The dean of Mid-Mon Valley varsity football coaches may be out of a job.
In a surprise move, the Monessen School Board Tuesday opened the position of head football coach Andy Pacak after 11 seasons, effective July 1.
The board, which also voted to begin advertising for his replacement immediately, decided to open the post, 8-1. Sharon Mauck, who chairs the athletic committee, cast the lone negative vote.
The move came almost exactly 11 years after the district hired Pacak on April 20, 2004.
Since then, Pacak has accumulated a 75-40 overall record and won five conference championships.
The school board did not have the job opening listed on its agenda during last week's work session.
The board met with Pacak during an executive session before its Tuesday meeting.
Pacak appeared visibly upset as he left the building afterwards.
“At this point, I'm at a loss for words. I don't know what to say or how to respond,” Pacak said via phone after the vote occurred.
“I'm as astounded as anyone could be. ... I will say this, because it's what I told (the board) and what I told the kids, those people chose to run for that office and they have the right to do what they did.”
Board president Donna Fantauzzi said district officials had previously mulled over supplanting Pacak.
But both Fantauzzi and Mauck said there was no specific reason for parting ways with the longtime mentor, despite the odd timing.
“We've talked for years about coaching changes like this and we want to explore other options,” Fantauzzi said. “We had a chance to make a change and took advantage of the opportunity.
“No time is a ‘good' time to do this. As a board, we saw the opportunity and opted to move forward.”
Last month, the WPIAL stripped Monessen of all four of its 2014 victories because the team used two ineligible players, shrinking the Greyhounds won-loss record from 4-5 to 0-9.
Both Pacak and district officials purportedly did not discover the fact the pair was in their fifth year of high school until after the season. The league subsequently placed the program on a one-year probation.
Both Fantauzzi and Mauck said that incident did not factor into the board's action.
“I can tell you there was no particular situation or event that spurred this,” Mauck said. “When you make a decision like this, it wouldn't be fair for anyone involved to base it on one issue.”
In October 2012, Pacak notified city police that players had brought marijuana, heroin and two semi-automatic handguns, one of which was loaded, into the locker room during a practice. The youths – ages 15, 16 and 17 at the time – were adjudicated as juveniles.
Pacak was the target of both praise and criticism from members of the community, the latter of which labeled him as a “snitch” in a number of Facebook posts.
The school board expelled all three players for one year. Two returned to school in 2014 and played this past season.
“I don't think a lot of people appreciate all he's done for the school district,” Mauck said of Pacak.
Under Pacak, Monessen missed qualifying for the playoffs just twice. However, the Greyhounds struggled to a 6-9 postseason record and advanced past the WPIAL quarterfinals only once, losing in the 2007 semifinals to eventual league champion and state finalist Serra Catholic.
“Because of the young men we were fortunate enough to coach, you always look at losing those big games that it was your failure as a coach,” Pacak said. “But if you look at the amount of playoff appearances and wins, you realize you had to do something right to get to that point.”
A 1985 graduate of Monessen, Pacak served eight years as an assistant coach under longtime Greyhounds mentor Jack Scarvel. He was previously the athletic director at South Park and co-operates youth football and basketball leagues in the city.
Pacak said since the board retained him through June, he is unsure what the district expects of him in the meantime.
“That's (the date) I was told and I don't understand what that means,” Pacak said, adding he started off-season conditioning with returning players last month.
“We try to do the best we can do in the community at-large to try and make a dent in things. ... Somebody's going to have to tell me something because I don't know what to make of this. There's nothing more to say at this point.”
Pacak's potential departure leaves Frazier's Mike Steeber (five seasons) as the Mid-Mon Valley's longest tenured gridiron coach at the same school.
Rick Bruni Jr. is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at rbruni@tribweb.com or 724-684-2635.
