Jeff Braido Resigns at Easton

[RoverNation05]

Easton head coach Jeff Braido resigned from his post this afternoon after six season as the Red Rovers head football coach. Braido, a 1988 Easton alum, spent thirty years on the Easton sidelines, first as the JV coach, then as the special teams coordinator before taking over for Steve Shiffert in 2017. The Red Rovers finished 3-8 this past season, went winless at home, missed the D11 playoffs for the second time since 1998, and lost to archrival Phillipsburg 35-14. Braido finishes his Easton career 37-30, with at least four losses in six straight seasons, the first time that has happened since they began playing football in 1894. It is the shortest tenure by an Easton football coach since Frank O'Hora lasted one year in 1947. Since World War I, the only multi-season head coach with a lower winning percentage than Braido's 56% is John Kressler, who won 27% of his games from 1930-1934 before very literally being run out of town.

As I have mentioned before, most of this is not Jeff Braido's fault. He was put in an untenable position when he was hired to replace Steve Shiffert despite no experience coaching or playing football outside of the Easton program and very little schematic or administrative expertise. More qualified and capable candidates were passed over in 2017 in favor of Braido, who is an exceptionally nice and popular guy who also has significant familial connections within the Easton athletic department. There was also a poisoned well amongst the Lehigh Valley coaching community over the unceremonious firing of Shiffert. But, as I wrote in these pages six years ago, there is no evidence that it was going to go well, and it did not.

This will be new athletic director Matt Baltz's first coaching hire, as he takes the job officially on January 23rd. It will arguably the most important decision he makes in terms of creating success in his tenure. I'll have more on possible candidates, but logical and ones I would be reaching out to if I were in Baltz's position, but Easton is one of the biggest schools in the state with significant feeder programs and serious numbers within their football program and a history of success - somebody could stumble into a very nice job and the candidate pool could be robust if these advantages are apparent and the new administration seems to have its act together. We shall see.

 

[D1 Transplant]

Rover's assessment of Braido is spot on. Great guy, loved by many as a teacher. I know my kids thought highly of him.

Easton has an opportunity here to make a great hire. Hope they get this one right.

 

[HSFB99]

Who are the candidates? I don’t know if it is realistic, but I’d love to see McGorry take over at Easton. I think he’s done a heck of a job at ACC.

 

[RoverNation05]

Rover's assessment of Braido is spot on. Great guy, loved by many as a teacher. I know my kids thought highly of him.

Easton has an opportunity here to make a great hire. Hope they get this one right.

I've been hyper critical of him here and in other venues, so I do try to always lead with that. He's a good dude, he's done good things for the community as a whole. People like him for a reason! I don't think the lack of success in his coaching tenure was a "won't", it was a "can't." Frankly, I think his quality of life will be much better not as the Easton head coach.

Here's his resignation letter:

Mr. Pokrivsak, Dr. Baltz, and Dr. Burrus,

After taking time to reflect upon my tenure as the Head Football Coach here at Easton, I have decided to resign my position. I do not feel as though my leadership has led to the success on the field that is expected at such a storied high school football program like Easton. I have devoted 30 years of my life to giving everything that I can to help the student-athletes here at Easton both on and off the field. My passion and pride for helping lead young men on the football field and in life has been an extremely positive, valuable, and humbling experience. I am looking forward to finding new ways to help kids in the next chapter of my life. I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish over the last 6 years for our student-athletes...especially off the field. Most people do not see, nor hear about the off-the-field successes in sports in general. We have worked relentlessly to instill the values of academic excellence, hard work, community service, teamwork, sacrifice, and discipline into our players. These are all values that will carry our student-athletes much farther in life than football ever will. We started weekly study halls along with tutors and have helped so many players get into college and continue to play the sport that they love through the recruiting process. We constantly gave back to our community by working closely with so many kids in our community including Wellness Fairs, Reading Under the Lights, reading to kids at the Barnes and Noble Book Fair, helping to clean up city parks for kids, etc. We volunteered with some outstanding community organizations like Miracle League, Family Connections, Special Olympics, I Can Bike, and the Boys and Girls Club of Easton. These experinces will forever have a positive effect on the lives of our players and will allow them to continue to appreciate and give back to their communities wherever life takes them. I will forever be grateful and blessed to have had the opportunity to positively influence the lives of so many student-athletes in Easton as the head football coach over the last 6 years and as an assistant coach for 24 more years. Please accept my resignation effective immediately.

Sincerely,

Jeff Braido

 

[RoverNation05]

Who are the candidates? I don’t know if it is realistic, but I’d love to see McGorry take over at Easton. I think he’s done a heck of a job at ACC.

I'm working on a list of candidates - McGorry is an ACC alum (he won a state title as their quarterback in 1998) so I don't see him jumping from his alma mater for the Easton job. Now, Geoff Laird, his defensive coordiantor and assistant head coach, is one of the area assistants that would be interesting. I'd throw Greg Moore, the DC at Freedom, and Chris Kinane, the OC at Parkland, into the coordinator mix.

Internally, Kevin Morton just spent his first year at Easton as the OC after getting hired from outside the area. He's the only guy on staff that I think would be in the mix, but I certainly don't think will get the job, but could stay on whatever staff ends up getting formed.

The last time around I thought the obvious candidate was Matt Evancho, at Easton alum who took Saucon Valley to the 3A Eastern Final in 2015 and resigned following that season. However, he has not coached since - one year off was not a big deal, seven years off is.

If I was Matt Baltz (I'm not, FYI) I would be figuring out who has Ryan Nase's phone number. Cheltenham has a LOT in common with Easton demographically, he was wildly successful there, he's not currently coaching, and he's a Lafayette alum, so he has some Lehigh Valley ties and familiarity (he and JV offensive line coach Bob Stroble played on the same offensive lines at Lafayette).

If I'm poaching another EPC coach - I make Tom Falzone say no to me. He left his alma mater for Nazareth, and I think he's bumped that program up against his ceiling. He could take Easton even higher. Similarly, I've heard that Harold Fairclough had interest in Easton when he was on staff at Whitehall, but took Emmaus when it opened (the year before Easton as it turned out). I'd call him and make him say no too.

