daughter,” Tim McConnell said. “I mean, I’m excited to coach her, but that is not the reason I’m doing this. Taking a look at the year we had last year, and even though we have everyone back [on the boys team], I just thought maybe I wasn’t getting through to a lot of the guys. Maybe it would be good for them to have a fresh start and maybe for me to have a fresh start.”
Sources said Chartiers Valley’s administration had talked with McConnell this spring and asked if he wanted to possibly take a year or two off from coaching the boys team. McConnell still was coaching the Chartiers Valley boys team as recently as Monday night. McConnell also has a job at Chartiers Valley as the district’s transportation coordinator.
“There’s no need to get into anything except that I want to move on and be with the girls team,” McConnell said. “I’m looking ahead. … I loved coaching the boys, but I’m still coaching because that’s what I want to do. That’s what I do. It just happens that now I’m coaching the girls.”
McConnell’s switch to the girls team was met with surprise by many in the WPIAL boys coaching fraternity. McConnell won 500 games faster (22 seasons) than any coach in WPIAL history. He is 14th in WPIAL history in wins with a record of 552146. Twice he was the PostGazette coach of the year.
“In WPIAL boys basketball over the years, there was [Blackhawk’s] John Miller and then Tim McConnell,” said New Castle boys coach Ralph Blundo, who has won five WPIAL titles in nine seasons. “John Miller sort of passed on the torch to Tim. I know of very few coaches who taught skill, how to play and how to play with great passion like Tim McConnell.”
When discussing McConnell, Blundo brought up Mike Zmijanac, who became a legendary football coach at Aliquippa before the Aliquippa school board ousted him in March. Zmijanac later became Ringgold’s coach.
“You look at what happened with Mike Zmijanac. It’s not the same as with Tim, but you’re talking about two icons who changed jobs,” Blundo said. “That’s what those two are — icons. No matter what happens, they have to go down as two of the greatest coaches of any sport in WPIAL history, and they moved on to different jobs.”
McConnell has never coached a girls team, but he does individual training on the side with boys and girls. McConnell has trained Peters Township’s Makenna Marisa and North Allegheny’s Rachel Martindale, who both were on the Post-Gazette Fabulous5 this past season.
“I’ve always worked with girls and I know I can coach girls. The game is still the same. The expectations I’ll have will always be the same,” he said.