After graduations, transfers, coaching change, Seton LaSalle moving in all new direction

By: Ray Fisher
Tuesday, August 16, 2022 | 12:01 PM

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Tim Storino appears to be in the right place at the right time.

Storino was hired in March as Seton LaSalle’s coach following a tumultuous 2021 season, as the Rebels lost six of their first seven games before finishing with a 3-7 record in Class 2A.

Storino was hired in part to turn around a once-proud program that has stumbled in recent years.

“The goal is to make this a positive experience for our families,” Storino said. “Long term is to get the football program back on track. The wins will eventually come, but more importantly, we need to bring back the tradition and culture of the program.

“I am a huge John Wooden fan. So, goals to me are never about wins and losses.”

Storino quoted the former UCLA basketball coaching legend: “Success is a peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.”

Storino has been teaching health and physical education in Shaler for almost two decades.

He has 14 years of high school coaching experience at Bethel Park, Shaler, Vincentian and Central Catholic and has worked with some of the WPIAL’s most successful coaches, including Jeff Metheny, Terry Totten and Neil Gordon.

He also has three years of college coaching experience at Delaware, Old Dominion and Robert Morris.

And as far as his playing experience, Storino was an all-conference quarterback at Bethel Park and a three-year starter at QB at Lock Haven.

He will be calling the shots for a Seton LaSalle squad that has just two returning starters on defense — senior free safety Ty Tamborino and junior middle linebacker O’Malley Daly — and none on offense. Tamborino is a transfer from Baldwin while Daly hails from Brentwood.

The athletic Tamborino is recognized as one of the team leaders and will switch from wide receiver to quarterback this season.

“We moved him to quarterback and he’s been doing great this summer,” Storino said.

Last year’s starting signal caller was then-freshman Luke Kosko, who transferred to Thomas Jefferson.

“We had 10 student-athletes leave Seton from when I got the job in March until July. Luke is one of those kids,” Storino said. “It’s unfortunate they left, but our reality is we have the players here now who want to be here. It’s like Mike Tomlin always says, ‘We want volunteers not hostages.’ We have a solid core of young guys that we can build around.

“We want student-athletes who want to be here for the right reasons: the Catholic faith (the school mission) and high academics.”

Two other players being counted on as team leaders are senior OL/DL Brendan Guinee and junior WR/DB Aric White.

“Brendan is coming off an injury from last season but should be ready to go,” Storino said. “Aric is having a huge summer. We expect him to be an all-conference performer this season.”

“Our expectation is to develop team chemistry and continue to teach the idea of servant leadership. We return three seniors who played last year and only have five on the roster. It is going to take strong leadership by our players to get this turned around.”

There are six seniors in the program: Tamborino, Guinee, Nate Georgiana (WR/DB), Damian Carney (OL/DL), Aidan McKenzie (OL/DL) and Adam Devine (P/LB).

There also are 10 juniors on the preseason roster, led by Daly and White. Other members of the junior class aiming to make an impact include WR/DB Alex Barker, tight ends/linebackers Connor Jozwiak, Ian March and Logan Walsh, linemen Stephen Mescan, Jonathan Peters and Geary Smith and kicker Nick Cherry.

Storino, along with his wife Katlyn and two young children, is passionate about his Catholic faith. He was a member of the Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Pittsburgh for four years.

The Rebels’ rookie field boss has established a four-fold plan for the Seton football program. His coaching philosophy includes a 22-hour planning time, caring about kids, player development and maintaining a positive approach.

“The best high school coaches spend more time developing their programs to win in the 22 hours before and after practice. This job requires your attention,” Storino said. “There is an old saying in teaching, ‘They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.’ My goal is to leave the biggest footprint I can for our school district.”

These words — engage, envision, equip and encourage — stand out for Storino in the development of the players.

“Engage means to earn trust which takes time. Invest the time,” he said. “Envision means ‘to see.’ It’s the leaders’ job to paint a picture in the minds of everyone in our program to see the plan, the goals and their role. Equip them with both job skills (football fundamentals) and behavioral skills.

“Finally, provide constant encouragement. We all need it, some more than others.”

Storino’s liked what he’s seen both on the practice field and in weight room.

“It’s been going great so far,” he said. “Our players are really buying into our philosophy.”

Seton LaSalle

Coach: Tim Storino

2021 record: 3-7, 2-3 in Class 2A Three Rivers Conference

All-time record: 368-270-13

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

9.2 Serra Catholic, 7-p

9.9 at Steel Valley, 7

9.16 at Quaker Valley*, 7

9.23 Hopewell*, 7-d

9.30 at South Park*, 7

10.7 West Mifflin*, 7-p

10.14 at Beaver*, 7:30

10.21 Avonworth*, 7-p

10.28 Sto-Rox, 7-d

*Conference game

p-at Peters Township

d-at Dormont Stadium

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Luke Kosko#

84-193, 938 yards, 9 TDs

Rushing: Gabe Finale*

75-408, 2 TDs

Receiving: Dominic Monz#

27-318, 3 TDs

*Graduated

#Transferred

FAST FACTS

• The Rebels’ coaching staff consists of Ryan Coyle (offensive coordinator), Mike Schrenker (defensive coordinator), Joe Ranft (quarterbacks), John Coleman (offensive line) and D.J. Zalewski (wide receivers/special teams).

• Seton LaSalle’s Liam Halligan and Western Beaver’s Drew Mitchell were named co-linemen of the year in the Three Rivers Conference in 2021. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Halligan anchored the offensive and defensive lines at tackle and nose guard in his senior season a year ago. He’s playing for Brown in the Ivy League.

• O’Malley Daly and junior Nick Cherry were named all-conference as special team members. Daly, who is a running back/linebacker, was lauded for his punting skills; Cherry was honored as a kicking specialist.

• Seton LaSalle averaged 13.2 points per game offensively and 21.9 ppg defensively last year. The Rebels scored at a 28.7 ppg clip in their three wins but averaged only 7.7 ppg in six losses. Seton LeSalle lost a forfeit to Sto-Rox in early October.

• Along with the six seniors, there are 10 juniors, eight sophomores and 14 freshmen on this year’s team.

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