Hempfield assistant football coaches Ray White and Joe Naunchik have 70 years of coaching experience between them.

The two septuagenarians laughingly refer to the Spartans coaches' office as The Old Folks Home.

There's no denying, though, that the two aren't anywhere near ready to be put out to pasture as both took the field Monday for the first PIAA-approved day of practice.

"Chronologically, we might be in our 70s, but if you unzip us, we're 17," the 74-year-old White said. "And we'll always be that way as long as we're around these young kids. That's for sure."

Naunchik, 73, and White have whipped around the coaching carousel for quite a number of years.

They worked together at Hempfield in 1985 and later at Valley. Last year, they came full circle when they joined Greg Meisner's staff as the offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively.

Despite their age, the two have developed an easy rapport with the players, some of whom are younger than their grandchildren.

"They're kids, and certainly, times have changed from when I started coaching to now," Naunchik said. "But they all want to win, they want to work hard and they want to be challenged, and that hasn't changed."

Since their careers are so intertwined, it may seem that the two are inseparable. But their experience has proven beneficial, as the Spartans attempt to pull the program out of a funk that has seen the team post a 15-43 record in the past six seasons.

"We've done it all. We've seen it all. We just need more good players, and that's the bottom line," Naunchik said. "I think that Hempfield has always had good coaches, and they've had some good teams here but not consistently. What Greg's trying to do here is get this program to win on a consistent basis."

Naunchik and White have known Meisner for many years and have a huge amount of respect for the NFL veteran. But perhaps the thing that strikes both is the willingness their boss has to pick up new things.

"I relate him to a writer that wrote novels that is still looking for more things to write about and is still trying to become a better writer. Greg is always trying to become a better coach," White said. "Greg, as a person, is someone that I enjoy working for and working with and would love to have a son or grandson or whatever under his tutelage."

Still, rejuvenating a program that hasn't won in more than a decade is a tall task.

Hempfield hasn't finished above .500 since it went 7-3 in 1997, and it will have to drastically improve if it's to slingshot its way into one of the Quad South Conference's four WPIAL playoff berths.

Then again, with that kind of experience on the sideline, it may only be a matter of time before the results show.

"I don't want to sound like (Joe) Paterno, but four or five years from now, I hope I'm still here, and I mean that because I would coach forever. And my wife (of more than 50 years) likes it because it gets me out of the house," White said. "But what is going to benefit us is keeping this coaching staff together because continuity helps the players to see that we're all going to be here, and we're working toward the same goal."

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