Swope out as Monessen coach
By JEREMY SELLEW
jsellew@yourmvi.com
For the second straight offseason, Monessen will be looking for a football coach.
Acccording to high school Principal Eric Manko, the Monessen athletic department and administration has “mutually agreed with head coach Shane Swope to part ways, effective immediately.”
Swope met with the remaining team members Friday to inform them, Manko said.
“We would like to thank Coach Swope for the time and effort he has put into our program over the past year and due to personal reasons, he can’t continue with his head coaching duties and responsibilities,” Manko said in a press release.
Swope issued a statement of his own.
“It is with a heavy heart that I make this statement … I unfortunately will no longer be the Head Football Coach at Monessen High School. Myself, Administration, & (the) athletic department have mutually agreed that it’s in the best interest of all parties if we go our separate ways,” Swope wrote. “While this is not what I wanted, it’s what needs to happen. Mr. Manko, Ms. (athletic director Gina) Naccarato, Dr. (superintendent Leanne) Spazak, Mr. (assistant principal DJ)Madzey and Mr. (school board president Lee) Johnson, thank all of you for taking a chance on me, believing in me and most importantly entrusting me with the young men that I had the privilege to coach.
“To the rest of school, school board and administration, thank you as well, while our time together was brief, I built some great relationships.”
Manko wrote that the steps Swope has taken to start to rebuild the program haven’t gone unnoticed.
“We believe that we have a strong core of underclassmen who are willing to be positive leaders both on the playing field and in the classrooms. In the best interest of those student-athletes, we believe it is necessary to begin our search for a new head football coach,” the release said.
The Greyhounds are coming off a forgettable season that started with an 0-4 start before they were forced to forfeit their final three games of the season due to low participation and student-athlete ineligibility.
“Community support on all levels is needed to continue to rebuild our proud program,” the release goes on to say. “We will begin accepting applications for the head football coach immediately as we as review internal applicants.”
Manko said two weeks ago that he felt bad for student athletes committed to the program who had their seasons squashed by those who weren’t.
“But we can’t continue to reward individuals with the opportunity to play on Friday nights who are not committed to the program,” Manko said when the district announced the forfeits.
Manko also confirmed that Swope had already re-enrolled his son, Shane Swope Jr., at Yough. The freshman was the Greyhounds’ starting quarterback this season.
WPIAL executive director Amy Scheunemann said the organization plans to review Monessen’s situation and all forfeitures at its October meeting.
Manko wrote that the board is hoping to have a coach hired by the end of December and that the Monessen School District will have no additional comments on the matter.
