From Glory Days to Guiding Youth: A Journey in Football and Education

Join Vito Quaglia as he sits down with long-time friend and esteemed guest, Coach Jack Baranski, in this engaging episode of "A Matter of Principal." With a rich history in football, Coach Baranski reminisces about his decades in football, from his playing days to sharing insights from his time as an assistant at Coughlin and Valley West, and his tenure as head coach at Valley West.

Explore Coach Baranski's journey from a passionate young player to a dedicated teacher and coach, committed to shaping young athletes both on and off the field. Dive into discussions about football, education, leadership, and the evolution of player safety in high school football. Discover the secrets behind successful football programs, the importance of family and community support, and the timeless values that have guided Coach Baranski throughout his career.

Whether you're a football enthusiast, a coach, or someone interested in leadership and education, this episode offers valuable lessons and heartwarming stories from a life dedicated to the game and the growth of young minds.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello everyone, this is Vito Qualia and it's a matter of principle.
Our podcast today, we have a terrific guest, someone I've known for a long time.
We're going to be able to talk some old glory days and some war stories from back in the 80s.
Coach Jack Baranski has been involved in football for a long time.
Was a long time assistant at Coughlin and also at Valley West and then took

(00:20):
over the head coaching job at Valley West a few years ago.
No longer coaching, he's been going on to bigger and brighter things.
Still a teacher in the Valley.
So we're going to get a chance to talk some football, some education,
also some leadership things with Coach Baranski. So, Coach, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you for having me, Vito. First off, let's just have you explain to the

(00:41):
listeners a little bit about your biography, your resume, if you will,
your story of where it started for you and how you got to where you're at today.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the game of football always played a large part of my life.
As a young man playing on the playing jankies you
know through that whole organization and growing
up in that time as a playing janky and heading into playing junior high it was

(01:04):
all about being a kaufman crusader at some point and you know i got to do that
1985 86 and 87 seasons as a player you know we had some really talented kids
there you know we won a couple championships.
1987 got to play in a unico game with some really talented
players like quadri ismail Dale and Vito Qualia

(01:25):
and a few other guys and got to know some people and
when I entered into college I said to myself I
played my first year of college I found
that college football wasn't for me it just didn't fit me and but I knew I wanted
to stay within the game and I was going to major in education I wanted to teach

(01:47):
and I wanted to coach but a time as a senior in college when I was going to
start student teaching, I spoke to John Joseph at Coughlin.
And he said, why don't you come aboard as a volunteer assistant?
And I thought that that opportunity was something I couldn't pass up at that
point, knowing what I wanted to do as a career choice.
So I took an unpaid, just a young guy, assistant coach on a staff at Coughlin in 1992.

(02:13):
And really never stopped from that moment.
92 to 99 at Coughlin High School with Coach Joseph in a variety of capacities.
What Coach Joe did for me as a young coach was naturally I played line.
I was an offensive defensive lineman, but he allowed me as the young coach in

(02:35):
92 and 93 to not just concentrate on what I knew as a volunteer assistant.
Year two, I worked with receivers. I was the assistant receivers coach.
As a volunteer, year three, right?
Trying to find a job and move on in life, but staying on the Coughlin staff.

(02:56):
Before it was all said and done, by the late 90s, I ended up being a defensive
coordinator at Coughlin as a pretty young man still, my late 20s.
But career-wise, things really opened up for me at Wyoming Valley West.
And from a teacher contract perspective, moving over here, I started out as a long-term sub.

(03:17):
Got to know Ed Michaels and Matt Michaels. And they said, listen,
why don't you come aboard over here?
You know, you're making a nice name for yourself in the classroom.
And, you know, we'd love to have you on the staff.
So I came in, I long-term subbed for two years at Warming Valley West and joined the staff.
And, you know, that worked out for me. And that kind of set the rest of my career
path from there on 2000 on the Valley West staff up until 2022.

(03:44):
So a nice 22-year run, some really special moments, some great players,
and got to work with some really great people along the way as well.
Well, and over those years, I mean, you know, I was just one of the last podcasts
I did, I was talking to Greg Skrepnack, and he was a year older than us, you know, at GAR.

(04:04):
But one of the things he had said to me during the podcast, and I knew it, but I forgot about it.
There was one season when Greg was on the Panthers, and Rocket Ishmael was on
the Panthers, and Bucky Greeley was on the Panthers.
And he thought at the time
he said i didn't know if wilkes-barre really promoted that because you

(04:24):
think about you had one of those guys was from each wilkes-barre
city school now when do you have three guys from
a region on the same nfl team and then never mind
you had three people from the same school district you know and right which
crazy right and in current times they'd
all be from the wolf pack right exactly now it was 2024 they'd be on the same
high school football team right now growing up exactly so it's amazing and and

(04:46):
you got to play and coach at a time you know there's tremendous athletes up
and down you know the wyoming valley conference of lackawanna league at that
time too you know and it just seemed like every year just about every school.
Had the division one kind of guy and they're just athletes everywhere
and it's kind of dropped off a little bit i think you know the number of
kids who play football might be less than it used to be the number

(05:07):
of schools right you know the population is diminished a
little bit yeah closures and whatnot but i mean you really
coach you had an opportunity to really coach some great
athletes and to also see great athletes you
know in the competitors you know the opponents of your team so if you when you
look back on all of that you know from the time because i was very similar i
at wilkes i didn't play football but i started coaching at a young age and learned

(05:31):
a lot from you know the veteran guys around us what major changes do you see
in like high school football especially,
I guess, you know, in the Valley, but high school football in general,
from the 80s, from your playing days to when you, you know, 2022,
when you were last coaching, what changes did you see?
I think that the biggest change is in player safety and, you know,

(05:53):
being knowledgeable about concussions and injuries and the trainings that they
do for coaches at this point to be aware of these things.
I'm not sure that a concussion was a thing in the 80s, Vito,
that I remember. I remember guys getting them, but they weren't out four or five weeks.
It was just a different ballgame. You got the smelling salts.
It was you got your bell rung and you got back in the game.