Matt Senneca just resigned at Whitehall to spend more time with his family, so he's not an option, but I otherwise would have been intrigued.

There's not anybody in the Poconos that I think can make the jump. I don't know the western New Jersey landscape well enough - I've been told Matt Parzero at Newton (formerly North Warren) would be an outside the area guy.

The wildcard of wildcards is Jarred Holley. Holley is an '08 Easton grad who played at Pitt, was in camp with the Steelers, and then was on staff at Arizona State as a grad assistant and most recently as the DBs coach at North Texas. That whole staff just got fired in December, and I haven't seen Holley pop up for another college job. High school has a hell of a lot more stability (though a hell of a lot less money than FBS assistant) and he's maybe the most popular alumni football player ever, so I think you at least pick up the phone and make him tell you he's not interested in being a high school coach.

That's off the top of my head.

 

[RoverNation05]

Phil Stambaugh is another name you’ll hear. He’s never quite climbed the mountain at Notre Dame, but he’s like Lehigh Valley Lincoln Reilly in terms of offense and quarterbacks. He’s always been a Catholic school guy, and pretty vocal about believing in that model (he played and coached at Pius X before going to ND when it closed) but he’s right down the street and will have supporters.

 

[RoverNation05]

Question for the group since I've been rambling here:

What's the outside perception of this job and program? I think that this job has one of the five or ten highest ceilings in 6A across the state, but I don't know how much of that is me being an alum versus what's actually there. From my vantage point, the pros to this job are:

-You have three community feeder programs that do real numbers and are set up to align with the high school teams schematically
-You still get ~100+ kids to come out for football 7th through 12th grade
-The school district is a combination of an inner city and its suburbs, which gives you a variety of kids in the program
-Population wise, it's the 9th biggest school in the state that offers football. There are kids to choose from
-Strong booster group that has been around forever and raises real money
-Brand new, state-of-the-art game day facilities at an iconic stadium location
-Pretty significant community support, both in attendance and local business support for sponsors
-Easton-Phillipsburg is the best selling point to any little kid in town who wants to play football, gives the program attention that gets regional and sometimes national, and draws 13,000 people which can pretty much fund the basics of the program in one game's worth of ticket sales
-A tradition of success - 2nd most wins in the state, four Eastern Finals, seven DXI titles, sixteen DXI finals in the state playoff era
-Coming off of the worst season in 40+ years, the program has expectations but also won't have the typical pressure in your first few years

We talk about schools that can challenge St. Joseph's Prep, I'm not saying Easton can go toe-to-toe with the Hawks year in and year out (they can't). But in years where Prep is mortal, if Easton has their shit together, that should be the program in the east that can really push them in the state tournament. There's no reason they're not mid 2010s Coatesville and Parkland, early 2010s North Penn, mid 2000s Liberty, current Mount Lebanon/Pine-Richland, etc. I'm not sure you can say that for another program in D11 or D1, save for maybe Parkland (which I, probably ignorantly, think does have less of a ceiling than Easton due to being purely suburban) and North Penn.

Now there are cons. The P'Burg conundrum and weirdness of that game plus the state tournament is real. There are significant challenges posed by being an inner city school. It's a brand new athletic director and I'm not sure the administrative stuff is fixed there. Any program with this much local popularity means there can be a lot of cooks trying to get into the kitchen. It's not an easy job, but it seems like a job with a hell of a lot of possibility.

Am I totally off base here? What does everybody think?

 

[CAMoleskinner]

Rover -

Let me help by asking that everyone play the link and insert "Easton" for "England" (when singing along -- loudly and with gusto):



For me, it's a toss up between the Rovers and Pennsbury's Falcons as to which program (besides Neshaminy's mighty Redskins) that I first became aware of.

There'll always be an Easton!

 

[CAMoleskinner]

" ,,, if Easton means as much to you as Easton means to me!"

(You just gotta love that song.)

 

[D1 Transplant]

Hey Rover,
Your assessment is pretty much spot on, except I wouldn't call Easton an inner city school, at least not in terms of what I grew up with in Philly. The school itself is situated on an expansive property, and is supported by upper middle class Forks and Palmer Townships.

I can't say what happened to the team over the last 5 to 6 years. I talk to lots of folks that have deep roots to the football program, and the one constant complaint is the lack of an Easton hallmark, physicality.

 

[RoverNation05]

Hey Rover,
Your assessment is pretty much spot on, except I wouldn't call Easton an inner city school, at least not in terms of what I grew up with in Philly. The school itself is situated on an expansive property, and is supported by upper middle class Forks and Palmer Townships.

I can't say what happened to the team over the last 5 to 6 years. I talk to lots of folks that have deep roots to the football program, and the one constant complaint is the lack of an Easton hallmark, physicality.

Philly throws the inner-city conception off. It's certainly not Philadelphia. But downtown/west ward/south side certainly have commonalities with schools like Liberty, Allen, Harrisburg, Erie, etc. And I think that's the point I was trying to make, probably muddled - you have the economic support of Forks and Palmer Township, the facilities out at the HS and at Cottingham that you don't find at city schools, while also having city kids. The roster is a nice blend of people.

The physicality issue is a monster and has been the biggest difference in the two eras. I think that is job #1 for the next head coach in terms of getting an identity back. A couple years back, one of the Parkland kids was quoted after a game saying "we knew if we kept hitting them, they would quit" which was the biggest indictment of the program I think anybody could hear.

 

[not_a_fan]

Rover, I have always admired your passion and knowledge of all things D11 and Easton specifically. As an outsider (I have never even been to Easton but have driven past the exit many times) who lives in and grew up in the Philly suburbs my view of this job is that it is a sleeping giant. With the combination of the population of the school, the blend of types of kids, and the tradition that is on par with any in Pennsylvania, I would say it's right up there with a Coatesville down here in D1, a much bigger version of Steel-High in D3, and possibly version of North Alleghany/Pine-Richland in D7 but with an 'inner city' population that typically brings some edgy, toughness.

