Dallas Mountaineers Coach Rich Mannello wins PFN Coaches-Select Class 4A Coach of the Year

Tagged under: All-Stars, District 2, News, pfn

Jared Samuel | January 5, 2024

The Dallas Mountaineers went undefeated in District 2, won the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title and the District 2 title, and they weren’t done yet.  A deep state playoff run with overtime victories over Bonner-Prendie and defending state champion Bishop McDevitt found the Mounts in the state title game for the 2nd time in the last 5 years.  After a humbling loss to a tough Aliquippa team, the Dallas Mountaineers came home to a supportive community as the State Runner-Up in Class 4A.

All of this is a result of great leadership and coaching, and that is why Dallas Mountaineer Head Football Coach Rich Mannello is the PFN Coaches-Select Class 4A Coach of the Year.

“We said after the first 2 (state playoff) games on the road that we felt the Junior and Senior class would be molded into one”, said Mannello.  “It is a part of the process of the entire season, working up to that point.  We gained a lot of confidence pulling those games out.  It galvanized the Juniors and Seniors.  The other underclassmen pushed themselves into the group also, and we grew together as a group.”

Many folks around the state have gotten caught up in the public vs. private school debate when it comes to the PIAA State Football Championships, and Coach Mannello said this:  “Our kids gave every public school kid in the state some hope.  There is a way to make it to a state championship game getting through the private schools, and we proved it this year.”

After the Bishop McDevitt game, Mannello famously said that the team would be right back at it Sunday morning doing “power cleans”, and he meant it.  While the team fell short of a state title this year, the focus remains the same for Coach Mannello and the Mountaineers as I spoke to him as school was about to end for the day.  “I’m about to have 90+ kids come in to this weight room”, he said.  “Everybody is right back into it…it’s a 12 month thing.  You’ve got to do all the conditioning year-round now in order to be successful, and our kids know it.”

And Mannello knows what the focus needs to be for next year and ever year after that:  “Everything at Dallas is about getting to and winning the District title game.  Then we go from there, see who is healthy, and we make a run.”

Congrats to Coach Rich Mannello and the Dallas Mountaineers on a fantastic season!

Check out the 2023 PFN Coaches-Select Class 4A All-State Football Team here!

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