(06:15):
And you know science has proven at this point that
you know 25 years later or whatever
else that that really wasn't the way to do it and i don't blame anyone
or or point fingers it's just the way that it was but now the biggest change
is in safety and with that safety brings contact in practice how much live contact
do you want to do do you want to injure yourself on a tuesday or wednesday going

(06:37):
into a friday you're going to put your own players out because you did a hamburger And it was live.
So I think the biggest changes in safety, but then that trickles down to practice
development and how you're going to do it to how much live football are you
doing versus drills and just teamwork or or a thud drill?

(06:57):
You know, so I would have to identify player safety as the biggest thing.
And it's not just that. Like I said, it spills into other aspects of the game.
Well, and again, I think the changing in the safety and the knowledge that all
the coaches have, you said you referenced the training and what to look for,
you know, when you're looking for different, you know, concussion protocol.
That's so important and so needed and necessary. Absolutely.

(07:20):
But then you said there is a trickle down in a couple of ways.
I think one way is also, you know, teams aren't going live as much.
So then you also, in addition to concussions that possibly could happen,
you also have all the other bumps and bruises that happen in a football game, right?
I mean, I remember, you know, back in the day, coach would tell us,
hey, if it doesn't feel like you're in a car accident the day after a game,

(07:42):
you didn't play football.
I mean, that's how much trauma happens in a football game. And so I think sometimes,
too, maybe student athletes don't really understand, you know,
it's hard to differentiate, you know, being sore from being injured,
you know, because you're not hitting as much.
And when you do hit, you're not used to it, you know what I mean,
because you're not as live.
And it's probably a good thing that you're not live four days a week.

(08:03):
But I do think that probably plays into, you know, them trying to figure out,
you know, is this normal? Is this not normal? Am I injured?
Do I have to go to the trainer? That kind of stuff. So there's a whole bunch
of – there's even more education that's probably evolving as we speak when it comes to that stuff.
But it's all going in the right direction, you know, definitely.
It definitely is. And in the state, I mean, at this point, in our day and up

(08:25):
to probably maybe 10, 12 years ago, that was two weeks and two days.
Yep. Now you have a heat acclimation week.
That's not live, uppers only.
And then you have one week and two days and only one scrimmage.
In our day, it was two weeks and two days, two scrimmages.
That's a lot more wear and tear on a body and, you know, just a lot more contact.

(08:45):
And, you know, that's just another spill down, I think, of the safety aspect
of let's make sure the kids are hydrated. It's hydration.
You know, there was a time in history. I'm not saying it was even in our day
where a drink of water in practice was almost a sign of weakness.
Yeah. And that's not how it is. No, no.
And again, all those little pieces of evolution, I think it's made everything

(09:05):
better, made it way healthier for the guys playing.
But again, a pro and con on that, something that I talked to with some other
coaches about that, when you rewind to those days, when you had the two scrimmages,
the two weeks and two days.
Again, when we played, you had 11-game season before the state playoff system with a bye week.

(09:28):
So you had a 12-week season, you know, and then you had the two weeks of preseason.
So you had 14 weeks before you
even talked about going to the Eastern Conference and playing playoffs.
So the season was longer, which, again, more wear and tear on the body,
which is a negative, but more opportunity to play ball and to learn.
So over the course of a three-year, you know, varsity experience,

(09:49):
you probably played six or seven more weeks or eight weeks over those times.
So, you know, those guys who developed skills had more opportunity,
but also more opportunity to get hurt.
So it is like there's a two way street with, you know, how much these guys are playing.
And that takes me to another thing. So did you see in that time,
you know, your time coaching, were there a lot of your student athletes who

(10:12):
played more than one sport? Did you have a lot of guys that just focused on football?
Did you have baseball, basketball guys?
How was it with the kids that you coached? well i
will say that as as a head coach in my
first meeting it was expected that everybody else played another sport okay i
thought it was very important that they get out and use their muscles in
a different way okay now you have different types of guys too so along the way

(10:38):
here you have a player who may be a big-time athlete like a chris blight who
came to roman valley west he was he was a 6-5 freshman and 300 pounds and ben's
pressed the volkswagen well Well, you know what?
They asked him to wrestle. He would have had to drop 25 pounds to go wrestle. And he wasn't.
Have that body fat that way so he lives in the weight room

(10:58):
i think it's different for everyone but i think a
high percentage of guys that play in the nfl were multi-sport athletes
in high school and that's you know because
they were great athletes that's one no doubt but you
know diversify yourself you're a young man i i
believe in players playing other sports full-heartedly and
i've seen it different ways some people focus and lock themselves

(11:21):
in the weight room and you know if you're doing
that right that you know that can really help you but i
think playing basketball working on lateral movement and footwork you
know that can really help you too leverage on the wrestling mat
track and field proper running technique i just
think that other sports bring some other things to the game too and you
know i think multi-sport athletes should be encouraged absolutely and

(11:44):
i think i mean number one you know we've talked to you know guys at the college
level who like to go and when they're scouting somebody or you know looking
to recruit somebody they like to see them competing in a different sport you
know a basketball player they want to see how they you know how they deal with
you know whatever's going on in the court
because they know what they could do on the football field right they've seen
the tape they went at practice games they want to see adversity in different

(12:06):
sports so you know being that multi-dimensional diversifying yourself like you
said is i think i agree with you wholeheartedly,
Now, you mentioned – I'll give you a great example.
I have an example of a player, Matt Winsek.
Coughlin Lineman played at Virginia Tech. Frank Beamer came in to see him at a basketball game.
Matt dunked in a basketball game from a straight vertical, and that night got

(12:28):
his offer to go to Virginia Tech. He didn't have an offer on the table.
He earned his football offer by what he did on a basketball court athletically at his size. Yep.
And I'm sure that probably happens all – And that's one of those things where,
like, I'm glad you said that because I don't know if, you know,
parents that might listen to this, whatever, would see that because,
and especially in other sports, you know, you see, you know, baseball,

(12:51):
especially, you know, so many high-level kids that play travel.
And they're doing baseball-related things so many months out of the year,
and they might shy away from it, or there might be some, you know,
travel coaches out there that shy away and have them focus on one thing.
And they don't realize that, hey, you know, there may be somebody looking for
baseball and they're watching you play basketball and they realize you can also
do this because it's a non, you know, baseball move or whatever it is.