Anyone who gets this job will have to be ready for the expectations but I certainly think if pointed in the right direction, Easton could certainly challenge for a State Championship. What are your thoughts on the community wanting that versus beating Phillipsburg on Thanksgiving? If there were ever a year for them to compete for a State Championship, do you think they would frown upon taking that game less seriously to prepare for a State Quarter-Final two days later?

No matter what, I am rooting for the Rovers to be a PA powerhouse again. I always enjoy when the traditional powers are at their best!

 

[EPC FAN]

Easton head coach Jeff Braido resigned from his post this afternoon after six season as the Red Rovers head football coach. Braido, a 1988 Easton alum, spent thirty years on the Easton sidelines, first as the JV coach, then as the special teams coordinator before taking over for Steve Shiffert in 2017. The Red Rovers finished 3-8 this past season, went winless at home, missed the D11 playoffs for the second time since 1998, and lost to archrival Phillipsburg 35-14. Braido finishes his Easton career 37-30, with at least four losses in six straight seasons, the first time that has happened since they began playing football in 1894. It is the shortest tenure by an Easton football coach since Frank O'Hora lasted one year in 1947. Since World War I, the only multi-season head coach with a lower winning percentage than Braido's 56% is John Kressler, who won 27% of his games from 1930-1934 before very literally being run out of town.

As I have mentioned before, most of this is not Jeff Braido's fault. He was put in an untenable position when he was hired to replace Steve Shiffert despite no experience coaching or playing football outside of the Easton program and very little schematic or administrative expertise. More qualified and capable candidates were passed over in 2017 in favor of Braido, who is an exceptionally nice and popular guy who also has significant familial connections within the Easton athletic department. There was also a poisoned well amongst the Lehigh Valley coaching community over the unceremonious firing of Shiffert. But, as I wrote in these pages six years ago, there is no evidence that it was going to go well, and it did not.

This will be new athletic director Matt Baltz's first coaching hire, as he takes the job officially on January 23rd. It will arguably the most important decision he makes in terms of creating success in his tenure. I'll have more on possible candidates, but logical and ones I would be reaching out to if I were in Baltz's position, but Easton is one of the biggest schools in the state with significant feeder programs and serious numbers within their football program and a history of success - somebody could stumble into a very nice job and the candidate pool could be robust if these advantages are apparent and the new administration seems to have its act together. We shall see.

My first call would be to Phil Stambaugh. Easton has the parts in place to become an instant threat from a quick strike pass offense and a ground and pound running game.

 

[D1 Transplant]

Rover, I have always admired your passion and knowledge of all things D11 and Easton specifically. As an outsider (I have never even been to Easton but have driven past the exit many times) who lives in and grew up in the Philly suburbs my view of this job is that it is a sleeping giant. With the combination of the population of the school, the blend of types of kids, and the tradition that is on par with any in Pennsylvania, I would say it's right up there with a Coatesville down here in D1, a much bigger version of Steel-High in D3, and possibly version of North Alleghany/Pine-Richland in D7 but with an 'inner city' population that typically brings some edgy, toughness.

Anyone who gets this job will have to be ready for the expectations but I certainly think if pointed in the right direction, Easton could certainly challenge for a State Championship. What are your thoughts on the community wanting that versus beating Phillipsburg on Thanksgiving? If there were ever a year for them to compete for a State Championship, do you think they would frown upon taking that game less seriously to prepare for a State Quarter-Final two days later?

No matter what, I am rooting for the Rovers to be a PA powerhouse again. I always enjoy when the traditional powers are at their best!

I'll let Rover expand on your question, but that Thanksgiving game is more important than a state title to the fan base, and I don't see that ever changing. The importance of that game is ingrained to the kids starting in kindergarten. There's an entire week of festivities and traditions for the players and student body that are handed down from class to class. For example, the building of the bonfire and the seniors sleeping out on the Tuesday "guarding" the pile of wood. This may seem irrelevant to the outsider, but it's a tradition that freshmen, sophomores, and juniors can't wait to carry on when they are seniors. There is so much more tradition going on and the game is the climax of that week.

 

[2020sports]

Interesting thread- this topic seems relevant to another thread, about "paying real money" to a coach- imagine a full-time coach? It sounds like this school is big enough- that would be good, but likely will not happen.

I'm a Pine-Richland guy, and I have followed Western Pa football for 30 years, but I have only really followed things state-wide, for about 10 years now.

Rover- no offense, I had never heard of Easton, I had no idea it was a 6A program. Who have been the recent district winners? My guess is that Easton has a long way to go before it can challenge on a state-level.

I can tell, you, from within the PR program, in order to compete at the 5A and 6A level, we have really pushed #s and our informal guideline is about 120 to 130, from 7 to 12. 100 or less seems kinda low. It is so tough to compete, or even get close to SJP without numbers, from a traditional public school program.

What does this mean, from your post?

"The P'Burg conundrum and weirdness of that game plus the state tournament is real."

From a big-picture view, it does sound good, and does sound like there is potential there. Sure would be great to give a real challenge to SJP

 

[RoverNation05]

Interesting thread- this topic seems relevant to another thread, about "paying real money" to a coach- imagine a full-time coach? It sounds like this school is big enough- that would be good, but likely will not happen.

I'm a Pine-Richland guy, and I have followed Western Pa football for 30 years, but I have only really followed things state-wide, for about 10 years now.

Rover- no offense, I had never heard of Easton, I had no idea it was a 6A program. Who have been the recent district winners? My guess is that Easton has a long way to go before it can challenge on a state-level.

I can tell, you, from within the PR program, in order to compete at the 5A and 6A level, we have really pushed #s and our informal guideline is about 120 to 130, from 7 to 12. 100 or less seems kinda low. It is so tough to compete, or even get close to SJP without numbers, from a traditional public school program.

What does this mean, from your post?

"The P'Burg conundrum and weirdness of that game plus the state tournament is real."

