New football coach Swope ‘all in’ at Monessen

By Bill Beckner

Trib Total Media

Poised to lift the Monessen football program back to prominence, new coach Shane Swope is bringing the strength of a construction worker, the tact of an architect and the touch of an artist to a program in need.

“There is no reason we can’t be up there with the likes of Clairton and Jeannette,” Swope said. “We need to get our work ethic back. We have the athletes. We want to get people back in here to see us play.”

Monessen has a proud tradition of winning football. It is one of just 11 WPIAL programs with more than 600 wins (668). But roster numbers have trended downward in recent years with the team ending last season with 13 players — six of them seniors.

Alum Mikey Blainefield, a former standout who played at Georgetown, resigned as coach after three seasons.

The team went 7-3 two years ago and nearly knocked off Jeannette in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals. The Greyhounds were surprisingly competitive last season (4-6), all things considered.

But perception shifted around the program, which has just two winning seasons since 2013. Rumors swirled there might not be a team in 2020.

Swope, who had just four years of assistant coaching experience under mentor Scott Wood at Yough, his alma mater, decided to make a run at his first head-coaching gig.

Initially, he was going to take the offensive coordinator position at Carmichaels but was drawn to the Monessen opening.

“I’m all in,” said Swope, who is moving his family into the school district. “When I was hired, I started calling kids and went door to door with teachers when they were delivering lunches. I was looking for football players.”

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