(13:13):
So it's so important to be able to do more than just one thing, right?
Yeah, there's no doubt. I'll use my son, Nate, as an example.
He had a great career in high school, a great college career as well.
Couldn't be prouder of him. But he was a multi-sport athlete.
And being a quarterback and standing in a pocket to make a throw with people
bearing down on you, trying to lay the lumber to you and throw in a pitch in a game,

(13:38):
you're a little gutsier throwing that fastball on the inside corner because
you've stood in a pocket and you've taken a shot and made a throw.
And I think that that really helped him as another
specific example of being a multi-sport athlete where you
can you can take lessons from one
sport to another and I think that really helped him yeah well
and that's another great example I'm so glad you brought that up

(13:59):
from your personal experience but again it exactly drives home that idea of
being able to do things across sports you know so you mentioned a couple guys
there that you had the opportunity to be around how about some other over that
career and again you don't want to disrespect any of the guys who you did coach
but But anybody who rises to the top,
you know, that really outstanding kids that you were around?

(14:19):
Yeah. You know, I'd like to start. And you mentioned some guys back to our playing days.
And I'd like to just throw I'll give three names from Coughlin that I was lucky enough to be around.
Dave Brzenczak played at Penn State. Bucky Greeley, Penn State, NFL.
My buddy, Matt Walsh, was, you know, darn near 5,000 yard career yards. The Ismail boys.

(14:42):
Yep. You know, Gary Brown down at Williamsport, Greg Skrepenak at GR.
I mean, there was, I mean, that's over a three-year span. You're just talking
excellent football players.
From a coaching perspective, I think an early, you know, Baldo Vincerelli jumps out at me first.
Great career. He was the leading rusher in Coughlin football history,
you know, as they merged into Wilkes-Barre.

(15:06):
At Valley West, P.J. Piskorik is the first name that jumps out at me from 2000.
What an athlete that kid was went to buffalo you know he started a couple years
at buffalo quarterback they were running the option it was right up his alley extremely mobile just,
tremendous athlete eugene lewis do you know still playing in canada right now

(15:26):
he's on the edmonton elks he's having a great career up there couldn't be prouder
of gene you know valley west and he played at penn state and finished up actually
his last year at oklahoma and had a great college and still playing.
Sean Judge is another one that I'd like to mention from the 2000 teens.
Maybe the most explosive high school athlete.

(15:49):
I had the pleasure of – I mean, he could do it all. The kid – what a special kid.
Vision, preparation, the amount of work he put in, it was unreal.
L.J. Wisniewski and Chris Bleich are two other names. I mean, L.J. played at Albany.
He was a tight end at the same time as Judge, and Bleich was a lineman.
Yeah, we had a couple pretty good years there with those guys,

(16:12):
like when that's your core.
And another name from that team too, Devin Weidman, flies under the radar,
went up a lack but every bit
as explosive as sean judge and the thing about
those teams were and you know with aaron
austin was our quarterback and i'm talking maybe 20 2014 2015 where we had a
10 and 0 year we only had one football on offense and we had four or five guys

(16:36):
that were game breakers like game breakers so statistically some guys didn't
have the careers that others did but you only have one football.
We wish we had two or three that year because there was guys everywhere.
And those are some of the names, though, that I remember. It was just being a pleasure to coach.
And I'll throw another one to Billy Davison, defensive player that I had the
pleasure of work with at linebacker, his ninth grade year to his twelfth grade

(16:59):
year, on that team with Blyche and Judge and all that.
What a leader, just a tough kid, old-fashioned valley.
He could have played in any decade from 1930 to 2020 20 and been a stud because he was that tough.
And those are just some names. You know, if I left anybody out,
I apologize. But those are some ones that jump right out at me.
And you've been very fortunate to be around so many of those guys,

(17:23):
you know, for all those years.
How about what could you identify? Now, I know some of it is just God given
ability and the DNA and the hand they were dealt physically.
But, you know, some of those guys weren't the biggest, fastest,
strongest, you know, kids that you mentioned. Were there...
Maybe things, characteristics, ingredients that they had in their personalities,

(17:44):
the way they took care of business that you think made them kind of rise to
that level, playing at that, you know, that elite level.
Was there anything that you saw as a coach?
Well, certainly, of course, some are some is a body type, some is speed.
But overall what makes those players great is their commitment to the team and and and their.

(18:05):
Self-motivation and their their accountability to themselves
and their teammates that's what makes them
special those are kids that you don't have to correct in
practice that they're not you know going hard in
the drill they they go hard in drills i saw and
i'll use chris weiss as an example when he first as a
freshman comes up at warming valley west and you see the movie the blind side

(18:26):
where michael or drives the guy 40 yards downfield we went through the shoots
he took a kid 30 yards and pancaked them and i had never seen that before in
live like that and i'm talking that was a kid trying to resist yeah he flew
through i'd never saw anything like that,
before and sean judge in bag drills with his footwork and how hard he went could

(18:49):
he change direction and not lose speed it was it was just unreal and gene to
use gene was just so smooth at everything that he did. He could do anything.
E.J. Piskorik, again, another great athlete, but his focus in the weight room,
he was a 210-pound kid with big-time speed.

(19:09):
Before there was a lot of that going on in 2000.
There was 170-pound guys that could fly. How about 210?
I mean, he was just a special kid. But what they all had, again...
Was, they were self-motivated athletes. They wanted to be great.

