Conversation with Coach – Mike Warfield, Aliquippa
Tagged under: Coaches Corner, District 7, News, pfn
Phil Myers | September 11, 2023
Everyone in Pennsylvania knows Aliquippa is a sports town especially proficient in football. Aliquippa is the only high school in America that can boast about having three players in the NFL Hall of Fame (Mike Ditka, Ty Law, and Darrelle Revis). The Quips have won the state championship four times. They have made the WPIAL (District 7) playoffs 28 straight years (a current ongoing record tied with Thomas Jefferson), appearing in the finals 15 consecutive years (a current ongoing record), and have racked up a record 19 WPIAL football championships. They have not had a losing season since 1972. People around the United States have heard of Aliquippa too thanks to a feature by ESPN and a couple articles by Sports Illustrated over the years. Aliquippa’s current head coach, Mike Warfield, wants to change that perception.
His desire is that Aliquippa be known for academics and for all the kids to be successful beyond football and sports. He wants to give back something that Aliquippa football gave him. Warfield and his staff do more than talk the talk, they lead by example, implementing things to motivate kids to do well scholastically. Coach Warfield says winning is expected in Aliquippa. So, he and his staff push the kids hard in practice and push hard to get that ‘W’ on Friday night. He says he feels pressure to win every single week. But to Warfield, coaching’s bottom line is not about wins and losses. It is about the kids.
Warfield was raised in Aliquippa by his mom, Bobbie. He quarterbacked the football team and also played basketball for the Quips, graduating in 1987. He went to Catawba College in Salisbury, NC where he was the quarterback for the Indians for 4 years, earning various honors. He graduated in 1991 with a degree in sociology and political science. He played professionally for the Hamburg Silver Eagles in the German International League for a year before being called home when he passed the state police exam.
He graduated from the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in 1994 and served 25 years before retiring in 2018. He started out as a trooper on the turnpike but was assigned to the Pittsburgh DEA Task Force Violent Offender’s Group his last 20 years. Warfield’s wife’s name is Victoria and they’ve been married 24 years. They have three children: Deja, Jocelyn, and Isiah. Besides coaching Aliquippa football, Mike Warfield is currently employed by McKesson Pharmaceutical as a regulatory affairs manager.
During our 60-minute conversation I found out some fascinating stuff from this successful husband, father, coach, and employee. I also found out he cares. And that is the most important trait for any football coach to have, a caring heart. Although he is not sure how long he may coach, his record after his first five years is 60-6, winning two PIAA championships and being the runner-up to Bishop McDevitt last year.
PM: “How did you get into coaching?”
MW: “I love sports. When I was a trooper, I coached periodically when my schedule permitted. I coached my son (Isiah) at the Pop Warner level. Prior to that at one point, I was head coach of the junior high team. I did take a position at Central Valley High School under Mark Lyons for three years prior to becoming head coach at Aliquippa.”
PM: “Aliquippa obviously has always been good but had only won a state title once in 26 years before you got there. How were you able to bump it up a notch and make the championship game 3 of your 5 years as head coach, winning it all twice?”
MW: “I think it was a combination of things. I didn’t change much relative to the staff. The staff that was under Coach Z is essentially my staff. I coached with a lot of those guys and we are close friends. The coaching staff is the backbone of the program. The majority are ex-Aliquippa graduates who graduated from college and played in college. So, they know the game. And they love the program which is important to me.”
“My focus when I came in was to try and change the narrative to a degree on how people perceive Aliquippa. We were always perceived as just good athletes who won games. We’re more than that. We have a kid who’s about to commit to Yale. (Brandon Banks committed to the Bulldogs on July 21st and is thought to be the first student-athlete to go to an Ivy League school from Aliquippa since the 1980s.) We have a kid committed to Pitt already. (Cameron Lindsey.) We’ve always won on the field, but sometimes we’ve come up short off the field. I wanted to change some things that it takes to win off the field as well. That has been my focus.”
“To answer your question directly, it’s a combination of the kids (and coaches) being committed. Of course, you have to have the talent. Playing football is a way of life here. We don’t waste a day. That’s our motto, we don’t waste a day.”
We talked about how some of the former players come back and donate their time to the kids not only at Aliquippa but occasionally at other high schools too, like MJ Devonshire (currently at Pitt) who tells the kids of the commitment needed not only on the field but in the classroom as well in order to come out with a college degree. Warfield wants the kids to hear the truth. He says Devonshire’s talk and the others who speak are very informative and believe it or not, the kids listen and pay attention.
PM: “How do you as a coach measure success?”
