Larger text
Smaller textMcKeesport hires Ward as football coach
Jim Ward
Barry Reeger | Tribune-Review
Patrick Cloonan is a McKeesport Daily News staff writer and can be reached at 412-664-9161 or via e-mail.
As expected, McKeesport Area School District's board of directors chose Yough High School football coach Jim Ward to succeed veteran varsity coach George Smith.
Ward was sitting in the rear of the audience at Wednesday's board meeting and was applauded after the board's 8-0 vote. Christopher Halaszynski was the only board member not present.
"I'm excited," Ward said. "I'm ready to start."
Ward will be paid $7,063.50, a slightly higher figure than Smith's reported August 2008 salary of $6,694. Ward will address more questions about his plans for the program today at a news conference.
"We had four excellent candidates," board athletic chairman Jim Brown said. "Any one of them could have taken the position."
Brown said Ward "overshined" the other candidates, including former Clairton coach Wayne Wade and McKeesport Area assistants John Harper and Chris Capozzoli.
Capozzoli, who was head junior varsity coach, was hired yesterday to share weightlifting coaching duties with Todd Blackwell. Each will earn $1,371.15.
Ward's background includes two stints as a head coach, one in South Allegheny from 2000-02. The Gladiators were 3-27 when the South Allegheny school board removed Ward in favor of Terry George.
Ward moved on to Clairton, where he had been an assistant before South Allegheny hired him, and to Jeannette for the 2007 and '08 seasons. Last season, Ward led Yough to a 3-7 record.
Ward, a Munhall native who lives in Rostraver Township, was an all-conference defensive linemen at Steel Valley from 1985-89.
He played at Slippery Rock University, where he was a three-time All-PSAC selection and a Division II third-team All-American.
Ward signed a rookie free-agent contract with the San Diego Chargers, and he played for Frankfort of the World League in the spring of 1995 and Memphis of the Canadian Football League in the fall. He also played in the Arena League and NFL Europe before ending his career in training camp with the Atlanta Falcons.