(19:29):
They worked to be great, and they pushed others around them to be great.
So just really, really fantastic kids to coach.
Now, when you see, and I'm sure, you know, as a teacher and a coach,
you know, you saw the families they came from as well.
So do you think that there's, you know, you could draw a line from how those
kids kind of conduct their business to how they are brought up?

(19:52):
And it could be a myriad out of things.
It could be they were hungrier because they wanted to prove themselves for some
reason, or they were raised by, you know, people that had goals and,
you know, helped them motivate themselves.
Like, did you see that connection to the home life, to, you know,
the kind of student-athletes they were?
There's no doubt. You can definitely see the correlation between the family's

(20:16):
involvement in that young man and that young man's drive to be who he wants to be.
Family involvement everything starts at home i
mean i'm saying that as an educator it's you
can start at home and you're nailing it by saying that those families were very
active in their children's lives and those children knew it appreciated it and

(20:37):
want it the best for themselves because their family wanted the best for them
as well and again just hard working just Just good family.
And in some situations, you know, like Gene Lewis, his dad who was,
you know, such a big part of his life, was a tremendous athlete himself. An NBA draft pick.

(20:58):
I don't know if you even knew that. He was a first-round NBA pick at a college
of basketball. No, I didn't know that.
Yes, he was. I believe maybe 17th overall to the Utah Jazz. Okay.
And Reverend Lewis will tell you this story himself.
He fell into some wrong things. things and kind of lost that and he raised gene

(21:19):
with gene knowing the mistakes that he had made as a young man so it's just
another example of a family.
Guiding a young man or a young athlete
in the right direction to make good decisions and do the right things.
Well, and so much of, of everything, I think that we're going to talk about
a little bit about in a second, but you know, that support system,

(21:41):
wherever that support system is, if it's home, it needs to be at home.
Like you said, there has to be that connection, but also it needs to be in and
around the program, you know, the, the athletic program in and around the school community.
And then the community at large, if all those ingredients aren't there,
there's not going to be the kind of level of success that you can attain because you need everything.
And good programs, and that's why I'm asking you a question about what you think,

(22:03):
but I think there is like a family atmosphere in all great programs,
whether it's a sports program or a business community.
If there's that kind of, and it could be tough love, but there has to be a love,
a caring of the individuals involved with the
similar goal that they're all pulling the rope in the same direction and

(22:24):
you can't have an absentee father as a
boss you know what i mean like you know if a mom or dad isn't
committed to their children there's going to be you know failure there
and if a boss a head coach whoever it is is only there for you know part-time
and does a little bit and you know gets the picture in the paper and leaves
same thing happens right and so i do think that you see a lot of that family

(22:46):
bond and which is hard to really create it can't be fake. It has to be authentic.
You know, the players have to understand that you care about them and you're
not just, that's not a lot of lip service, you know, things like that.
So that being said, like the veto definition of all that kind of stuff,
did you see things, whether it was at the places that you coached or the opposing

(23:07):
teams that you coached against that you saw that, okay, I get it now.
This is why, you know, maybe Berwick was this way, or this is why,
you know, Coughlin, like you said, that even your playing days with Coach Joseph
and prior to that, Coughlin was always like the big team around here.
Like there's so many championships and players that went on to different things.
What characteristics did you see in successful football programs?

(23:29):
I think the word family is spot on. It's important that teams celebrate together.
When I see teams in high school, if somebody scores a touchdown,
does something great, and they want to celebrate by themselves to the fans or
whatever else, celebrate with your teammates.
They practice players during the week. The guys that just blocked for you,

(23:52):
allowed you to make that play.
Celebrate with them. That's family. Celebrate success together. together
and also every player should
be willing to pick up the guy next to him so he misses a block it's
your alignment you get called for holding you feel
like the loneliest man in the world out there but a
good teammate pats him on the back a good coach says
all right hey let's go pick your head you know what you did let's go we're all

(24:15):
right get them next play you know that next play
mentality and just moving on together again celebrate
success together and pick each other up along the way
those great burwick teams in the 90s when i was a young
coach coaching oh dear lord they were that was a machine
an absolute machine and you're right and
even in the 90s we had some nice teams at coffin but they weren't

(24:35):
those burwick teams and it was it wasn't the same and
you know coach joe did a nice job of fostering that
family atmosphere but you know coach curry
started down there in burwick in 1972 that's about
a 20-year head start on things and boy he
had it rolling there for a while and and that family atmosphere the.
Community came out to of games 100 behind the

(24:56):
kids you know it extends outside the field
too community involvement you know
the the local businesses they know
who the kids are there's clippings on the wall it it
means so much and it means so much to everyone and i just think that it's all
important in creating that whole family community atmosphere and i think you

(25:20):
know you go back again when i do the math i I can't believe how old that we're
actually getting in our, in our mid fifties.
But when you do go back, you know, 10, 20, 30, 40 years now.
The coaching trees, right?
Like there's so many successful guys who went on to be head coaches that started
off as assistant coaches under great seasoned veteran coaches themselves.

(25:43):
And, and, and you're, you know, you had a long career.
I just don't know if people getting into coaching now are going to be coaching
for 15, 20, 25, 30 years like you did and so many other people that we know did.
I think it's a changing atmosphere.
I think there's not as much.

(26:04):
Willingness to give that time.
Sometimes, hey, you take over a program, you might go 2-8, 3-7,
and are people going to give you that third, fourth, fifth season to turn things around?
Or do they expect you to go from 3-7 to 10-0 in one year?
Because everything is a short attention span these days.
What do you think? Do you think you're going to have a lot of coaches that have

(26:26):
those lengthy careers, or do you think that's in a bygone era?
No, and, you know, Vito, you go back to the era we grew up in,
the three works various schools mickey gorham
charlie fick john joseph and
before coach joe jp mech you're looking
at decades of football the same three head coaches
at the high schools unbelievable yeah like they were they were all icons they

(26:50):
were all icons you know a george curry i don't even know how many years the
guy coached probably for over 40 seasons as a head football coach like unreal
you do not and and i just don't think you're going to see that anymore.
Unfortunately you can see it already people come in the game and they go and and you know when i,

(27:11):
was still coaching and going on you know maybe every staff had one guy i knew
from from the old days but there wasn't there wasn't a whole lot of guys around
and i don't think the longevity of coaches is going to be there you're going
to have high turnovers and you know like you said about wins and losses,
maybe GAR had a great year under coach Fick. Maybe the next year they were just okay.