From a big-picture view, it does sound good, and does sound like there is potential there. Sure would be great to give a real challenge to SJP

Exactly the type of engagement I was going for here - somebody totally out of the area. I'll get to the more localized questions next.

In terms of a full-time coach who is not a teacher, their wrestling coach does just that (he's a real estate agent on the side, but he's a wrestling coach) - that's really the sport that is the crown jewel here. The stipend for the football job isn't huge, but I'd imagine giving the teacher shortage my guess is they'll have an in-school job to offer whoever they'd want to coach, mostly to bump up the pay.

I think they can pay a coach real money - or more importantly, can create an assistant pool to have a staff of coaches. The actual stipend for the head coach is collectively bargained into the teacher contract, but I think they also get to pocket a percentage of camp revenue and things like that, plus the booster group can cover "volunteer" assistants.

Easton is District 11, so the last two years it's been won by Freedom - they pushed SJP last year 24-21 - who also won in 18, Nazareth in 19 and 20, and Parkland had a huge run from 2012-2017, which included the 2015 team that lost to PCC in state finals, and the 2014 team that SJP beat 34-30 on a D'Andre Swift TD in the last three minutes.
Most recently, Easton won D11 in 2009 and 2010 - in 2009 they lost their quarterfinal to eventual state champ LaSalle, 17-14 in a pretty classic game. In 2010, Easton lost to LaSalle again in quarters, Easton got the ball back down 13-7 with like four minutes to play, but threw a pick-6 to end it. Most recent year they were state relevant was 2014, where they beat the aforementioned Parkland team during an undefeated regular season, then lost the D11 final in overtime, despite Parkland gaining like 86 yards of offense. They also went to back-to-back Eastern Finals in '03 and '04 (also in '91 and '93, but that's really ancient history at this point) and from '99-'14 made 12 D11 finals. So they haven't been state relevant in 8 years, but that was at the end of a very long run at being one of the 5-10 best programs in the east for 20-30 years.

They cliff notes version of what's happened since is - they had a very long term and successful head coach from 1993-2016 who was in his 60s and definitely near the end of his tenure - they were tough as hell on defense and in the running game, but definitely outdated on offense that was limiting them at the state level. He was also not particularly warm and fuzzy and didn't have a ton of allies, they formed a committee to "assess" the football program in 2015, then very unceremoniously fired him after the 2016 season. They also fired him without a real plan, and rather than go and hire a proven head coach, they ended up promoting the special teams coach and former JV coach, who was also the brother-in-law of the HS prinicpal and hunting buddies with the AD. They've fallen off a f*cking cliff, culminating in one of the five worst seasons in school history this year.

Numbers wise, that was supposed to say about (~ was a tilde, not a minus) 100+, I think they were at 115 this year. They have kids who play football, and have been one of the schools in the eastern part of the state who hasn't seen a huge participation drop-off.

The P'Burg conundrum is this - Easton plays Phillipsburg (NJ) every year on Thanksgiving at Lafayette College. The game draws 13,000-15,000 people, it's been nationally televised on multiple occasions, and is generally the biggest day in Easton, Pennsylvania in any given year. As you may realize, there also are postseason games the following Saturday. There have been six occasions where Easton is still alive in playoffs with a state game two days later. In 2003, Easton lost to North Penn in the Eastern Final two days after Thanksgiving (playoffs finished significantly earlier than they do now). In 2004, they beat George Washington in state quarters two days after Thanksgiving. The schedule shifted back a week, and in 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2011 the D11 final was two days after Thanksgiving - they lost to Liberty in '06 and Nazareth in '11, but beat Parkland in '09 and Whitehall in '10 (the Nazareth game was the one where they definitely ran out of gas and were probably the better team). Point is, there is a very real possibility of them playing a game 48 hours before a state playoff game. It hasn't happened in 12 years, but in each of those six occasions, they tried to win both - they didn't sit starters for P'Burg, they didn't not prep the game, etc. They're 3-3 playing 48 hours after their rivalry game, though the feasibility of that does seem to get more ridiculous year over year. Whoever the new coach is needs to hope they are successful enough to be put in that awkward position to figure out how they're going to handle that. But it's an objectively bizarre part of the job.

It's not an overnight thing - I think you'd have a 3 year build to get it rolling, but looking at the Lehigh Valley, the best teams each year should be Easton, Parkland, one of the Catholic schools, and probably Liberty. With those schools, for the most part (not really Parkland) being down you've seen smaller programs that have less advantages that are really well coached - Freedom and Nazareth specifically - fill a vacuum. But I think both of those programs are bumped up about as good as they can get, which is winning a down Lehigh Valley and not really having a shot in a state quarter. I think Easton is one of the few schools that can legitimately dream bigger than that.

 

[RoverNation05]

My first call would be to Phil Stambaugh. Easton has the parts in place to become an instant threat from a quick strike pass offense and a ground and pound running game.

I was asking around yesterday to try and get some scoops, and the response I got from somebody outside the Easton program on Stambaugh was "no way in hell is he leaving Notre Dame ever". So there's that

 

[RoverNation05]

I'll let Rover expand on your question, but that Thanksgiving game is more important than a state title to the fan base, and I don't see that ever changing. The importance of that game is ingrained to the kids starting in kindergarten. There's an entire week of festivities and traditions for the players and student body that are handed down from class to class. For example, the building of the bonfire and the seniors sleeping out on the Tuesday "guarding" the pile of wood. This may seem irrelevant to the outsider, but it's a tradition that freshmen, sophomores, and juniors can't wait to carry on when they are seniors. There is so much more tradition going on and the game is the climax of that week.

D1 Transplant hits the nail on the head here - Thanksgiving is the biggest day of the year and it's because of Easton-P'burg. It's billed as the most important part of being at Easton High School to every kid in the city, and the football program and game is at the center of it.

