FB: Presidents' Athletic Conference

[SaintsFAN]

Congrats to Domonique Hayden of Thomas More in being named offensive player of the year for the South Region. 

Hayden is also on the South Region 1st Team at RB and OT Jake Henderson is on the third team at OT.


Pretty good year for the Saints with the awards and expect them to keep coming.  I do believe Hayden has a shot at the Gagliardi with his off the field and on the field accomplishments.

[Bob.Gregg]

Grove City's Chris Smith to Retire following 2015 season, GCC alum Andrew DiDonato to succeed

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Head football coach Chris Smith '72 has notified the College that he will retire at the end of the 2015 season after more than 30 years of dedicated service to the program. 

Grove City College alumnus Andrew DiDonato '10, a four-year starter at quarterback for the Wolverines from 2006-2009, will succeed Smith as head coach, effective with the 2016 season.  He will join the coaching staff this January as offensive coordinator and will work closely with Smith during the 2015 season to ensure a seamless transition as he assumes the head coach role after Smith's retirement.

Smith has guided the football program for 31 seasons and is the all-time wins leader in the history of Wolverine football.  Most notably, he earned national and regional acclaim including Presidents' Athletic Conference championships in 1997 and 1998, and runner-up finishes in 1999 and 2000. He coached eight players to All-American status and five of his former players landed on the PAC's 60th Anniversary team last August.  Four players earned CoSIDA Academic All-American honors, while three players received NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships during his tenure.

As a starting safety from 1968-1971, he led the Wolverines in interceptions all four years and holds the program record with 22 career interceptions.  After graduating in 1972, Smith returned to Grove City College in 1979 to serve as assistant football and track coach.  The College promoted Smith to head football coach in 1984 and he served as athletic director from 1996 to 2003. In 1997, Smith was named Division III Coach of the Year by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers Association.

"For more than three decades, Coach Smith's unwavering dedication to Wolverine football has been a blessing to Grove City College," said College President Paul J. McNulty.  "Our program has been fortunate to have an excellent teacher and leader of young men in Coach Smith.  His mentorship helped to shape scholar athletes whose on-field success mirrored success in the classroom and later, in life. We thank Coach Smith and want him to know that he will always be part of the legacy of athletic excellence at Grove City College."

DiDonato is in his third year at two-time WPIAL Class AA champion South Fayette High School, serving as offensive coordinator the past two years. In that role, he successfully directs an explosive offensive system that features Pennsylvania's all-time leader in passing yardage, quarterback Brett Brumbaugh. DiDonato has also coached at the University of Buffalo and Peters Township High School. 

"Having known Andrew DiDonato for many years as coach and colleague, he is an excellent choice to lead the next generation of Wolverine football and I'm delighted that he is joining our staff," said Coach Smith. "As I prepare to embark upon my final year as head coach, I'm excited about the prospects for the 2015 season and I am confident in Andrew's experience and ability to lead our program for many years to come." 

DiDonato said, "Grove City College is a special place for my family and me, so it's my honor to be selected to continue to grow a solid program.  I thank President McNulty and Coach Smith for entrusting me with this opportunity."

A native of Bridgeville, Pa., DiDonato graduated as Grove City College's record holder in career passing yards (7,509), pass completions (750), and touchdown passes (49).  He also holds the Wolverines' season and game records in each of those three categories.  DiDonato concluded his career as a student athlete by earning the College's Sportsman of the Year award in 2010.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management in 2010 and a master's degree in Exercise Science from California University of Pennsylvania in 2011.  He currently serves on the board for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in western Pennsylvania and is the football camp director and coaches' ministry director for that organization. 

DiDonato will teach Exercise Science and Physical Education courses at Grove City College, in addition to his football responsibilities.  DiDonato and his wife, Andrea '09, currently reside in Cranberry Township.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Wow.  Big news.  And it makes me feel kind of old...I played (indirectly; we both played offense) against DiDonato.

I am somewhat surprised that they're willing to turn it over to DiDonato straight out of HS coaching (with just one transition year as OC) but perhaps the unique nature of Grove City lends itself to hiring an alumnus as HC, and DiDonato certainly has the look of someone who could be a lifer in this position if he does well.

[Bob.Gregg]

ExTartanPlayer, at the risk of piling on the "feel kind of old" thing, I'm gonna guess you played "against" this DiDonato's older brother Dave....

If you played against Andrew (Grove City Class of 2010), you're not really all that old....early 30's at most.
If you played against Dave (Grove City Class of 2005), okay, then you're mid-30s perhaps....

Rolling quickly upon double-nickels, neither of those age categories strikes me as "feel kind of old"....lol

[ExTartanPlayer]

ExTartanPlayer, at the risk of piling on the "feel kind of old" thing, I'm gonna guess you played "against" this DiDonato's older brother Dave....

If you played against Andrew (Grove City Class of 2010), you're not really all that old....early 30's at most.
If you played against Dave (Grove City Class of 2005), okay, then you're mid-30s perhaps....

Rolling quickly upon double-nickels, neither of those age categories strikes me as "feel kind of old"....lol

Well, come to think of it, I played against both (I'm 28-turning-29, haha).  I was on the CMU team from 2004 through 2007, meaning that I overlapped with Dave for the 2004 season (his senior year, my freshman year) and with Andrew for the 2006 and 2007 seasons (my junior/senior year with his freshman/sophomore year).  I do vividly remember our coaches mentioning that Grove City had landed a very good freshman QB in our preparations for the game in my junior season, and hinting that Grove City might change their offense away from the traditional wing-T into more of a spread look to fit his talents.