MW: “That’s a great question. It’s multi-faceted because, to me, there’s an equation to it. If you do A, B, and C, it equals D. But a lot of the time people try to avoid one of those letters, which in turn, you then never get to D. You never get to that point. People say they want to be a Division 1 player, but you have to be committed to that. It entails being a student. It entails being an athlete. It entails being a good person with responsibilities. To me, success is when I see a kid commit to Yale (Brandon Banks). That’s success to me. Tiqwai Hayes just got an offer from Ohio State. He has a 4.0 GPA. That’s success to me. Cam Lindsey signed with Pitt and has a 3.6 GPA. That’s success to me.”
“I want each kid to be treated the same. I try to make sure I do that and the staff does that. You might have a kid that won’t touch the field, but I want him to get the same attention in the weight room because it might give that kid some confidence. It might project him into being positive and going to college, not necessarily to play football, but just being a good, productive person in society. Wins and losses, I could care less. When I’m 70, I’ll be worried about what I did to get these kids on the right path. Because I was those kids growing up in Aliquippa with a single mom. So, I understand. For a lot of us, Aliquippa football is life or death. It depends on it because it gives you opportunities. It gave me confidence. That’s success for me. Not necessarily the championships.”
We talked a bit about sports giving you confidence. How shy kids come out of their shells thanks to sports. How sports can aid kids in the game of life. We also talked about how kids, whether good athletes or not good athletes, allow themselves to be defined as one or the other, and how they shouldn’t allow themselves to be defined that way.
PM: “What’s the toughest thing about coaching?”
MW: “I wouldn’t consider this tough. I would say challenge. Each year is different, but I tell the coaches if we don’t complain about it, the kids won’t. Being a single A school and playing up at 4A, that’s a challenge. Sometimes life isn’t fair but what are you going to do about it in the meantime? Okay, you don’t have a dad, a father. It’s rough. What are you going to do in the meantime? Are we going to complain or are we going to just out work it? If your circumstances aren’t right, if your home life isn’t right, we get it. I understand. That’s not fair. But in the meantime, what are you going to do until it gets better? We always talk about in the meantime. What are we going to do in the meantime until we improve, until we can improve ourselves and our circumstances. Some people take shortcuts and when you take shortcuts you land right back to where you were. It’s a struggle. We get it. But by taking shortcuts and not working through it, you’ll end up worse than where you were.”
Coach Warfield and I then talked about Aliquippa being a single A school and playing competitively at 4A. When the PIAA had 4 classes, the Quips played at 2A. When the PIAA went to 6 classes, Aliquippa played at 3A (where he thinks they probably belong), but the success factor plus the transfer rule moved them to 4A. Warfield’s teams made the 4A state championship game the past 2 years splitting those games with Bishop McDevitt.
While Coach Warfield agrees that playing at the 4A level allows for more of a competitive edge for his players than spanking 1A and 2A opponents where almost every game would probably end in a Mercy Rule situation and his best players would only be playing two quarters, his concern is playing teams, especially in the playoffs, with bigger rosters where many players only play one way. Most of his guys have to play both ways. By the end of the game, he says his guys are wearing out against fresher players and that could result in injuries. He told me that he actually loves the success formula, but in Aliquippa’s case it wasn’t implemented fairly. He finished by saying, “We had the competitive spirit before the competitive formula came into being.”
PM: “What you’ve done with the program in your 5 years is nothing short of phenomenal. Three state championship appearances, winning two of those.”
MW: “I’ll tell you what, we learned tremendously from back-to-back losses to Central Valley in the WPIALs. I think that allowed us to win that following year in 4A. So, even though you lose, you actually win sometimes. For example, after losing in the finals game last year, I told the team in life they’ll learn so much from that. The kids will get more from that loss than when we won the previous year. Life goes on, you know. Life didn’t stop because we lost the state championship game. Yes, it’s painful. There’s no gain without pain. The question is, are you willing to deal with that pain to grow. Then when you win sometimes you lose, because you overlook things.”
PM: “Great point. What is the most important concept that you try to teach your players?”
MW: “I think what I just said. If things aren’t going your way you have to adjust, correct it, reflect, and move on as far as athletics or life. I try to teach the kids your credibility is more important than credit. Your credibility deals with who you are, what people think about you, and people trusting you. It’s like a crystal ball held in your hands. If you drop it, it’s going to shatter. You can put it together with glue, but it won’t look the same.”
“Aliquippa football made me who I am. Aliquippa football has meant a lot to me. So, I just want to give those kids the same opportunity that I had because I’m no better than them. Life doesn’t let up. When you think you got it figured out, you probably don’t.”
PM: “Coach, what do you want your legacy to be?”
MW: “That’s a good question. I enjoy coaching. I love being around the kids, but I’m not going to be coaching a long time. This is just an opportunity for me to give back to the program that meant so much to me. The legacy, I don’t spend too much time on that because that’s for other people to define. They will say I came to work every day and did the best I could with what we had.”
