It has happened many times in the past. Coaches who do battle with their alma mater.
Saturday night, when the Tyrone Golden Eagles travel to Bishop Guilfoyle, there are three Tyrone coaches who wore the Purple and Gold when they played the game, but now are proud coaches of the Orange and Black.
Tyrone head coach John Franco was a running back for the Marauders. John Gressler and Darren Elvey also played for Guilfoyle.
Following Friday’s victory over Bald Eagle Area, Franco looked ahead to Saturday’s game.
“Saturday night will be special,” said Franco. “It is special because I’ll get to coach in front of my family and friends at Mansion Park. Everybody I know will be there and we need to put on a good performance against Guilfoyle.”
Elvey, recently lost the all-time Bishop Guilfoyle scoring record in basketball to Jonny Hasson and is really looking forward to the special atmosphere that will fill Mansion Park on Saturday.
“This is a big game, a statement game,” said Elvey who serves as quarterback coach for the Golden Eagles. “This is a game that will give us an opportunity to prove we are back.”
To come back and coach against your alma mater is tough, but special.
“It is a tough situation coaching against your alma mater,” said Elvey. “We have to concentrate on our team and our players. This is a game that should be pretty easy to get up for. We are heading for the home stretch of the season and we need to win all four games to get a good seed for the playoffs.”
Lurking around the Bishop Guilfoyle side of the field will be Marauder athletic director Rick Hatch and Dan Bender. Both are former Tyrone assistant coaches and Bender’s son Michael is a starting defensive end for BG.
“I remember Michael (Bender) running along the side of the field when I started coaching here,” said Elvey. “Now we are playing against him. You never know what coach Hatch and Bender will be doing. They know what we do and they may help the Guilfoyle coaching staff this week to get ready for us.”
If there is one thing that Elvey would like to see on Saturday night is the loud and enthusiastic Tyrone crowd.
“I always brag about Tyrone having the best following in central Pennsylvania,” said Elvey. “The support has been there this year, but it isn’t the same as it has been in the past. It is not as loud as it has been in the past. The kids and coaches feed off of the noise that our fans bring. It gives you an extra edge. We love it when we go on the road and our fans make more noise than the home team. We need the crazy Tyrone fans to make some noise on Saturday.”
This year, the Tyrone-BG game is a non-conference game, but next year, this game will count in the Mountain Athletic Conference standings. Saturday night at Mansion Park, the coaches who call their alma mater Bishop Guilfoyle who coach the Golden Eagles will have a little extra incentive when the teams tee it up.
