Parkland head coach Jim Morgans has retired after 11 seasons with the Trojans and 47 years of coaching in the Lehigh Valley. Not a big surprise, he turned 70 earlier this month and as those numbers indicate has been in coaching for a long time. He finished his career on a high note, taking Parkland to their third state final and second in Morgans' tenure.
Morgans went 112-33 with five D11 championships and two state finals appearances (2007 and 2015) with the Trojans. Prior to Parkland, Morgans was the head coach at Freedom for four seasons and Salisbury for two seasons, following his run at Allentown Central Catholic.
Morgans coached at ACC, his alma mater, from 1989 to 1998, building the program from an also ran into a state powerhouse. At ACC, Morgans went 94-20, won six D11 titles, five East Penn Conference titles, and two state championships (1993 and 1998). The 1993 title included an instant classic win over Berwick in semifinals (who would turn the tables in 1994 in an equally great football game). All told, his career record is 262-137-1 in 33 seasons as a head coach. Only Bob Stem has more D11 titles, and only Stem and Fred Ross (Stroudsburg) have more career wins by any Lehigh Valley coach.
One of the most impressive parts of Morgans most recent coaching stint was his complete offensive transformation. Morgans was a Wing-T disciple from the beginning of his career, and rode that to his two state titles and the 2007 finals appearance with Parkland. After falling behind other programs in the area, Morgans hired offensive coaches with spread backgrounds to convert the Trojans to a read option/spread passing scheme. The results were four consecutive D11 titles and this past season's finals trip.
Naturally the next question is who will replace him. The presumed front runner for the job is Parkland Defensive Coordinator Tim Moncman, who previously was the head coach at Liberty from 2000-2009. Moncman led the Hurricanes to three state finals and one state title and a 63-9 record in the stretch from 2004-2008. He was one of the early adopters of the spread offense in the Valley and is one of the best defensive minds in the state. He is a Valley lifer, playing linebacker in high school at Freedom and in college at Lafayette, where he was the captain in 1991.
Also currently on Parkland's staff is Bret Comp, who coached Wilson to back-to-back state finals appearances in 2005 and 2006 and the AA title in '06 over Terrelle Pryor's Jeannette team. Comp is an Air Raid guru and one of the best quarterback coaches in the area, who developed two 7,700+ yard passers at Wilson. He and Moncman are close friends, and it would not be a surprise if one gets the job and the other stays on as a coordinator.
Other internal candidates include Frank Lane, Chris Kinnane, and Paul Hegedus. Lane, a former Easton and Bloomsburg running back, has been a key assistant on Morgans' staff dating back to his time at ACC. Kinnane was the offensive coordinator on ACC's 2010 state championship team and has head coaching experience at William Allen. And Hegedus, like Lane, is a long time assisant with Morgans, who has a reputation as one of the most outstanding offensive line coaches in the area.
Externally, I'd assume they will call Jim Terwilliger, who was the quarterbacks coach at Parkland in 2014 after his teaching position at Pleasant Valley was furloughed. Terwilliger was the head coach at PV from 2009-2013 and has the highest winning percentage in school history. He is now an assistant at East Stroudsburg University, his alma mater, where he was one of the greatest DII quarterbacks in history. It's assumed that Terwilliger is the coach in waiting at ESU, he's grown up around the program with his dad a long time assistant, but it's worth making him say no if I'm Rich Snisack.
Snisack is quoted as saying they have "a stable of talented individuals on our staff and will move forward as quickly as possible" so I'm guessing he doesn't look externally. Obviously the job is attractive, Parkland is one of the ten biggest schools in the state in an affluent district with the highest paid teachers in the Valley and an excellent support/feeder system. Snisack, the athletic director, is a former successful head coach (he built Parkland's program in the early to mid 1990s and won D11 titles at William Allen and Parkland) who I think has the reputation of supporting his coaches and giving them every chance to succeed (the athletic program certainly has the results to support that). I'm sure whoever they want will take it.
Morgans went 112-33 with five D11 championships and two state finals appearances (2007 and 2015) with the Trojans. Prior to Parkland, Morgans was the head coach at Freedom for four seasons and Salisbury for two seasons, following his run at Allentown Central Catholic.
Morgans coached at ACC, his alma mater, from 1989 to 1998, building the program from an also ran into a state powerhouse. At ACC, Morgans went 94-20, won six D11 titles, five East Penn Conference titles, and two state championships (1993 and 1998). The 1993 title included an instant classic win over Berwick in semifinals (who would turn the tables in 1994 in an equally great football game). All told, his career record is 262-137-1 in 33 seasons as a head coach. Only Bob Stem has more D11 titles, and only Stem and Fred Ross (Stroudsburg) have more career wins by any Lehigh Valley coach.
One of the most impressive parts of Morgans most recent coaching stint was his complete offensive transformation. Morgans was a Wing-T disciple from the beginning of his career, and rode that to his two state titles and the 2007 finals appearance with Parkland. After falling behind other programs in the area, Morgans hired offensive coaches with spread backgrounds to convert the Trojans to a read option/spread passing scheme. The results were four consecutive D11 titles and this past season's finals trip.
Naturally the next question is who will replace him. The presumed front runner for the job is Parkland Defensive Coordinator Tim Moncman, who previously was the head coach at Liberty from 2000-2009. Moncman led the Hurricanes to three state finals and one state title and a 63-9 record in the stretch from 2004-2008. He was one of the early adopters of the spread offense in the Valley and is one of the best defensive minds in the state. He is a Valley lifer, playing linebacker in high school at Freedom and in college at Lafayette, where he was the captain in 1991.
Also currently on Parkland's staff is Bret Comp, who coached Wilson to back-to-back state finals appearances in 2005 and 2006 and the AA title in '06 over Terrelle Pryor's Jeannette team. Comp is an Air Raid guru and one of the best quarterback coaches in the area, who developed two 7,700+ yard passers at Wilson. He and Moncman are close friends, and it would not be a surprise if one gets the job and the other stays on as a coordinator.
Other internal candidates include Frank Lane, Chris Kinnane, and Paul Hegedus. Lane, a former Easton and Bloomsburg running back, has been a key assistant on Morgans' staff dating back to his time at ACC. Kinnane was the offensive coordinator on ACC's 2010 state championship team and has head coaching experience at William Allen. And Hegedus, like Lane, is a long time assisant with Morgans, who has a reputation as one of the most outstanding offensive line coaches in the area.
Externally, I'd assume they will call Jim Terwilliger, who was the quarterbacks coach at Parkland in 2014 after his teaching position at Pleasant Valley was furloughed. Terwilliger was the head coach at PV from 2009-2013 and has the highest winning percentage in school history. He is now an assistant at East Stroudsburg University, his alma mater, where he was one of the greatest DII quarterbacks in history. It's assumed that Terwilliger is the coach in waiting at ESU, he's grown up around the program with his dad a long time assistant, but it's worth making him say no if I'm Rich Snisack.
Snisack is quoted as saying they have "a stable of talented individuals on our staff and will move forward as quickly as possible" so I'm guessing he doesn't look externally. Obviously the job is attractive, Parkland is one of the ten biggest schools in the state in an affluent district with the highest paid teachers in the Valley and an excellent support/feeder system. Snisack, the athletic director, is a former successful head coach (he built Parkland's program in the early to mid 1990s and won D11 titles at William Allen and Parkland) who I think has the reputation of supporting his coaches and giving them every chance to succeed (the athletic program certainly has the results to support that). I'm sure whoever they want will take it.