The game is obviously never going away. Steve Shiffert and his staff, after doing both a number of times, thought they had a handle on how to manage playing 2 games in 3 days, which is insane, but a 3-3 record in those games is also insane. They'll tell you the one that was a total no-chance was North Penn in '03 because the staff was also flying blind and figuring out how to do both, and it didn't go well. I think by the '09-'11 run they attacked it pretty smartly and had the record that said something was working. Now, they also were playing teams that they had seen before and were familiar with the last four times, versus somebody outside the area. And with a week being cut back out of the state playoffs, the quarters will again be against the D12 winner, which will not be George Washington.

I'm one of those alums who always wants them to play for advancing in the state tournament. They play P'burg every year. They've never won a state title on the field, and their last "mythical" one came in 1968. Go be the team that does that. Now, I will say, those games they won 48 hours after P'Burg are some of the specialist sporting events I've been to, and it is unquestionably cool when that all works in their favor. But I think it's something a savvy coach can massage. P'burg also, while very good this year, is often very beatable lately in ways that don't require your A game from a state championship caliber team. My two cents there for not_a_fan

 

[2020sports]

Wow, that thanksgiving game sounds like a cool tradition, but if Easton wants a real program, they cannot make an exhibition game more important than a championship?? Could they not just adjust- still play but treat it like exhibition- have JV players take the lead? Could be a program builder- incentive for younger guys?

 

[CAMoleskinner]

2020

Here's a little history on the Thanksgiving game between Easton and Phillipsburg (it's from 2020):

The Easton-Phillipsburg series history on a Turkey Day without football

Results from the 113 meetings of the Red Rovers and Stateliners.

www.lehighvalleylive.com

That's a tradition dating back to 1905 and just like the Whip-Pee-All predates the PIAA (and the playoffs) so does that monster game between the Dawgs and the Stateliners.

Everybody on the East side recognizes the issue for Easton (playoffs vs. "The Game").

Here's an article from USA Today in 2019 talking about T-Day games::

Opinion: America's best Thanksgiving Day high school football rivalries

For more than a hundred years, high school football teams have played on Thanksgiving Day. These are the nine best rivalries.

www.usatoday.com

You'll see that the article leads off with the Easton game followed by the Norwich Free Academy, Conn. vs. New London, Conn. game (dating to 1875) next in line (which is reputed to be the oldest Thanksgiving game still being played).

Easton v. P-Burg is the game when it's Turkey Day.

Here's ESPN's take from a 2006 article:

Easton vs Phillipsburg: The 100th game

Easton (Pa.) Area High School and Phillipsburg (N.J.) will meet on Thanksgiving for the 100th time in one of the best rivalries in high school football.

www.espn.com

The ESPN article has some excellent background too including that in that year both schools were in state playoffs two days after the game (Easton in PA and P-Burg in New Jersey). It also mentions that for a number of years the Stateliners eschewed involvement in the Jersey playoffs preferring the game with Easton.

That article also points out that the first ESPN broadcast of the game was in 1988 and that they were expecting 20,000 folks for the 2006 game (it is played at Lafayette's field).

PS As a high school kid playing ball at Cottingham (Easton's field) against the Red Rovers (as a Redskin, of course) -- that was something (you knew you were playing some serious folks in a serious place where football was a very serious endeavor).

 

[D1 Transplant]

Wow, that thanksgiving game sounds like a cool tradition, but if Easton wants a real program, they cannot make an exhibition game more important than a championship?? Could they not just adjust- still play but treat it like exhibition- have JV players take the lead? Could be a program builder- incentive for younger guys?

An exhibition game? I get it's hard to understand the tradition if you're not from the area, but this is no exhibition game. They play the game for over 100 years, and it's played at a college stadium, filled to capacity, 15,000 strong. The game itself is a program builder, incentive for all the kids, from pee wee to varsity. The tradition is ingrained into every student from the time they enter the school district. Both teams have stated they would give up state playoffs rather than not play Turkey Day. In fact, you'll hear most Easton fans call game week "the best week of the year." Stealing a line from the Master's Golf tournament, the Easton-P-burg game is a tradition like no other.

 

[EPC FAN]

I was asking around yesterday to try and get some scoops, and the response I got from somebody outside the Easton program on Stambaugh was "no way in hell is he leaving Notre Dame ever". So there's that

I guess he likes being a big fish in a little pond.

 

[CAMoleskinner]

Another "note" regarding Easton is that in addition to playing ball since 1895 (some 127 years or so) the Red Rovers have the second mot wins all-time in the state behind only the Mt. Carmel Red Tornadoes (see below):

Mount Carmel Area Red Tornadoes	1893	District 4	1256	866	331	59
Easton Area Red Rovers	1895	District 11	1251	854	362	54
Berwick Area Bulldogs	1888	District 2	1208	825	340	43
Steelton-Highspire Steamrollers	1893	District 3	1294	787	446	61
Coatesville Red Raiders	1903	District 1	1180	721	410	49

Basically Easton is one of "the teams" in PA (I'd think they qualify as one of the "blue bloods").

They've banked multiple mythical state titles (4 or 5 with one in 1968 and another in 1958 and then some back in the '20s as I recall - and maybe before that) and they have made a strong run during the "on the field" years with multiple appearances in the Eastern Championship game with my guys from Langhorne meeting them in 2004 -- in that game -- and squeaking out a 21-14 win (course, going to Hershey and running into the PCC buzzsaw that was the Vikings' 2004 team you almost wish the Dawgs had gone to Hershey -- ouch, that still hurts).

Anyway, granted they've had a few "down" years of late but when you play for a century and a quarter there are bound to be a few bumps and bruises along the way (they'll be back).

 

[RoverNation05]

Wow, that thanksgiving game sounds like a cool tradition, but if Easton wants a real program, they cannot make an exhibition game more important than a championship?? Could they not just adjust- still play but treat it like exhibition- have JV players take the lead? Could be a program builder- incentive for younger guys?

See, there's the conundrum.

