Pine-Richland School Board Approves New Head Football Coach
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - After almost two months of drama, the Pine-Richland School District has a new varsity football coach.
By a vote of 8-1 Wednesday, the Pine-Richland school board approved Steve Campos, Seneca Valley's assistant football coach, as their new head coach. He was not at the meeting.
"Congratulations to Coach Campos and his family," said Director of Athletics T.J. Salopek in a news release. "Coach Campos will be an inspiring coach for our football players and a great leader within our athletic department at Pine-Richland."
It comes after the district didn't renew the contracts of former head coach Eric Kasperowicz or his staff, resulting in an uproar and legal action.
Kasperowicz's supporters came to the meeting, with one saying, "You should have trouble sleeping tonight after what you have done to these boys and this program."
Many walked away disappointed.
"I don't like the decision at all. They clearly are not doing what is best for us," said sophomore Brad Gelly.
"We will support him. He's our new coach. We want to have a season. We want to win, but this is not what we would have hoped for as a team," he added.
"This isn't about coach Campos. I don't know him. This is about the process used," said John Cory, vice president of the Touchdown Club.
Board member Greg Ditullio was the lone dissenting vote on Wednesday.
"We need to give them the best opportunity to succeed," Ditullio said.
The Pine-Richland Football program is the reigning 5A WPIAL champions and PIAA State champions. Kasperowicz has won four WPIAL titles and two state championships. But the district cited hazing, "rites of passage" and intimidation -- "particularly in the locker room for years" -- among the reasons not to renew Kasperowicz's contract.
The superintendent told KDKA there were also coaching administration issues and Kasperowicz was unwilling to take any responsibility during a meeting with school administrators.
An attorney for Kasperowicz announced earlier this month that he'd be filing two lawsuits over the district's decision. His attorney said while "there undoubtedly has been bullying and hazing at Pine-Richland as in every other school in America," there's no evidence Kasperowicz did anything wrong.
The district says Campos has over three decades of football coaching experience at the high school and collegiate levels and he's retiring as a full-time educator so he has "the passion and ability to focus specifically on the football program."