PM: “What’s the biggest thrill you’ve had coaching so far?”
MW: “I think it changes year to year. I love to see small victories from not necessarily our star players. I love seeing a little shy kid who may not touch the field, mature and grow and gain more confidence in himself. I love that. When I get a call from Brandon Banks who says I think I’m going to commit to Yale, that made me happy because that’s a life-changer. Not only for him, but for all the kids in school, the athletes, the non-athletes, boys, girls, the community. That’s big because I wanted to change the narrative that says we’re good in sports. That narrative didn’t get us anything for what our kids really need to be successful in life. The narrative is changing to say they also got doctors and lawyers and engineers and judges that came out of Aliquippa too. Maybe that’s the legacy I want to be known for, changing the narrative at Aliquippa.”
We proceeded to talk about the state of the arts stadium and weight room they now have, and Phase II that plans to have an academic/athletic center, an indoor facility, training room, and field house. Coach Warfield stated that the kids deserve it. He talked about the old facility and how run down and embarrassing it was. The locker rooms were disgusting he said. Apparently, no one seemed to know how run-down things were. He said it took time and a lot of arguments, but they are getting there.
Coach Warfield invited me down for a game since I travel the state to see various teams and venues, and since I have not been to Aliquippa to see a game although I have seen the Quips play on numerous occasions at Heinz Field and at states.
PM: “Is there anything you’d like to see changed in the high school game?”
MW: “I hope I’m not overlooking anything. To be honest, I think the PIAA does a pretty dog gone good job. They’ve also done a good job of educating people and just making people aware of safety issues. Like the seriousness of concussion protocols and things like that.”
PM: “How involved are you with the midget program?”
MW: “We are very involved because those are our kids too. We always go out to the elementary school when they have events and take the high school kids who they look up to. For example, last year we had a ‘big man’ camp for all the Pop Warner kids up to the junior high program just for linemen. It was great. We had a good time.” On a side note, Coach Warfield was able to re-establish the junior high program his second year. He said, “If you can keep a kid’s mind occupied on positives, it’s going to stay positive, you know what I mean?”
PM: “If you could pick the brain of any football coach, past or present, who would it be?”
MW: “That’s a tough question. I’m real close to my high school coach, Don Yanessa, and I speak to him. We get together once or twice a year.”
PM: “What do you do with your spare time?”
MW: “I work for McKesson Pharmaceuticals now. So, my free time is spent working.”
PM: “Is there somewhere in the United States that you’ve never been, but would love to visit?”
MW: “New Orleans.”
PM: “What does Coach Warfield’s favorite meal consist of?”
MW: “My wife’s ox tails.”
PM: “What’s your favorite dessert?”
MW: “Cheesecake.”
PM: “Do you have any favorite movies?”
MW: “Silence of the Lambs. I’m a big fan of Anthony Hopkins.”
PM: “What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?”
MW: “I’m shy.”
PM: “What’s the outlook for the upcoming season?”
MW: “It’s going to be exciting. We got to see how we look up front. We’re going to be solid specialty wise. I’m excited to see how our young kids will grow throughout the season.”
PM: “I can envision Aliquippa-Bishop McDevitt round three in the finals this year.”
MW: “I know they have a lot of talent. Their quarterback (Stone Saunders) is still there. I thought his decision making was a lot faster than the year before, so I can just imagine another year under his belt, another year of maturity physically and mentally. He’s going to be tough. Those two games with Bishop McDevitt were just good high school football games. They didn’t quit, our kids didn’t quit. We won two years ago. Hooray! Then this is what I’m talking about – they lost but they won because they put their heads down and worked. They outworked us last year. I have to give them credit for that. Their coaching staff was ready and #55 (Riley Robell) was ready. He had a heck of a game. The year before we made 3 or 4 plays that changed the game. That’s football.”
Warfield shared many other things with this old codger, one of them being that Aliquippa has higher standards than the PIAA for eligibility. Week to week, athletes have to maintain a 2.0 to be eligible to play. If they don’t, they can’t play that particular week. He said that if they have less than a 3.0 then they have to attend a mandatory study hall. Warfield hired Aliquippa’s first female football coach (Coach Tiffany), whose job is to help the kids maintain their grades not only during football season but throughout the whole school year.
Warfield tries to live his life with good intentions and it’s obvious he has been successful in that endeavor. Aliquippa’s narrative is changing thanks to Coach Mike Warfield and his staff. The Quips have always been a winner on the field. That is probably not going to change any time soon. With Coach Warfield’s guidance, the kids will now be winners in the game of life too. That is something he can be very proud of and many of the kids will be thankful for.
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