Easton Channeling LSU, School Board Looking at Firing Shiffert for Lack of Success

[RoverNation05]

I hate to detract from playoff football, but a story in our paper too ludicrous not to comment on and get some takes on here, as I think this group generally (generally) knows what they're talking about. Here's the article: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2015/12/easton_area_high_school_footba_1.html

Essentially, at the request of the superintendent, the school board president announced they're forming a Subconmittee to evaluate Steve Shiffert's performance as football coach in response to a growing movement from fans that support firing Shiffert who have created a FaceBook group and Change.org petition that has gained some traction, apparently. Former Easton quarterback Marlon Worthy was also given the floor at the last board meeting to express the group's frustrations.

My question is this. Say they do meet and decide they want to fire Shiffert, who just finished his 23rd season. If you're Tim Moncman or Matt Evancho or any desirable head coaching candidate, is there a chance in hell you take the Easton job, knowing that a group of fans on the Internet can get you fired for not winning enough when you average 10 wins a year since 2003? That seems like a headache any coach worth their salt doesn't want or need.

I want a state title as much as the next guy, but this is embarrassing, particularly for the school board, who by granting them the forum throws your coach and AD under the bus.

"It pains me to see where our program has gone." Really? And if In the '88 D11 final Marlon Worthy didn't throw an option pitch right into a linebacker's arms for a TD and miss a 21 yard field goal in overtime, Easton qualifies for the first state playoff rather than wasting one of the better teams in school history.

 

[not_a_fan]

I have to admit I have no stake in the success or failure of Easton but this absolutely stinks to me. Nowadays, any idiot (or group of idiots in this case) can get an on-line petition together and try to get a coach fired who has over 200 career wins and is in the HOF? That's crazy. The article mentions the former QB is a current youth coach-maybe he can put his money where his mouth is and promise he can do a better job. Unless I'm missing something like verbal abuse or cheating, I have heard no reason why Shiffert should have to go through this. If I were him, I would step down & go coach in another D11 school so I could kick the crap out of Easton every year. This story makes me sick. I hope people in Easton remember that this is HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL NOT THE NFL OR DIVISION 1. He is working with 14-18 year olds; not a salary cap or a million dollar recruiting budget. Careful what you wish for Easton-there aren't very many schools that have a legit chance to win a state championship in a given year so you should be happy that you are at least good enough to be in the conversation every now and then. Unless you have a guy lined up next that will get you there, what do you think you are going to get with the next coach?

 

[EPC FAN]

I hate to detract from playoff football, but a story in our paper too ludicrous not to comment on and get some takes on here, as I think this group generally (generally) knows what they're talking about. Here's the article: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2015/12/easton_area_high_school_footba_1.html

Essentially, at the request of the superintendent, the school board president announced they're forming a Subconmittee to evaluate Steve Shiffert's performance as football coach in response to a growing movement from fans that support firing Shiffert who have created a FaceBook group and Change.org petition that has gained some traction, apparently. Former Easton quarterback Marlon Worthy was also given the floor at the last board meeting to express the group's frustrations.

My question is this. Say they do meet and decide they want to fire Shiffert, who just finished his 23rd season. If you're Tim Moncman or Matt Evancho or any desirable head coaching candidate, is there a chance in hell you take the Easton job, knowing that a group of fans on the Internet can get you fired for not winning enough when you average 10 wins a year since 2003? That seems like a headache any coach worth their salt doesn't want or need.

I want a state title as much as the next guy, but this is embarrassing, particularly for the school board, who by granting them the forum throws your coach and AD under the bus.

"It pains me to see where our program has gone." Really? And if In the '88 D11 final Marlon Worthy didn't throw an option pitch right into a linebacker's arms for a TD and miss a 21 yard field goal in overtime, Easton qualifies for the first state playoff rather than wasting one of the better teams in school history.

I hate to detract from playoff football, but a story in our paper too ludicrous not to comment on and get some takes on here, as I think this group generally (generally) knows what they're talking about. Here's the article: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2015/12/easton_area_high_school_footba_1.html

Essentially, at the request of the superintendent, the school board president announced they're forming a Subconmittee to evaluate Steve Shiffert's performance as football coach in response to a growing movement from fans that support firing Shiffert who have created a FaceBook group and Change.org petition that has gained some traction, apparently. Former Easton quarterback Marlon Worthy was also given the floor at the last board meeting to express the group's frustrations.