More important, I'm not sure. As important? It's pretty close. The two that stick out are in '04 when P'burg was undefeated and won their group in NJ, Easton beat them up pretty good (31-0 with a 24-0 halftime lead) and was able to get a bunch of guys out or limit them. They beat GW that Saturday, whose running back went to play DB at Wisconsin and was on the upper end of the D12 teams that we saw pre-PCL (it's them and the GW team with Shariff Floyd that beat LaSalle in '08 that stood out above the pack). The next week they drop a touchdown with 8 seconds left that would have forced OT in the eastern final against Neshaminy. Not sure they lost that game because of Thanksgiving.

Similarly, in '09, they beat P'Burg on Thanksgiving, then two days later played Parkland - who featured future Heisman Finalist and Giants running back Andre Williams. That team was really good, Easton held Williams under 100 yards, when he had like 1,900 for the season, in a really tough win. The next week, they lost in the snow thanks to a 40 yard field goal against the eventual state champ, not sure Thanksgiving stood in the way of that either. Those two years are the closest they've come to a state final with the Thanksgiving conundrum (in '93 they lost 6-3 to CB West, but in that era, you played Districts, had a week off for Thanksgiving, then played in the Final 4 the following weekend, so P'Burg didn't factor into the state playoff game).

 

[RoverNation05]

I guess he likes being a big fish in a little pond.

I think Stambaugh is a true believer when it comes to Catholic education. Not a "wants to be at a private school for competitive reasons" but "he went to a small Catholic school, has always worked in small Catholic schools, and sincerely wants to be a part of a small Catholic education." I think if Pius never closed, he would have spent his entire career there, no questions asked. Maybe he moves from Notre Dame to Bethlehem Catholic (which is also open) but I've always heard, and had confirmed this week, that Stambaugh is a no-go on coaching in public schools.

And just for the uninitiated in the rest of the state - Phil Stambaugh played quarterback at Pius X, where he took Pius to the Eastern Final against Southern Columbia in 1995, and I think was the All State quarterback. His dad was the AD at Pius X. He then played college football at Lehigh, where he was a 2x FCS All American, finalist for the National Player of the Year, and took Lehigh to three FCS playoffs and an FCS quarterfinal. He kicked around the NFL and Arena League for a couple years, then came back to teach and coach at Pius X. Pius got closed by the diocese in 2015, and he went to Notre Dame Green-Pond in Easton.

 

[RoverNation05]

Another "note" regarding Easton is that in addition to playing ball since 1895 (some 127 years or so) the Red Rovers have the second mot wins all-time in the state behind only the Mt. Carmel Red Tornadoes (see below):

Mount Carmel Area Red Tornadoes	1893	District 4	1256	866	331	59
Easton Area Red Rovers	1895	District 11	1251	854	362	54
Berwick Area Bulldogs	1888	District 2	1208	825	340	43
Steelton-Highspire Steamrollers	1893	District 3	1294	787	446	61
Coatesville Red Raiders	1903	District 1	1180	721	410	49

Basically Easton is one of "the teams" in PA (I'd think they qualify as one of the "blue bloods").

They've banked multiple mythical state titles (4 or 5 with one in 1968 and another in 1958 and then some back in the '20s as I recall - and maybe before that) and they have made a strong run during the "on the field" years with multiple appearances in the Eastern Championship game with my guys from Langhorne meeting them in 2004 -- in that game -- and squeaking out a 21-14 win (course, going to Hershey and running into the PCC buzzsaw that was the Vikings' 2004 team you almost wish the Dawgs had gone to Hershey -- ouch, that still hurts).

Anyway, granted they've had a few "down" years of late but when you play for a century and a quarter there are bound to be a few bumps and bruises along the way (they'll be back).

We count mythical titles in 1968, 1958, 1939, and 1925 - the '68 one they famously beat Pennsbury in a state #1 vs. #2 game, that one gets talked a lot about on this board because Easton was in the same conference as Pennsbury and Neshaminy at that point in time, so they were a fixture in SEPA. That year capped a three-year stretch of going 28-1-2 (the '67 team was #1 in the state before tying Phillipsburg on Thanksgiving), then had a similar 25-2-1 stretch from '58-60 - where they were undefeated against teams in Pennsylvania, 28-4-1 from '77-'79 (the '78 team was a tie away from staking a claim to another mythical title), they had seven double-digit win seasons from '85-'93 with the pair of Eastern Finals once the state tournament started (and the '90 team that got kept out of the state tourney on power points despite winning D11), then had another run of 10 double digit win seasons from 2001-2014. And even going back, they had a 35 game unbeaten streak in the '20s. They've got a bunch of stretches of being very, very good.

Since World War II, this year was only the 13th time they've been under .500. They've been the consistent team in the Lehigh Valley for the most part - William Allen had really good teams in the '50s, Dieruff and Whitehall got really good in the '70s, Bethlehem Catholic really climbed in the '80s, Parkland got good in the '90s, Liberty rocketed up in the 2000s, Freedom has been good lately, but Easton had kind of been in that elite tier locally pretty much since they started playing football.

The Easton-Neshaminy game in 2004 was a pretty incredible football game. And while PCC trounced Neshaminy (and would have done the same to Easton) that is a real missed opportunity from the Dawgs too - they've had three real, on the field, change one or two plays, opportunities to go to Hershey, and that game was one. I'm sure you remember, but it was 14-14 deep into the fourth quarter, and Neshaminy put together a great drive to take the lead with like 50 seconds left. Easton hit Jarred Holley (see above) on a slant that went for like 60 yards in the two minute drill, and had a couple cracks from inside the 15 to tie the game - including the aforementioned pass on third down that hit their tight end in the numbers but fell incomplete. Neshaminy picked up a desperation heave on 4th and the season on the final play of the game, and the good guys still have never made it to Hershey/Altoona/Cumberland Valley/wherever.

 

[CAMoleskinner]

Rover -

I recall all of that regarding your fine school (and recapping just a little of the information on the great run in the late '50s -- Pete Americus -- , the 1966 to 1968 years when Pennsbury and the Rovers sort of ran roughshod over the Big 6 -- and that '68 Easton win over the Falcons that gave them the "mythical crown"). And that year of 1968 you guys whacked us 42-20 while Pennsbury just slipped by, 17-13, despite the Falcons being a much better team (and I mean versus us not you guys - both Easton and Pennsbury were nasty in '68)..

