Longtime WPIAL head coach Sam Albert happy to help as assistant at Pine-Richland

By: Michael Love
Thursday, August 14, 2025 | 8:55 PM

When Sam Albert stepped down at Kiski Area shortly after the 2024 season and ended a three-decade run as a head coach at stops that included Valley, Butler, Freeport and Highlands, he said he had plans to serve as an assistant somewhere.

That somewhere is Pine-Richland.

Albert has joined Rams head coach Jon LeDonne’s staff and will again coach with his son, Aaron, who came on board prior to last season.

“Jon is a friend of mine, and we’ve coached against each other,” Sam Albert said. “At the end of last season, when I resigned at Kiski, he had called me and said, ‘We could use you over here.’ I was like, ‘Sure, no problem.’ I really enjoy it. They treat me great. The kids are great. They work really hard. It’s been a really nice experience.”

Albert finished his Kiski Area tenure as one of only four WPIAL coaches to lead four schools to the WPIAL playoffs. He capped his head coaching career 160-153-1 over 31 seasons.

Albert, at the time of his resignation from Kiski, stressed that it was time to just be an assistant and that he was grateful for the opportunity to coach the Cavaliers for eight seasons. Albert led Kiski to three playoff appearances.

Now, Albert hopes to help lead a Pine-Richland team again loaded with talent to a repeat of last year’s WPIAL Class 5A championship. The Rams then advanced to the PIAA semifinals where they fell to District 3 champion Bishop McDevitt, 28-14.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Kiski Area, Pine-Richland