2010s TribLive HSSN All-Decade Football Team: Coaches
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Saturday, January 4, 2020 | 5:00 PM
South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi is drenched by the water cooler after defeating Dunmore, 28-16, in the PIAA Class AA state championship game against Dunmore Satuday, Dec. 13, 2014, at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey.
Pine-Richland head coach Eric Kasperowicz is doused by gatorade as his team celebrates their win against Central Catholic in the WPIAL AAAA championship game at Heinz Field on Friday Nov. 21, 2014. The Rams won the game, 21-13.
Thomas Jefferson head coach Bill Cherpak gets doused after defeating Belle Vernon in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, at Heinz Field.
The WPIAL awarded 48 football titles during the past decade and most of them went to the same 10 coaches.
Combined, Bill Cherpak, Eric Kasperowicz, Mark Lyons, Tom Nola, Bob Palko, Joe Rossi, Terry Totten, Wayne Wade, Art Walker and Mike Zmijanac collected 34 WPIAL titles.
The rest of the WPIAL won 14.
Those 10 coaches won at least three WPIAL titles apiece from 2010-19, so identifying the top coach of the decade wasn’t easy. Among them, Rossi, Cherpak, Totten and Wade each won four WPIAL titles in that span.
However, Rossi also won two state titles and has the best winning percentage since 2010, earning the South Fayette coach a spot on the TribLive HSSN All-Decade Team.
Coach
Joe Rossi
South Fayette, 120-13 record (90.2%)
Rossi, hired at South Fayette in 2007, took over a program that hadn’t won a WPIAL title since 1964. He led the Lions to WPIAL titles in 2010, ’13, ’14 and ’18. After a PIAA runner-up finish in 2010, South Fayette returned to Hershey and won consecutive state titles in ‘13 and ’14.
•••
The decade’s next best
Bill Cherpak
Thomas Jefferson, 111-16 (87.4%)
WPIAL titles: 4 (2015, ‘16, ‘17, ‘19)
PIAA titles: 1 (2019)
Terry Totten
Central Catholic, 114-20 (85.1%)
WPIAL titles: 4 (2013, ‘15, ‘16, ‘19)
PIAA titles: 1 (2015)
Wayne Wade
Clairton, 71-11 (86.6%)
WPIAL titles: 4 (2014, ‘15, ‘16, 19)
PIAA titles: 0
Tom Nola
Clairton/Gateway, 67-12 (84.8%)
WPIAL titles: 3 (2010, ‘11, ‘12)
PIAA titles: 3 (2010, ‘11, ‘12)
Art Walker
North Allegheny, 106-21 (83.5%)
WPIAL titles: 3 (2010, ‘11, ‘12)
PIAA titles 2 (2010, ‘12)
Eric Kasperowicz
Pine-Richland, 74-18 (80.4%)
WPIAL titles: 3 (2014, ‘17, ‘18)
PIAA titles 1 (2017)
Mike Zmijanac
Aliquippa/Ringgold/Seton LaSalle, 104-27 (79.4%)
WPIAL titles: 3 (2011, ‘12, ‘15)
PIAA titles 0
Mark Lyons
Central Valley, 98-29 (77.2%)
WPIAL titles: 3 (2010, ‘14, ‘19)
PIAA titles: 0
Bob Palko
West Allegheny/Mt. Lebanon, 93-29 (76.2%)
WPIAL titles: 3 (2012, ‘13, ‘16)
PIAA titles 0
•••
TribLive HSSN All-Decade Team
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, Central Catholic, Central Valley, Clairton, North Allegheny, South Fayette, Thomas Jefferson, West Allegheny
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