As the sweltering days of August and football training camps at all levels continue, expectations build for an autumn of gridiron success. Never are expectations higher or is football success demanded more than at Washington High School. Third-year Little Prexies head coach Bill Britton understands the expectations and welcomes the challenge. A native of California, Pa., and 1984 graduate of California Area High School, Britton faced the daunting task of replacing legendary Washington head coach Guy Montecalvo, who became the head coach and athletic director at Canon-McMillan High School in the summer of 2003 after 23 highly successful years with Washington. A perennial playoff team under Montecalvo, the Little Prexies appeared in six WPIAL Class AA championship games from 1990 through 2001 and two PIAA state title games. Washington won the WPIAL Class AA championship in 1993 and 2001 and concluded its perfect 15-0 season four years ago by becoming the first Washington County team to win a football state title After enduring two non-playoff seasons each of the past two years, Washington returns a solid nucleus this season. A sense of urgency for a return to prominence is apparent in Britton’s tone. “I know we have not been as successful in the win-loss column as we and everyone would have liked but I think that is natural any time you have a changing of the guard or whatever you want to call it,” Britton said. “How we do affects everyone I am involved with. Not just my coaching staff, our players, the school and our fans but my wife, my kids, my mother, my brother. That’s why football is so great. You work all year for just a quick few months. Believe me, the passion is there.” Despite the pressure of being the head coach of a program steeped in tradition, Britton finds what could be perceived as an unenviable challenge rewarding. “It was easy to be a Prexie fan back when we were going 15-0, and I think that is why I am so excited now,” said Britton. “I think soon after you become a head coach you find out if this is something you want to do or if you would rather be an assistant. It is an awesome responsibility and as the head coach you have to make decisions that will impact 45 to 50 players and you become their father figure. I think any coach this time of the year has to be very excited or they would not be in this because it certainly is not for the money. I can’t see myself going back to being an assistant, and I love coaching football now more than I ever have.” Though he is beginning only his third season as a high school varsity head coach, football has consumed a significant part of Britton’s life. He was a football, basketball and baseball standout at California Area High School before moving on to Waynesburg College, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology. He was a four-year starting and all-conference defensive tackle on the Yellow Jackets football team while also playing several positions for the Waynesburg baseball team. After his collegiate playing career concluded, Britton served as an assistant coach for one season at Beth-Center High School before moving to his scholastic alma mater, where he coached two years under Trojans head coach Jeff Weaver. While coaching, Britton earned his master’s degree in education from California University of Pennsylvania and was working as a substitute teacher. In 1991 Britton interviewed and accepted a full-time teaching and assistant coaching job at Washington. The following day cross-town rival Trinity High School offered Britton a similar situation after previously only offering a coaching position. He gratefully declined and has been teaching special education and learning support classes at Washington ever since. He served as the junior high football team’s assistant coach for one season and four additional years as the junior high head football coach before becoming part of Montecalvo’s varsity staff. Britton actually accepted the head coaching position at California Area High School in the spring of 2001 but returned to Washington four days later and was Montecalvo’s associate head coach in 2001 and 2002. “Washington made me feel welcome from the first day and it is very close-knit here,” said Britton, who praised Bill Watson, the high school principal at the time. “All those years as an assistant coach I learned so many things that help mold my philosophy now as a coach and really as a person also. I could not have been more fortunate.” While Britton more than paid his dues on his path to becoming Washington’s head football coach, he is quick to credit his parents for his upbringing and ultimate destination. He is the son of Joanne and the late Jim Britton, who passed away in 1999. Jim Britton was a sophomore quarterback on California High School’s only WPIAL championship football team in 1943. “Moms are usually more nurturing while dads are more demanding, and I am very proud of the parenting I received,” Britton said. “My parents always wanted me to get into teaching and coaching and they instilled in me a mentality where you demand the most from everyone and give everything you have into what you are doing. My older brother (Jim Jr.) runs our family construction business the same way I was taught to coach, and I could not be prouder of him.” Many football teams travel away from their school, campus or town they represent to train in the August heat. Britton is quite content to have his team remain at home. “Our community is so supportive and does such an outstanding job fundraising that I do not want to use thousands of dollars to go away for training camp,” said Britton. “I know there are a lot of positives to going away, but there is nothing we can not accomplish here. I am very comfortable staying here and having the kids sleep in their own beds and report here each day. The commitment is there and we put so much into the preseason and conditioning that a kid is not going to walk away. If a player is going to quit, they will do so at home or away at a camp.” Even with the expectations, Washington must still cope with a rugged Interstate Conference of the WPIAL Class AA whose playoff teams a year ago included Jeannette, 2004 WPIAL semifinalist Greensburg Central Catholic and East Allegheny. Washington 11th-year athletic director Ron Faust, who will also begin his 25th season as the Little Prexies’ head boys basketball coach this year, is confident Britton will lead the Washington football team back to prominence. “Bill is the person for the job and has come into his own as a head coach, which we know takes a few years,” said Faust. “He has been very patient with the players and with the adjustments that need to be made going from the assistant coach to the head-coaching job. Billy is going to get us back to where we need to be. I know he is looking for good things this year, as we are. He’s a top-notch individual. They don’t come any better than him.” Faust also believes a coach and teacher in the same school district enhances the opportunity for success. Britton actually coached the junior high boys basketball team under Faust when he started at Washington. “As the athletic director, I’ve found that having good teachers as coaches in your school district makes our job a lot easier,” said Faust, who has coached the Washington basketball team to four WPIAL titles and two state championships. “Billy does an outstanding job with his students in the classroom and that certainly converts over to the job he does with them on the athletic field, too. We couldn’t be more pleased with having him in charge of what we think will soon again be a championship team.” Britton’s passion to return Washington to its familiar winning form burns, but the physically imposing coach believes the program has already attained success under his watch as the top coaching dog. “There is so much more to coaching than X’s and O’s and to me the biggest part of coaching is helping young people put themselves in the best possible position to succeed,” Britton said. “No one wants to win more than me, but at the same time I feel we have had many success stories here the past couple of years. Helping kids move on from here and getting into college and making their mark in the community is what this is all about.” Britton’s loyalty to his school and team prompted him and his family to move recently from one side of Washington to the other. His wife, Jan, sons Billy, 10, Aaron, 8, and 6-year-old daughter Jayme now have a bigger home while the Little Prexies’ football head coach is just six minutes away from his football home and workplace. “You have to be close by and I believe in order to have a successful program in any sport it takes a 12-month commitment,” said Britton. The challenge the team, staff and I face to get back to the top is exciting. We know what the expectations are and we know what we need to do. We’re ready to get out there and bang heads a little.”

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