Oftentimes, second acts in coaching aren't successful. Joe Gibbs with the Redskins and Johnny Majors at Pitt are prime examples.

But for Don “Pappy” Boulton, his return to coaching after a more than 20-year absence proved to be a thrilling ride.

Boulton, however, has called it quits and won't be on the sidelines for the Springdale Dynamos this fall.

For nearly the past 20 seasons, he had been a defensive coordinator for his best friend, Chuck Wagner, at Springdale and later assisted current coach Dave Leasure.

“I think the time has come,” Boulton said. “We had some great, great years. I always wanted to coach together with Chuck.”

Boulton, 81, began his coaching career at East Deer-Frazer in 1961, and later went to West Deer. He was out of coaching for more than 20 years while in the insurance business.

But after retiring from the insurance world, he got back into coaching.

“Chuck wanted me to come back,” Boulton said. “It was a blessing to come back and help Springdale get out of the doldrums. I came back and we were part of building a program.”

Not surprisingly, he lists his greatest coaching thrill as walking off Heinz Field with the WPIAL Class A football title in 2003.

“Without any doubt, that was a highlight,” Boulton said. “It was a great year and a great time. Even with the loss when we went back to (Heinz) in '07, we were winning as a team and we had confidence.”

As defensive coordinator in 2003, he had to devise a way to stop Sto-Rox's Adam DiMichele, at the time the WPIAL's all-time leading passer. Pappy's defenders intercepted DiMichele three times and held the Sto-Rox running game to 53 yards.

Springdale won the title 30-13.

As a player, Boulton knew what is was like to be around quarterback greatness. While at Louisville, his teammate was Johnny Unitas, one of the sport's best.

“I remember a spring game we had, there was a quarterback, Houser, from Chicago, a great quarterback,” Boulton said. “The score was 35-34 and he had to play second fiddle once John got in there.”

Boulton served in the Air Force and later resumed his collegiate career at Slippery Rock as a two-way tackle.

By then, he was older than the average player — hence the nickname “Pappy.”

Immediately after college, he was hired as an assistant at East Deer. When the legendary Warren Heller retired as Bucks coach in 1962, Boulton got the head coaching job at age 27.

By 1964, he was coaching against his best buddy, Wagner, then at Oakmont.

“Chuck and I were best friends, but the week we played, we didn't even speak to each other,” Boulton said with a laugh.

While Boulton is most associated with football, he is credited with bringing volleyball to East Deer in the early 1960s.

“Ken Hobaugh, a teacher at Burrell, talked me into starting volleyball at East Deer,” Boulton said. “I started out with the junior high kids, and there was only one main WPIAL tournament at the time.”

By the time East Deer won the 1968 WPIAL volleyball title against much larger schools, Boulton had moved out to West Deer, where he was football coach and inaugurated volleyball there, too.

When the 1969 merger took place between East Deer-Frazer and West Deer, the schools combined to form what has been a powerhouse volleyball program.

George Guido is a Valley News Dispatch scholastic sports correspondent. His column appears Wednesdays.

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