2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the coaches

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, August 23, 2024 | 6:01 AM

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TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top coaching changes for the 2024 season.

1. Vashawn Patrick

Aliquippa

Patrick took over one of the WPIAL’s most successful programs when Mike Warfield stepped away in July. A 2000 graduate of Aliquippa, Patrick played football at Kent State and served as a Quips assistant for the past 16 seasons. He now leads a team that is coming off its first undefeated state championship. Warfield, who called his departure a “leave of absence,” went 74-6 in six seasons with four WPIAL titles and three state championships.

2. Mark Matson

Allderdice

The City League was stunned by the death in July of coach Jerry Haslett, who’d led the Dragons for 15 seasons. He won three league titles and had them in the finals nine times. With only weeks until the season opener, his player and coaching staff carried on. Matson, a Spanish teacher at Allderdice, was named coach after 10 years as an assistant.

3. Greg Perry

Mt. Lebanon

This is Perry’s third head coaching job after stints at Seton LaSalle and Keystone Oaks — and all three are within a few miles of each other. At Mt. Lebanon, Perry is the Blue Devils’ third coach in three years. He was hired in February to replace Mike Collodi, who resigned after one season. Perry has a 118-58 record in 17 seasons.

4. Marty Spieler

South Fayette

Spieler, an assistant at the high school and college level, was hired in January to replace Joe Rossi, who resigned after 17 seasons. Rossi won four WPIAL titles and two state championships with Lions. Spieler spent last season as South Fayette’s quarterbacks coach.

5. Jim Mooney

Beaver Falls

Only weeks removed from winning a second WPIAL title in four years, coach Nick Nardone resigned in January after seven seasons with the Tigers. To replace him, the school promoted Mooney, the team’s offensive line coach.

One to watch

Fred Mozzocio

New Castle

The Red Hurricanes went 2-18 combined over the past two seasons, but they’re hoping a former player might revive their winning ways. Fred Mozzocio, who went 101-35 in 12 seasons at Neshannock, was hired in December to coach his alma mater.

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Position breakdowns

QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DL | LB | CB | S | K

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Aliquippa, Allderdice, Beaver Falls, Mt. lebanon, New Castle, South Fayette