My question is this. Say they do meet and decide they want to fire Shiffert, who just finished his 23rd season. If you're Tim Moncman or Matt Evancho or any desirable head coaching candidate, is there a chance in hell you take the Easton job, knowing that a group of fans on the Internet can get you fired for not winning enough when you average 10 wins a year since 2003? That seems like a headache any coach worth their salt doesn't want or need.

I want a state title as much as the next guy, but this is embarrassing, particularly for the school board, who by granting them the forum throws your coach and AD under the bus.

"It pains me to see where our program has gone." Really? And if In the '88 D11 final Marlon Worthy didn't throw an option pitch right into a linebacker's arms for a TD and miss a 21 yard field goal in overtime, Easton qualifies for the first state playoff rather than wasting one of the better teams in school history.

Are those same people ready to jettison his whole staff? Are they ready to get rid of probably the best defensive staff in the Lehigh Valley? Are they ready to get rid of the offensive line coach, who produces great line after great line? What this boils down to is there is a vocal group in Easton that wants a different offense. They see Parkland's spread offense with its quick strike ability, and they believe Easton could have it if they just get rid of that dinosaur, Steve Shiffert. I could be wrong, but that seems to be the crux of the problem, from the outside. When I go to Easton for games with our Zephyrs, I hear it loud and clear. We sit on the visitors side, close the end where the field house sits. Easton people sit all around us. They bitch and moan like you can't believe.

Here is what Easton would be firing:

209 wins 83 losses 1 tie

14 seasons with at least 9 wins

6 conference championships

18 District XI playoff appearances

15 District XI final appearances

7 District XI Championships

3 Eastern Final Appearances

16-6-1 record versus Phillipsburg

These people are just plain nuts.

 

[00shoe]

The program has been successful. winning seasons, lots of kids wanting to be part of the program. Downside, expectations, never been to Hershey. Parkland & liberty have and parkland on the verge this year again. There is a downside to state playoffs.

 

[D1 Transplant]

A few points here, the guy leading this (Worthy), actually thinks Easton had the talent to win states this year. He is clearly blind. I had Easton going 500 at best this year, Shiffert and his staff got the most out of those kids as possible. There were some problems in the locker room this year, mostly due to the entitled kid syndrome. And, I hate to bring this up, but there is a racial issue to this. lots of people pissed off because the white qb played the Thanksgiving game.

On the other side, and this is a huge problem, Shiffert does nothing to get these kids looks at the next level. When Easton played at CB West in 2003, the announcer called out the names of all the kids that were playing in college, a long list, and that 2002 CB West team wasn't very good. Those coaches at West did a great job of getting the kids exposed to colleges. If Shiffert gets canned, that will be his downfall, that and the fact that most of the ex players have nothing good to say about him. . This is just the beginning, though. Every coach at Easton is going to be held accountable for lots of things, not just wins and losses.

 

[EPC FAN]

The program has been successful. winning seasons, lots of kids wanting to be part of the program. Downside, expectations, never been to Hershey. Parkland & liberty have and parkland on the verge this year again. There is a downside to state playoffs.

Those schools are not burdened by having to play that pesky Thanksgiving Day game with Phillipsburg. It gives Easton almost no shot of moving on in the state playoffs. District final on Friday, Phillipsburg on Thursday, State Playoff game on Saturday. THREE football games in 9 days is an extremely tough task versus any team. District finalist, biggest rival, state title quality opponent is virtually impossible.
While Easton is having this ridiculous conversation, they should add in eliminating Thanksgiving football, so the team can have a chance in the game versus District 12. Anyone who believes they will lose gate receipts from P-Burg, is a moron. Easton can't have it both ways. Steve does his best with the situation, but it is a very tough row to hoe.

 

[EPC FAN]

A few points here, the guy leading this (Worthy), actually thinks Easton had the talent to win states this year. He is clearly blind. I had Easton going 500 at best this year, Shiffert and his staff got the most out of those kids as possible. There were some problems in the locker room this year, mostly due to the entitled kid syndrome. And, I hate to bring this up, but there is a racial issue to this. lots of people pissed off because the white qb played the Thanksgiving game.