Course I'll never forget suiting up against the Rovers from 1969 to 1971 (those were each a memorable game even though they weren't necessarily Easton's best years as Dieruff was making a bit more noise along with Bethlehem - up your way -and then Pennsbury next door to us in Bucks also being a player in what was at that time the Big 7).

And then the 2004 nail-biter Eastern Final at Bensalem's field!! Who can forget that game (and if anyone has -- it's just below -- and scroll through to about minute 37:30 and you'll see the long pass that had you guys then set up at Neshaminy's 18 with the score 21-14 in Langhorne's favor as the Rover's first two of three shots that followed - in those waning seconds - just missing before the third was picked by a 'Skin ending the Dawgs shot at forcing OT):

 

[2020sports]

An exhibition game? I get it's hard to understand the tradition if you're not from the area, but this is no exhibition game. They play the game for over 100 years, and it's played at a college stadium, filled to capacity, 15,000 strong. The game itself is a program builder, incentive for all the kids, from pee wee to varsity. The tradition is ingrained into every student from the time they enter the school district. Both teams have stated they would give up state playoffs rather than not play Turkey Day. In fact, you'll hear most Easton fans call game week "the best week of the year." Stealing a line from the Master's Golf tournament, the Easton-P-burg game is a tradition like no other.

yea, ok, i am from western pa, and i dont "understand tradition"

I was trying to give some feedback, w outside input- bud you can go fly a friggin kite

im done this this topic

 

[roxychknpoxy]

yea, ok, i am from western pa, and i dont "understand tradition"

I was trying to give some feedback, w outside input- bud you can go fly a friggin kite

im done this this topic

Man, a number of you western guys are up tight! If you’re a sports fan, not sure how you never heard of Easton - Schutt football helmets North American headquarters and Easton bats … the comments were more insightful and educational, not condescending - it’s incredible, enviable history! … a number of you western folks should just stick to the PR thread.

 

[RoverNation05]

yea, ok, i am from western pa, and i dont "understand tradition"

I was trying to give some feedback, w outside input- bud you can go fly a friggin kite

im done this this topic

I think he was trying to explain this specific, kind of unique tradition, not tradition in general. I’ve been on this board for the better part of two decades and have read D1 for a long time, he’s a pretty good guy, don’t think he was being a dick.

There are certainly western PA traditions that I don’t get, despite feeling pretty comfortable with the statewide landscape.

 

[2020sports]

Man, a number of you western guys are up tight! If you’re a sports fan, not sure how you never heard of Easton - Schutt football helmets North American headquarters and Easton bats … the comments were more insightful and educational, not condescending - it’s incredible, enviable history! … a number of you western folks should just stick to the PR thread.

rover was asking for input from outside the area... maybe some people dont really want input or comments from "outside their area." maybe i otta just quit this website, kinda sick of the insults, sarcasm and comments like "you western folks"

 

[RoverNation05]

Rover -

I recall all of that regarding your fine school (and recapping just a little of the information on the great run in the late '50s -- Pete Americus -- , the 1966 to 1968 years when Pennsbury and the Rovers sort of ran roughshod over the Big 6 -- and that '68 Easton win over the Falcons that gave them the "mythical crown"). And that year of 1968 you guys whacked us 42-20 while Pennsbury just slipped by, 17-13, despite the Falcons being a much better team (and I mean versus us not you guys - both Easton and Pennsbury were nasty in '68)..

Course I'll never forget suiting up against the Rovers from 1969 to 1971 (those were each a memorable game even though they weren't necessarily Easton's best years as Dieruff was making a bit more noise along with Bethlehem - up your way -and then Pennsbury next door to us in Bucks also being a player in what was at that time the Big 7).

And then the 2004 nail-biter Eastern Final at Bensalem's field!! Who can forget that game (and if anyone has -- it's just below -- and scroll through to about minute 37:30 and you'll see the long pass that had you guys then set up at Neshaminy's 18 with the score 21-14 in Langhorne's favor as the Rover's first two of three shots that followed - in those waning seconds - just missing before the third was picked by a 'Skin ending the Dawgs shot at forcing OT):

View embedded media

Funny, and not something I knew until doing a research project, but ‘58 was a wild year for Pete Americus. First, this was the big story of the off-season (can you imagine what this board would have been doing?):

“Easton’s biggest challenge of the season came in the summer. Lehigh Valley schools challenged the eligibility of Americus, requiring a birth certificate to prove he was below the PIAA’s age threshold. This became an international incident, as Americus was born in Greece and immigrated to the United States by himself to live with extended family, and Easton needed to contact the Greek embassy for Americus’s proof of age, then utilized professors at Lafayette College to translate the document for the PIAA committee investigating the matter. Americus was declared eligible six days before the Red Rovers’ opener against Reading.”

He also only played in five games that year due to a knee injury. Luckily his backfield mate was Bill Houston, who averaged over 10 yards per carry on the season. Mr Houston was later a principal, district administrator, and city council member in Easton (after his football career ended due to a compound leg fracture during his junior season at South Carolina State, where he played with Jackie Slater).

Rovers were pretty mediocre in the early 70s! That’s one of the eras that is getting a lot of comparisons to now. That was right as Liberty was building - just before Mike Hartenstine, or did you two overlap?

Kid who catches the pass in that clip was freshman Jarred Holley, who ended up a three-time All State corner, four star recruit, and a couple time all ACC safety at Pitt. He got a cup of coffee with the Steelers, and has been an FBS d-backs coach the last couple years. He had a brilliant freshman season in ‘04 and part of an excellent secondary - Dom Price was a Big 33 pick (his sister is Chanelle, who was the world champ in the 800m in 2014 at the indoor meet and won a couple NCAA track titles at Tennessee), and Ovid Goulbourne played outside linebacker for those really good Rich Rod West Virginia teams and played a season with the Ravens on and off their practice squad.