(27:34):
And then okay, they just rode the wave. They let the coach coach.
He was doing a good job. He was teaching the right things.
He was making better men out of, out of those young men.
And they were learning some life lessons along the way. And some schools value
that and say, keep doing your thing.
Wins will come because we are doing the right thing. Yeah.

(27:55):
But, you know, people have to stick with it. Well, and I'm hoping that some
of the things at the college level, you know, which could be positive in one
vein, but they don't trickle down.
Like the concept of, you know, the transfer portal, which I get it.
If you're somewhere and you're not playing at all and you have an opportunity
to go somewhere else and contribute and play and that works for you, I understand that.

(28:18):
But the availability to do it so many times over your career,
I think, is a huge negative. But then that attitude of, oh, well,
I should be playing. I'm going to go somewhere else where I will play.
Having that come down and drift into high school, when they see their heroes
doing it at Division I level, it just makes me nervous that high school kids

(28:39):
think that's the answer.
Not work harder and not work while you wait and earn that spot to go from the
second or third string to the first string.
But I'll go somewhere else because that's what I see this guy do.
That makes me nervous. Or do you think it's just two different worlds and it
won't really happen in high schools?
I thought the NIO was two, name image like, I thought that was two different
worlds. And that's a reality in Pennsylvania.

(29:01):
How much is it happening? I really don't know. But I was surprised the PIAA
said, hey, OK, here we go.
So that's an example. And transfer rules, you know, they do away with borders
and say, hey, you know, go where you want to go. Don't worry about it.
Yeah, exactly what's going to happen is you're going to have that.
You might be at scranton prep who really has it going right now and be be a

(29:25):
backup tailback to a real stud well i'm gonna leave it and go to whatever i'm
gonna go to scranton or i'm gonna go to west scranton and like should you jump
around i we live in just a society right now,
that thrives on immediate everything's immediate we have a cell phone around
you want to look something up google it quick boom you have an answer like everything's

(29:47):
immediate immediate Immediate feedback, immediate reward, or immediate, it's all immediate.
The grind of coming in as a freshman, like Coach Minello at Dallas,
brings up all of his freshmen.
How many of them play? Maybe a couple on special teams. But they're in that
weight room five days a week from ninth grade to when they're seniors.
And I credit him for being able to keep those kids there.

(30:12):
And kids don't walk away. His numbers are there.
The success rate over the last couple years speaks for itself.
And you know he has a
tremendous program and he's got buy-in and
he's got those kids saying i want to be
part of something bigger and i'm going
to work for it for the next three years i might not play till i'm a senior but

(30:33):
i'm going to be at weight room every five days a week and i'm going to work
out and i'm going to make myself better and that just speaks volumes for what
he's doing out there well and again i think those like i you know the sentiment
of and it It could be like, you know, the old school sentiment, but it works.
I mean, consistency over seasons, over years, and having the same philosophy, the same message,

(30:56):
the same vision and goal for your program, you know, being told by the same
group of people, you know, having, and I know one of the assistants that he
had with him for, I think it is from his days at Kings,
he has since passed away, Coach Nick Amitrano, was a high school teacher for
me at Bishop Holman back in the day.
But I know they were friends, I think, for a long time, and he was always around.

(31:19):
I don't know how much Coach Amitrano was doing on a daily basis,
but I know he was there game nights, probably in Coach Manello's ear a little
bit, helping him out with stuff.
So having those comrades with you that you've earned that respect with each other.
So all those things take time to gel. You're not going to get that overnight.
And no, you're 100% right. He's doing a great job of getting that buy-in.

(31:41):
And that's the key, because if you have a message that falls flat,
right, it doesn't matter how great you think the message is,
if it's not getting to where it needs to go in the community,
in the families, in the kids, in the weight room, you're going to probably be
one and done or three and done, however it works.
Yeah. And it's too bad, because the next thing I want to move on to is as much
of a great sport as it is, and we love the sport and the spectators love it.

(32:05):
I mean, it's the number one thing people watch on TV and all that.
That the bonds you build and the brotherhood that happens and this,
the lifelong lessons that come from it, I just think are phenomenal.
And it doesn't matter where you played or who you, you could pick up the phone
or text your buddy that you were in a huddle with, even if you played freshman
football with a guy and you're going to have those war stories, right?

(32:28):
And you're going to, cause you went through that, that adversity and you persevered.
Are there things that you, as a teacher, like what do you see?
As the similarities between coaching and teaching that help build those kind of lifelong lessons.
Well, viewing it as a teacher, coaching itself is teaching.

(32:50):
It's just what you're teaching. There's a lot of different types of classroom teachers.
Someone might teach English, history, sciences, right?
So you teach a different subject, but your presentation of it is always the same.
And that's how football is, too.
You start out with small concepts and you try and build it into a larger concept and a larger vision.

(33:11):
But if you scaffold it the right way and build it the right way,
it'll make sense because you taught it from a smaller piece,
how an algebra teacher would teach an equation,
starting out with smaller things and building it up into this large algebraic equation.
Equation and students wanting to
learn it helps too wanting to grasp it

(33:34):
not feeling that they they're they're
a good athlete and they already know be willing to to
accept and listen to that and let it be built and let it go further you know
that's what separates students in the classroom and sometimes that's what separates
players on the field too again teaching is coaching it's just that you're teaching
a different subject matter you're teaching a sport you're teaching a game.

(33:58):
And in some ways you're teaching you know life because
the game of football doesn't equate to life you know life's not a straight path
like in the game of football every now and again you're getting knocked on your
can you better get up off your keister and get back in the game that's life
too because not every day is some smiling happy day sometimes you lose.

