Former head coaches back on sideline — as assistants

By JOHN D’ABRUZZO

jd’abruzzo@ncnewsonline.com

It happened by chance.

During a quick trip to Lowe’s in Union Township, Rob Nogay ran into Union High football coach Stacy Robinson.

And what started as chit-chat led to each getting something they didn’t expect to find at a hardware store.

Nogay last coached at Neshannock and spent six seasons as the Lancers’ head coach until the school opened his job in 2006.

A former multi-sport star at Union, Nogay had been thinking about getting involved as a coach again, and as luck would have it, Robinson was looking to fill a spot on his staff.

“I was missing (coaching) and it seemed like the right time to get back into it,” Nogay said. “And it just so happened Stacy was looking for someone to help out.

“I enjoy being back around the kids again and helping out. I try to help as much as I can.”

Nogay is hardly the only former head coach on a staff in Lawrence County.

Former Shenango coach Brian Cooper also took a one-year break and re-joined Terry Verrelli’s staff at Wilmington this season. New Castle and Mohawk have been benefiting from the veteran experience of Frank Bongivengo Sr. and Archie Donofrio, respectively, while Neshannock has a pair of former head coaches in Bob Curry and Tom Wiczen.

The majority of the group has a “never say never” approach when discussing returning to a program as a head coach. For these six individuals, their pleasure isn’t in calling the shots; it’s as simple as teaching fundamentals and being surrounded by kids and the game.

A YEAR OFF

Nogay, 34, is a 1992 graduate of Union.

Although he doesn’t have a specific role with the team, he does work with the quarterbacks and helps with the offensive scheme. He also represents Robinson’s eyes in the sky from the coaches’ box.

“He’s another sounding board,” Robinson said. “He’s a guy who stood in the same type of shoes. It’s easy relating because he’s been a head coach and dealt with the same things I deal with.

“He’s a Union boy, too. I’m sure he feels right at home.”

Cooper and Nogay each made an exit following the 2006 season.

Nogay was forced out at Neshannock, while Cooper opted to resign from his post at Shenango to take a break and spend more time with his family.

“It was the right opportunity (to return),” said Cooper, who played for Verrelli in the late 1980s. “I missed the game and wanted to be a part of it again. I knew Terry and his system. It was one of those too good to me to be true type of things.”

Cooper, 34, served as Shenango’s head coach from 1999 to 2006 and returned as the Greyhounds’ defensive coordinator this season. He held the same position from 1994 to 1998.

“He’s a great coach,” Verrelli said. “He’s very knowledgeable on both sides of the ball. He runs the defense for us and being that he was a head coach, he has a lot to input about the offense. He’s also a great friend.”

Verrelli also is getting much more than someone with a vast knowledge of the game.

“What helps the most is that he has been around, so he’s bound to learn something even if it is mistakes,” he said. “More than the knowledge is the work ethic.

“He takes the time to prepare. It’s like a player who’s trying to get better; they work on it. When you talk about coaches, that’s hard to come by.”

The Greyhounds are the only team in Lawrence County still undefeated. Wilmington is 1-0 in District 10, Region 3-AA and 3-0 overall.

“Our defense has been great this season,” senior defensive end Dallas Hartman said. “Coach Cooper is doing a good job to prepare us. It has showed.”

FINE WISDOM

New Castle’s Frank Bongivengo Jr. and Mohawk’s Jason Long both have the luxury of having a seasoned veteran on staff.

Bongivengo has a very familiar face on board — his father.

Frank Bongivengo Sr., the legendary Shenango football coach and member of the Pennsylvania Coaches Hall of Fame, has worked with New Castle’s quarterbacks and outside linebackers for the past five seasons.

“I guess I have a passion for the game,” Bongivengo, 70, said. “I like being around the kids and watching their progression. It’s something I enjoy.”

And his son enjoys having him around.

“Just his knowledge alone is so important,” the younger Bongivengo said. “A lot of things go on during the course of the year and through out the course of a game, so his experience is a big resource on our end. With his passion and love of the game and love of the kids, you can’t ask for much more.”

The elder Bongivengo spent four seasons as an assistant to Lindy Lauro at New Castle in the early 1960s before embarking on a 33-year career at Shenango.

“He’s definitely not afraid to jump in and I’m not afraid to ask him questions,” the younger Bongivengo said. “He’s a great resource to have. I’m not too proud to ask for help when I need it, whether it be from him or any of my assistants.”

“He’s real good with that,” his father said. “He’s willing to accept advice from all his coaches. That’s important. If a position coach has something to say, he accepts it, analyzes it and makes a decision.

“I’m one of the older guys and he has a good mixture. He has an old opinion and he gets another from some of the younger coaches. He gets a lot of different views.”

Donofrio is 26 years older than Long and is the elder statesman among a young coaching staff at Mohawk.

“Yeah, they like to joke with me about that,” Donofrio, 56, said. “The joke is I was coaching before some of these guys were born.”

Donofrio spent 11 seasons as the Warriors’ head coach in the 1980s and ’90s. He left Mohawk after the 1993 season to work as a defensive coordinator at Kennedy Christian (now Kennedy Catholic) in Hermitage for nine years before returning to Long’s staff in the same capacity in 2002.

“Archie, being on a pretty young staff, brings a lot of football knowledge,” Long said. “He’s had that experience with the ups and downs. He knows how to handle the tough times and the good times. He’s a good support system.”

Donofrio enjoys his current role.

“You don’t have to deal with the outside things, decisions or things like that,” he said. “All you have to do is coach. You get to go to practice and work with the kids. To me, that’s the best part of coaching.”

Long, 30, is in his sixth season at the helm of the Warriors.

“Archie has always been good to me,” Long said. “He put in for the job too (when I applied) and supported me. Archie has helped me, personally, with being a coach and a dad in the community. I think a lot of him.

“When you talk about coaching and teaching, he’s a rare individual when you think about what he has done for the youth in the Mohawk community. He has no ego; it’s always about the kids.”

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE

Pat Cuba has the luxury of two former head coaches on his staff, and the second-year Neshannock coach treasures their expertise.

“It’s huge,” Cuba said. “Not only do they bring experience, but they have the knowledge of the game. A lot of guys have a lot of years coaching, but it’s that experience and knowledge about the game that’s so huge in the way you go about teaching kids.”

Wiczen, 48, was a head coach at Neshannock for four seasons in the early 1990s and is in his second year as Cuba’s defensive coordinator. When Wiczen left Neshannock in 1993, he spent the next four seasons at Westminster, where he worked alongside Cuba as a defensive coach under former Titans’ coach Gene Nicholson.

Curry, 63, is in his fourth year at Neshannock and is the junior high coach. He also scouts for the varsity team and is in the coaches’ box during games.

“As a former varsity coach, you can really teach fundamentals,” Curry said. “I hope it carries over as to when the kids get to the varsity level. We’re at the point now where some guys are actually performing with the varsity, and it makes me happy to see them succeed.”

Curry has a vast amount of coaching experience, leading Union as a head coach on two occasions. He also had a stint coaching at West Middlesex.

“The great thing about these guys is you can bounce ideas off of them,” Cuba said. “Coaching is a big part of that. They might have had the same idea 20 years ago and it didn’t work for them, so they’ll explain that you might want to try another way.”