WPIAL suspends former Greensburg Central Catholic assistant football coach for recruiting

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, February 21, 2022 | 5:01 PM

The WPIAL has suspended a former Greensburg Central Catholic assistant football coach for violating PIAA rules against recruiting.

Shane Goydich is banned from coaching at any PIAA school for one year for attempting to “influence or persuade one or more students to enroll in Greensburg Central Catholic,” WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said. The WPIAL board also voted Monday to censure the GCC athletics administration and put the school’s football team on probation.

The recruiting allegations against Goydich arose from a Feb. 9 eligibility hearing for eighth grader Samir Crosby, who transferred from Jeannette to GCC. The WPIAL board ruled Crosby eligible but asked GCC to respond to the allegations.

Goydich, in an interview Monday, said he was questioned at Crosby’s hearing about his interaction with the Westmoreland Saints, a youth football program that uses Greensburg Central Catholic’s facilities. Some players on the team were GCC students, but other, such as Crosby, were not.

Goydich said late in the season he offered encouragement to the players during a break in practice.

“I said, ‘Hey, as soon as our season’s over, make sure you get to the gym,’” Goydich said. “It wasn’t geared toward Samir or any other kid that’s on the team. It was just a general comment for the GCC kids. But I guess where I made a mistake was I generalized it. I didn’t say, ‘Hey, if you’re not coming to GCC, close your ears.’”

But Goydich said he also was questioned about exchanging text messages with another current Jeannette football player and that player’s father. Goydich said the player had reached out to him on Twitter to discuss his game against GCC and indicated he intended to transfer there.

“If I send a link (for the school’s website) and then say: ‘Hey did you fill that paperwork out yet? I want to talk to you more about our offense and defense.’ Is that recruiting?” Goydich said. “I don’t know. His dad asked me for the link.”

Goydich said he works as a trainer in the offseason, so he communicates with a number of athletes.

Scheuneman said GCC investigated and dismissed Goydich as a coach. GCC athletic director Dan Mahoney said the school took the WPIAL allegations seriously, met with football coach Marko Thomas and took action.

The WPIAL suspension, which starts now and runs for one calendar year, would follow Goydich to any other PIAA school.

The WPIAL didn’t find that Thomas or any other individual on the coaching staff was involved.

“We gave (GCC) an opportunity to investigate and we both reached the same conclusion,” Scheuneman said.

She said the WPIAL will ask Greensburg Central Catholic to better educate its coaches about not talking with students who aren’t part of the school’s program.

Mahoney said the school will reinforce that directive.

“Every year I go through the protocols with all of our coaches and coaching staffs, as far as not going in that recruiting direction,” Mahoney said. “Especially with the younger coaches who might not know the rules, so we’ll continue to hammer that and be diligent.”

This past fall was Goydich’s first season at Greensburg Central Catholic after previously coaching at Monessen.

Only member schools can appeal to the WPIAL or PIAA, so Goydich can’t contest his suspension himself, Scheuneman said. However, if a school were to hire him in the next year, that school could request an appeal hearing.

Goydich said he intends to coach again somewhere once his suspension is over.

Football schedules

The WPIAL will release football schedules for the upcoming season sometime this week, likely Wednesday or Thursday, with Aliquippa listed in Class 4A. The WPIAL was waiting for Aliquippa to receive official written notice from the PIAA regarding the school’s appeal hearing Jan. 26.

That letter arrived this week.

As expected, the PIAA allowed Aliquippa to avoid a promotion to Class 5A but did not grant the school’s request to return to 3A. Aliquippa’s administration in recent weeks had considered pursuing the issue further, but Scheuneman said the WPIAL is moving forward regardless.

“We’re at our point of conclusion,” she said.

The WPIAL will release complete conference and nonconference schedules, but schools may have to wait to learn how many teams from each classification will qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. That number is always contingent on the state playoff brackets, which haven’t been finalized for the upcoming season.

The new state brackets are expected to be approved Wednesday when the PIAA board meets.

Championship sites

The WPIAL recently finalized contracts with Pitt to host the swimming championships this winter at Trees Pool, and with Slippery Rock to host track in the spring.

The WPIAL previously approved plans to hold the basketball finals at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, baseball at Wild Things Park in Washington and softball at Cal (Pa.).

Scheuneman said she’s been in contact with Duquesne and Robert Morris about potentially hosting some basketball semifinals at their arenas this winter.

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: Greensburg C.C.