(34:21):
Sometimes there's a loss in school I've had
lessons go so bad like I could have left in the middle of the day and I had
to write but guess what you come back the next day and you go back to it and
then that's just what you learn from from a great sport like football and so
again teaching coaching it's the same thing It's just what are you teaching?

(34:43):
Now, in the days of coaching, your coaching experience, how did you – what did
Coach Baranski do, whether it's a position player or when you're a head coach
overseeing a whole program?
How did you build a culture where you could hold your guys accountable but still
create something they wanted to be at?

(35:03):
But you know what I mean? Like it's hard if you go too far in the other direction,
you're going to get either two. It's going to be too loosey goosey and it's
not going to get where you want to go.
Or if you're too much of a taskmaster, you're going to have guys say,
I'm not going out for that sport. I'm going to go home and eat cupcakes or something.
So how did you find that balance and build in that kind of culture?
But that balance is a it. That's a gentle one.

(35:24):
It really is that that is such a gentle balance.
And I tried to build personally as the head coach around some Marine Corps values.
Honor courage and commitment not necessarily in that
order i'd start with commitment then get into courage the mental
and physical aspects and honor you're wearing you represent all of us when it

(35:45):
says spartans on your like to to get that buy-in to be a better person to be
a better student in school to to not act a fool in the community because you
represent a larger vision,
encouraged to buy in that way.
I went through the Marine Corps way because I saw that some other coaches had

(36:07):
used that around the country.
And some of the best ideas in the world are stolen from somebody else.
So I thought, you know what, this is pretty good.
And at the time, my older son was in the Marine Corps.
And I thought, you know what, Let me take some of the things that he's living
right now and try and present it in a high school football way and keep it simple

(36:30):
with the commitment part.
Hey, X number of workouts a year. You can throw a percentage on it.
80% was always the Valley West way.
80%. And that's from a long time ago. 80% off-season.
Excused for other school activities. 100% excused.
But if you're not, if you're playing basketball, it's basketball season,

(36:53):
you're not expected to be in the weight room.
Basketball season ends and you're not doing a spring sport, it's time to get
back to your commitment.
It's time to start developing that physicalness that you'll have the courage,
that mental toughness because you are stronger and faster.
And again, overall, being a better student, being a better person,

(37:15):
being a better quality young man in that regard.
So how you present
it if you want to present it as a drill
sergeant in the marine corps you're going to get blowback if you
want to present it and we're like you said we're
old enough now i'm more of a i'm older than most of these kids parents at this
point so almost like i don't want to say grandfather geez that hurts my feelings

(37:40):
a little bit but you know you present Present it that way with a little bit
of passion and a little bit of heart. And this is what this will do for you.
That still reverberates in kids. Kids don't change.
Kids, in my mind, are always the same.
How they're raised, what their environment is, how society is, that changes people.

(38:05):
But kids are kids. They will sit and listen, and they will respond if your message
is strong and correct and consistent.
Consistent and genuine. I mean, teaching, coaching, like you said,
are the same thing, two sides of the same coin.
And ultimately, the students that are looking up at you in the morning when

(38:27):
you start a lesson, the players are looking through their face masks at you.
They don't care what you know until they know that you care.
Yeah. And that's the key. Like if you get that, if they say this guy is here
because he wants to be here because he loves us, he loves what we're doing, okay.
And I always say that, you know, youngsters, their meter by which they judge

(38:48):
genuine adults is finely tuned.
And they know in a heartbeat if you're just there just to collect the check.
And I think it sounds very simple, but I think some people miss that.
Some people, I think, because they think they're the older adults and they know
more, quote-unquote, that they're experts in a field or a sport,
that they could put one over on a young person.

(39:10):
Young people get it, man. That's why the youthful movements always start rebellions
in countries and whatnot, because they have passion and they get fired up over
things when they see things that aren't done the right way.
And that could be the way someone teaches or coaches. Absolutely.
And, you know, the word respect is one that gets thrown around.
You know, hey, he disrespected me.

(39:31):
A player says that about a coach. And, you know, some veteran coaches get up
in arms. What do you mean disrespected you? I'm the coach.
Well, see, I learned a long time
ago when I first got out of college and I worked at Red Rock Job Corps.
I was a volunteer assistant at Coughlin. And there were so many at-risk kids
up there and so many kids from the inner cities.
That word respect, that was in the early 90s. That was before,

(39:53):
you know, now, you know, naturally, of course, it was 30 years ago.
But I learned some things during that being around those interstate.
And that's I was still young.
I was only 22 years old. I'd play pick up basketball games with those guys and stuff.
I couldn't do that remotely. Think about doing that now. But then I could and
talk to them at a different level.

(40:14):
That's where I learned in my life that building relationships and gaining trust is huge.
And you do that by being genuine, be who you are. And listening.
Yeah, you have to be able to, yes. Meet them where they are,
you know, and kind of drop your ego because, hey, oh yeah, I've been doing this
all these years and I went here and I went there and I know this,

(40:35):
and you're just some kid from wherever.
But as soon as you make that connection, you said like that,
build that relationship at the human level, that's when things start to click.
And again, I don't think, and everyone I've talked to so far in this podcast,
whether it's from From the school world or sports or business,
that is the number one thing that they all strive for.

(40:56):
And some of them are better at it than others, naturally.
But that's the key. And usually when we're pulling all this back right now,
this last five, ten minutes, you're talking respect.
You're talking listening, earning trust, genuine.
It has nothing to do with X's and O's. You're not telling me whether or not
you're playing a 4-3 or you're playing – it doesn't matter. Until you establish

(41:16):
that other stuff and build that culture, then you start sprinkling in the system.
But you need that bond first, correct?
Yeah, it has to happen. That's first and foremost, and even more so now in modern
times as we speak than it was 40 years ago or 50 years ago.
Right now, it's important that there are relationships, there's trust,

(41:40):
there's communication. Communication, these are all big words,
effective communication, positive communication, interaction,
like you said, being able to listen, listen to concerns.
Sometimes I present a lesson and I give a test on it and the test doesn't go well. What happened?
Well, you know, you presented it this way, but the test kind of, you know.