On the other side, and this is a huge problem, Shiffert does nothing to get these kids looks at the next level. When Easton played at CB West in 2003, the announcer called out the names of all the kids that were playing in college, a long list, and that 2002 CB West team wasn't very good. Those coaches at West did a great job of getting the kids exposed to colleges. If Shiffert gets canned, that will be his downfall, that and the fact that most of the ex players have nothing good to say about him. . This is just the beginning, though. Every coach at Easton is going to be held accountable for lots of things, not just wins and losses.

Easton should hire Marlon Worthy. He seems to believe he knows more about football than the staff at Easton. Let him put up or shut the hell up.

 

[D1 Transplant]

Just as I thought. Looked at the petition people are signing. Clearly has more to do with race than anything else. Why is God's name is Barkley, who played at Whitehall, and now is at Penn State signing this. And this is a complete joke, YaYa McGuirn (spelling) signed the petition. He's the kid Shiffert let play after getting arrested for selling coke.

 

[RoverNation05]

It's one thing to hear this stuff in the stands and out at a bar in Easton. It's the school board legitimizing it by giving them a platform that is so out of bounds and offensive to me. Part of me would love Steve to tell everybody to go pound sand, and he doesn't need this anymore. The other part would love to see him stay forever. But with the career he's had, he deserves to make that decision for himself, not some yahoo's who somehow got the superintendent's ear.

"Be careful what you wish for" is right. Easton has plenty of advantages, but it is not an easy place to win. Look at the precipitous decline of Liberty after Moncman left, Easton and Liberty have a LOT in common as schools. There's probably a greater chance of the program taking a backslide with the next guy rather than turning in to 1990s CB West part II (though the people who want Shiffert fired would hate that, because all they did was run the ball). But I also threw this out there because I get the impression this is only Easton. They're not lining up at school board meetings to fire Doug Dahms at Wilson West Lawn, George Novak at Woodland Hills, or Galen Snyder at Pennsbury like this.

EPC - Oh i can believe it. Nothing drives me crazier than the fire Shiffert jihadists who spend the whole game screaming at him to stop running the ball. You're right about the offense, if Easton had the exact same record and results, but they did it throwing the ball all over the place but couldn't stop anybody or run the ball, the criticism would be much more muted. I also wonder how much having three legitimate quarterbacks from your feeder systems (Julian Spigner, Tre Jordan, Davion Kidd-Jackson) not play at Easton has people riled up, though to be fair, Spigner was never going to Easton, he's been in Catholic school his entire life.

And this has been the case forever, and there has always been a dream coach that was going to lead Easton to the promised land. For a long time, it was Roy Cortez from Pen Argyl, then Bret Comp from Wilson. Comp and Wilson winning the state title was probably the worst thing that could have happened for Shiffert, I think that actually made the natives more restless than the Liberty/Parkland success. I have no idea who it would be now (though I certainly know what my phone calls would be) but again, can you imagine taking this job if this is how you're going to get treated?

I do think Easton needs a succession plan, because Shiffert is close to 65, and as this scenario illustrates, this job can be a lot more trouble than it's worth, and isn't a headache I'd think he wants much longer for $12,000 a year. He, Doug Powell (DC) and Scott Byrd (o-line) will ride off into the sunset together and it will be much deserved. But it should be on their terms.

D-1: I also think he overachieved with this group. They had kids that played hard, but it's one of the least talented teams in his 23 years. They probably won't be very good next year either, so this might get uglier. I think the college thing is a legitimate criticism, which save for Steve Powell (and Jim Hutnik while he was there) is a weakness across the board by coaches at the school. Not that Easton has churned out tons of college prospects (there is only so much room for 5'9, 200 pound linebackers and 215 pound offensive linemen) but it's not something he's good at. Worth losing your job over though? I also recognize plenty of names from the petition and the posted comments from people that are white and angry too.

And I saw YaYah signed the petition, which gave me a chuckle. To be fair, he never played a down after that arrest (initially they suspended him for six games, then the blowback from the press was so bad he never played). Frankly, he's the best college prospect Shiffert's had in 23 years and only himself to blame for screwing it up.

 

[EPC FAN]

Just as I thought. Looked at the petition people are signing. Clearly has more to do with race than anything else. Why is God's name is Barkley, who played at Whitehall, and now is at Penn State signing this. And this is a complete joke, YaYa McGuirn (spelling) signed the petition. He's the kid Shiffert let play after getting arrested for selling coke.

Who knows how legit these online signings are.