I didn't play "directly" against Andrew, since he was a QB and I was an offensive lineman.  But I surely do remember him.

[Dr. Acula]

Wow.  Big news.  And it makes me feel kind of old...I played (indirectly; we both played offense) against DiDonato.

I am somewhat surprised that they're willing to turn it over to DiDonato straight out of HS coaching (with just one transition year as OC) but perhaps the unique nature of Grove City lends itself to hiring an alumnus as HC, and DiDonato certainly has the look of someone who could be a lifer in this position if he does well.

At the risk of being an idiot can I ask what the unique nature of GC is?

[jknezek]

Wow.  Big news.  And it makes me feel kind of old...I played (indirectly; we both played offense) against DiDonato.

I am somewhat surprised that they're willing to turn it over to DiDonato straight out of HS coaching (with just one transition year as OC) but perhaps the unique nature of Grove City lends itself to hiring an alumnus as HC, and DiDonato certainly has the look of someone who could be a lifer in this position if he does well.

At the risk of being an idiot can I ask what the unique nature of GC is?

GC has a fairly strong Christian focus. While they aren't the only college that does so, it is a pretty small minority of schools that require students to attend a certain number of chapel services per semester. I'm sure there is more to it, but that's the thing I remember most from an acquaintance who attended there a while ago.

[Dr. Acula]

Got it, thanks.  That makes sense.  I had a couple guys I played sports with in HS go to GC to play football.  They were both down to GC and Malone which is a pretty strict Christian school in Canton so I guess I should have put that together.

[JS342]

Better conference?
NCAC or PAC
Wabash and Witt vs W&J and Thomas More

[jknezek]

Better conference?
NCAC or PAC
Wabash and Witt vs W&J and Thomas More

That's a thin comparison. I'd take W&J out of the group this year, followed by Witt, Wabash and then TMC. Other years I'd be tempted to take the NCAC 1-2 at the top. But I'd take Waynesburg and Bethany over DePauw, Denison and OWU. I'd definitely take Westminister, CMU and CWRU most years over Hiram and Wooster. Oberlin Allegheny and Kenyon? Not better than Thiel. Geneva and Grove City are probably about a fair match up with the NCAC bottom feeders.

Overall the NCAC's big two are better in aggregate than the PAC big two, but it's close. As you go down the rest of the tiers, I'd primarily take the PAC teams. So top to bottom, I'd take the PAC, but certainly not a runaway...

[ExTartanPlayer]

Better conference?
NCAC or PAC
Wabash and Witt vs W&J and Thomas More

That's a thin comparison. I'd take W&J out of the group this year, followed by Witt, Wabash and then TMC. Other years I'd be tempted to take the NCAC 1-2 at the top. But I'd take Waynesburg and Bethany over DePauw, Denison and OWU. I'd definitely take Westminister, CMU and CWRU most years over Hiram and Wooster. Oberlin Allegheny and Kenyon? Not better than Thiel. Geneva and Grove City are probably about a fair match up with the NCAC bottom feeders.

Overall the NCAC's big two are better in aggregate than the PAC big two, but it's close. As you go down the rest of the tiers, I'd primarily take the PAC teams. So top to bottom, I'd take the PAC, but certainly not a runaway...

Normally, I'd agree with you, but Hiram did beat Westminster last year.  That might have been a one-year blip due to an exceptional (for Hiram) player at QB who led the Terriers to their best season in a decade, so we'll see how long it lasts.  As you've noted, drawing a conclusion based on one or two games about which league is better is folly. 

I think the leagues are about even, top-to-bottom.  The PAC was not very good last year beneath the top three teams, but it was very evenly contested beneath the top three teams, which was kind of cool.  At one point I had a six-team daisy chain where everyone had beaten someone else who had beaten someone else from teams #4-10 in the league.

[SaintsFAN]

GC has a fairly strong Christian focus. While they aren't the only college that does so, it is a pretty small minority of schools that require students to attend a certain number of chapel services per semester. I'm sure there is more to it, but that's the thing I remember most from an acquaintance who attended there a while ago.

Any truth to the rumor RJ Bowers started this tradition and the college adapted it as a whole???

[WashJeff68]

Not likely RJ was responsible. This has been the Grover Way for a long time. They don't accept government funding because of the strings attached (there was a legal fight over this which GCC won). The rules for student behavior are stringent and have also been in place for a long time. A significant percentage of their students are home schooled or have attended Christian schools.

So, even when I was in college a long time ago GCC was NOT a place for party animals. That kind of behavior would get you dismissed.

A great school, but not for everyone.

[SaintsFAN]

Thomas More will host St John Fisher in week 1 - great to see the Saints continue to schedule aggressively.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Thomas More will host St John Fisher in week 1 - great to see the Saints continue to schedule aggressively.

Agreed. It does leave open the perennial question about trying to schedule your way into a Pool C berth by making sure you're 9-1 if you don't win the keagueC but I much prefer to see good teams scheduling good non league games (Wabash HSC also comes to mind) and counting on just winning their way into the playoffs. Kudos to TMC.