(42:01):
You have to take that. You have to, you better take that feedback.
I might not have been an effective teacher at that point. And I appreciate that feedback from the kids.
You know, so, you know, maybe I reteach the lesson or I may even reteach and
retest. Like, what's the big deal?
You know, you can't let your ego get in the way.

(42:21):
Of course, listening and adjusting and understanding and being genuine.
Like, you know, we keep throwing that word around, but it's a big word.
It means a lot. Absolutely.
Now, you mentioned so many of the iconic coaches from the Wyoming Valley Conference that we knew.
But is there anybody, like if you could right now, say, okay,

(42:42):
we're going to go to wherever.
We'll give a shout out to Patty's. We're going to go to Patty's and grab a burger and a beverage.
Is there a coach that you didn't get a chance to sit down and talk with and
pick his brain and steal some ideas from?
From is there anybody you know from from the valley or maybe anywhere it doesn't
really matter but is there a coach that you wish you could have sat down and

(43:03):
and talked a little shop with him.
Well you know i'll tell you what the most the
current coach at southern columbia okay we
did some summer work with him years ago when when pat keating was
the head coach at valley west and they came up and they had great teams and
we were rolling like there was talent all over the field and they were
a double a school we're a five a school like you

(43:23):
know it's a little bit they had they were they had
more talent than we did and they were one of the best team i'd love
to know what what his secret sauce is what kind
of buy-in how is he getting it because that's
just the machine we all know that you don't need me to
say that on this podcast what southern columbia does their resume speaks
for itself i'd love to talk to him at length

(43:44):
and you know just what what his core values are
within the program what is he emphasizing and and you
know and again that buy-in that what a special what a special
special run you i don't know if you'll ever see anything like
that again in the 90s we said that about berwick and
right now the southern columbia runs blowing that out of the water yeah yeah
no there that is something like you can't even if somebody went to us you know

(44:07):
in the 70s and 80s and said we're going to write this story that a program is
going to be this successful year in and year out you've been get out like no
that's not and it's ridiculous almost.
And, and like you said, it's not, you know, it's like back in the day when you
had the four classifications and some of those four A schools were ginormous,
you know, they had the, but like CB West and whatnot, and they're drawn from so many kids.

(44:29):
It's not a school like that. It's not a school that has, you know,
they're graduating a thousand kids and, and you get to handpick all the student
athletes that you're going to have on your squad.
No, I agree a hundred percent. And actually I'm going to extend an invitation
to coach Roth to get him on the podcast because I'd love to love to hear, you know, exactly what,
and I'm sure there were probably some maybe humble beginnings when it started

(44:51):
for him as a, as a young head coach and what it was like to get the ship steered in the right direction.
But man, they are doing some special things there.
Well, but that ain't a ship now. That's that's like an airplane carrier they
got down there. That's it's unbelievable. That's a battleship,
buddy. That ain't has no tugboat.
He's got it going. And what a great job that they were like.
Like I said, we did summer work with them, like helmets only seven on seven

(45:14):
inside run and stuff like that with shields.
Wow. They were a machine. And we were and we were good ourselves.
Don't get me not. But wow.
That's all I could say. The word I ever use is wow. Like and they just change
names. The names change, and the program just operates the same way.
And it's special. It's special to watch.
Now, you could, seeing that we'll play the old guy card a little bit,

(45:37):
if you could go back in time and talk to young Jack Baranski when he first started
his coaching career, his teaching career,
would there be any advice that you would give that younger version of yourself
to make it easier to be successful, things that you've learned along the way?
You know, I can honestly say, and I kind of told you the story when I student

(46:00):
taught as a senior in college and I took that volunteer assistant for a couple of years.
That was the best move I ever made.
Had I turned that down? Well, I deserve to be paid. I didn't deserve anything.
And I knew it. I knew who I was. I knew where I knew what I wanted to be.
And I took that unpaid assistant and have the opportunity to learn.

(46:20):
I was lucky enough to have a great mentor like John Joseph, the defense coordinator
Cliff Jones, and that whole Coughlin staff were just full of great guys.
Even Ciro Sinti was on that staff, the current Wilkes-Barre head coach.
It was so great to have the flexibility year to year to go to different positions
and learn the entire game, not
just be pigeonholed into being an offensive guard or a defensive tackle.

(46:43):
I mean, and you say, would I go back and say, I feel like I did the right thing
at that point. that gave me the ability by the late 90s to be a defensive coordinator
because I had worked with D-backs.
I understood linebacker play and had played D-line to understand all three levels
because in order to be an effective coordinator, you have to know the three levels.

(47:04):
You have to. To be a great play caller, you better know line play on offense.
You need to know the angles.
It's a game of angles. It always has been a game of angles.
Would I do something differently? Differently, that's a really tough question, Vito.
I wish I got my teaching contract earlier.
Well, that was out of your control. Yes, I agree.

(47:24):
A little bit, a little bit. But in the coaching world, I feel like I put my
time in. I volunteered. I cut my teeth.
I never burned a bridge. I feel like I did a lot of right things that way.
And football has done a lot for me in my life.
And I'm very appreciative of the sport. And, you know, I don't know that I would

(47:48):
change anything from a football player.
Way. Honestly. I'll tell you this. You benefited from having a mentor in Coach
Joseph who forced you, I wouldn't say forced, but it gave you the opportunity
to step outside your comfort level because that's usually what happens.
What young coaches especially is you kind of gravitate to the position that
you played because it's easier for you.
And then sometimes you get stuck there and you never really grow.

(48:11):
So the fact that you got the opportunity to coach positions you didn't play
as a player really helped you immensely, you know, as, as an actual coach and,
and not all mentors probably do that.
And because I'm sure he pushed you in that direction and you weren't going to
be the best receiver coach, you know, the first thing he did it because,
you know, so he was taking a little risk there, letting you maybe fail and learn and grow as a coach.