 

[roxychknpoxy]

rover was asking for input from outside the area... maybe some people dont really want input or comments from "outside their area." maybe i otta just quit this website, kinda sick of the insults, sarcasm and comments like "you western folks"

Sounds like you’re giving yourself good advice, your trophy is in the mail.

 

[CAMoleskinner]

Rover -

Mike Hartenstine!

In 1970 - my junior year - we were 5-0 when we played an also 5-0 Liberty at BASD (there were some rumblings that one school or the other was number one in the state at that time going into that game).

Liberty had given up 4 TDs in its 5 games so far that year and we had allowed but 5 so it was billed as an expected defensive struggle (both teams had strong ground attack games and not quite as much up top).

There were 16,000 on hand for the tussle in Bethlehem (it was a packed house).

At the half it was 0-0 but we were struggling and getting banged up everywhere (Bethlehem had a bunch of mercenaries that year).

Try as we might the wheels came loose in the second half and the final score was 22-6 in favor of Bethlehem (those 22 points represented about a third of the 67 points our D gave up all season).

Looking back at 33 games of high school ball that was the one game I thought we really did get beaten by the other team.

As to Hartenstine and my role that year it was really as a blocking back for our two or three fleet HBs (Andy Koch, Joe Sroba - Virginia - and Rich McIntyre).

As to the game, and as said, it seemed my job was solely to kick out Hartenstine. He was immovable, though, and at the half I got a little heated at Sroba as he had a tendency to run with his head down and in the first half he would run right into my back (he'd be coming behind me with the ball and I was supposed to clear space). Right!! I had imprints on my thoracic/lumbar area from his helmet crown hitting me there when I could do little more with Hartenstine except stand him up (there was no "kicking out" occurring at all).

I could go on with lots of stories about that contest. For instance, the "phantom clip" that called back a kickoff return for a TD by our Dale Forchetti following a Liberty TD in the third really hurt (that was the first points of the game). Then that Hurricane score was followed by a picked pass by one of their LBs who tracked me as I slipped out of the backfield looking for a flat pass which he had eyeballed the whole time -- I think I caught him at about the nine yard line and Liberty then scored but only after using all four downs (that saw the home team go up by two scores and it really was enough to deflate the holy heck out of us).

After the game the Morning Call indicated that the locals had beaten "the alleged number one team in the state" (ow).

Anyway, we finished the year at 9-1-1 after a surprise tie, 7-7, against Pennsbury in the "mud bowl" and Liberty got upset by somebody to finish at 9-1 on the season (they lost to another Big 7 team but still took the crown with their 5-1 league record to our 4-1-1 finish after Pennsbury kissed us otherwise we'd have shared the crown).

Hartenstine was all state and then all everything at Penn State and went in the third round with the Bears (he was a senior in that game in 1970). He was voted as one of the top 100 Chicago players of all time. He is actually the only opposing player I really recall from three years of high school ball -- he was a badass -- period (and in recalling him I mean it seemed there was little I could do with him except a stalemate now and then).

PS In 1971 we were once again 5-0 when we met Bethlehem (this time in Langhorne) with Liberty nicked just once at 4-1 (it was a tight loss to some team from Brooklyn that saw that blemish on their record).

Billed as a sequel to 1970 we had 13,000 at our field for the '71 rematch with the result not the close game as expected but rather a 33-6 smackdown by us which saw a measure of revenge for the previous year. They were pretty beat up after that game and it seemed to take the starch out of their shirts as they finished at 5-5 while we continued on our way to a very memorable 11-0-0 campaign (if I do say so, thank you very much).

 

[EPC FAN]

Another "note" regarding Easton is that in addition to playing ball since 1895 (some 127 years or so) the Red Rovers have the second mot wins all-time in the state behind only the Mt. Carmel Red Tornadoes (see below):

Mount Carmel Area Red Tornadoes	1893	District 4	1256	866	331	59
Easton Area Red Rovers	1895	District 11	1251	854	362	54
Berwick Area Bulldogs	1888	District 2	1208	825	340	43
Steelton-Highspire Steamrollers	1893	District 3	1294	787	446	61
Coatesville Red Raiders	1903	District 1	1180	721	410	49

Basically Easton is one of "the teams" in PA (I'd think they qualify as one of the "blue bloods").

They've banked multiple mythical state titles (4 or 5 with one in 1968 and another in 1958 and then some back in the '20s as I recall - and maybe before that) and they have made a strong run during the "on the field" years with multiple appearances in the Eastern Championship game with my guys from Langhorne meeting them in 2004 -- in that game -- and squeaking out a 21-14 win (course, going to Hershey and running into the PCC buzzsaw that was the Vikings' 2004 team you almost wish the Dawgs had gone to Hershey -- ouch, that still hurts).

Anyway, granted they've had a few "down" years of late but when you play for a century and a quarter there are bound to be a few bumps and bruises along the way (they'll be back).

I will add that historically, Easton has played a much tougher schedule than Mount Carmel.

 

[RoverNation05]

So my two wild, swing for the fences hires are off the board.

Ryan Nase is apparently taking the Northeast job in Philly - makes total sense geographically.

Jarred Holley was just announced as the new cornerbacks coach at James Madison. Didn’t think he’d leave college for high school, but could have been a lot of fun.

 

[D1 Transplant]

I'm hearing Moncman is interested. I'm not sure why he would want to leave the Parkland job, though.

 

[RoverNation05]

I always heard Tim wanted to succeed Shiffert. He took Parkland when Morgans retired before Easton was opened - I’ve heard the same thing about Fairclough/Emmaus.

Every coach I’ve know at Parkland, any sport, has gotten worn out by the parents.

 

[HSFB99]

Is Moncman a teacher at Parkland?

 

[RoverNation05]

Is Moncman a teacher at Parkland?

Yes he is. I think he moved over from Bethlehem School District there when they hired him as their defensive coordinator.

I’m assuming Easton will have a teaching job open for the new head coach if he needs it? I know when they hired the new wresting staff, Corey Keener got a teaching/coaching spot with little issue. The advantage of the current staffing shortages is they have room to hire in a way they haven’t in some cycles.