(48:33):
And, and I think that's the key too of, you know, they talk about that in the
business world when they, when you go somewhere and you have some kind of professional
development, they have the icebreakers and you step outside your comfort zone
and that's where the magic happens, like all those cliche terms. And I get that.
But the thing I always talk about with people on this, on the podcast is,
you know, how do you create that organically as well?

(48:54):
Because if you just force somebody to go and do something, then they're not
going to get anything out of it.
But you, you know, you were involved in something that you loved and you stepped
out of the comfort zone and it truly helped you out.
So that worked for you. And, you know, kudos to Coach Joseph for doing that for you.
Yeah. I mean, I can't say enough about Coach Joe.
And another thing as a a young kid in the

(49:16):
in game planning meetings for you at veteran coaches
that were already in eastern conference playoffs and multiple long valley conference
championships he would ask me in a meeting what
i thought about hey what do you like versus this defense
and i would put it out there and he'd say why and he'd
make me explain myself and sometimes he'd say
well here's why you're not right or hey what a great point you're spot
on that's why i like that like so he allowed me to speak it wasn't like i controlled

(49:41):
the room but i was allowed to give my input and again with coach joe and cliff
joe and that staff you better have a reason why don't just throw out let's run
power out of this set because they're going to say why are you saying that.
Like, what are we gaining by being in this set running? That really helped me

(50:02):
and Ciro Sinti become better football coaches because it wasn't just doing what
you wanted to do because you wanted to.
You better understand why, and you better be able to explain it.
And that goes a long way, a long way.
Well, and I think that availability of having seasoned veteran guys around you also, too, too.

(50:22):
And whether they knew they were doing it or not, they probably knew,
but I mean, they probably didn't sit down and plan it, but they were growing
the next group of leaders, right?
I mean, when you kind of take that time and invest time with young assistant
coaches, you're setting the stage for them to be successful down the road.
And if you don't have that, maybe, you know, guys like you and Cyril and whatnot
don't have those lengthy coaching careers.

(50:43):
You know what I mean? Like you have to plant the seeds and kind of, and be there and be that
mentor so again and i've been you know
i benefited as well as being around guys and and
i always say when we went to coaching clinics or whatnot i always learned more
from sitting in the hospitality room and talking football and drawing stuff
on napkins that i did listening to the linebacker coach from florida state you

(51:03):
know what i mean so yeah those those veteran mentors are just a wealth of information
oh they're you're right like the old time clinics i remember talking to
you at on the square yeah the ramada yeah that's a long time ago we were just
kids in the 90s but guess what you went you went hydrate after a meeting or
two and you sat around and you talked football and you might just get some from

(51:26):
a guy who's doing it at the level you're doing it versus a couple coverages
at the university of florida or florida state.
Or how they're using safeties and run fills and B-gaps. Sometimes your safety is 130 pounds.
He ain't going anywhere near the line of scrimmage. No, you're trying to hide him.
And talking about comfort zone, I remember being – I went to Bishop Holben High School, right?

(51:47):
So I'm getting our student teaching assignment, and I had put in,
again, the easy way, I'm going to go to Holben and student teach there.
I was coaching football there at the time. That'll be easy for me.
And they said, no, no, you're going to GAR. And I was petrified as a Catholic
school boy, you know, going to GAR, you know, this tough public school from

(52:08):
the Heights and Wilkes-Barre.
And I tell you, I learned more and developed more of anything,
coaching, teaching, leadership skills from that experience, that short time, that fall.
And again, that place was that you had Mr. Latinsky and there were so many veteran teachers there.
You know, Coach Fick was a teacher there. and it was

(52:28):
again those those times where you step out of the comfort zone and
you're you're surrounded with some savvy you know seasoned
mentors mean all the best and again i don't know how that happened but i definitely
know that that set me on the right track you know in education as well and again
just looking back and thinking that man you had three schools that were so successful

(52:49):
i mean academically naturally there was a lot of really smart people that came
from those three Wilkes-Barre schools.
Oh, God. But never, you know, then athletically as well. And that's all gone. So, and I know...
Economics being the way they are and trying to have the upkeep on three older
buildings and whatnot led to all those things.
But I just hope that the kids today appreciate what was once in the Valley,

(53:13):
where you had so many tremendous school districts and coaching staffs spread around.
And now I think sometimes people forget the wealth that we had.
And I wonder if – I've never been in the Wilkes-Barre High School.
School i wonder if there's there's i'm sure there's got
to be remnants of history in there of all three high schools if not
written on a plaque a wall like our insignias something

(53:36):
because we're moving into here give it a couple more years people kids aren't
even going to know coughlin high school existed or ga or myers high school it's
it's just always wooksbury and it really wasn't that way for most of the time
this is a whole new development and you know Like I said, I've never toured it.
I've been at the football facility. Beautiful. They did a great job.

(53:56):
I will say I saw the building from the outside. I think that they've done an
excellent job of putting that together over there for opportunities for the
athletes and the students.
It's a beautiful building, beautiful facilities.
Yeah, the facility is gorgeous. I mean, it was well done.
I mean, so kudos to all those guys that planned it. I know they were taking
a lot of heat, you know, from the community that didn't know,

(54:18):
like they didn't see the long range plan of what was going to happen when they
were talking about school closures. And that's a very emotional topic.
But they did the right thing. Now, I can say this from the Catholic school perspective.
I know that when they kind of did some changes there with Hoban and Haffey and
O'Reilly and went to Redeemer, just because I know I have family members that

(54:39):
are down there, I don't know where a lot of those banners from, you know.
And Hoban was a swimming school and a basketball school more than it was a football school.
But I don't know where those things are. And it's a shame to all those student-athletes
over the years that had all those great accomplishments that it should be housed
somewhere so they can bring their kids and grandkids to show them some of the

(55:00):
cool things. So I really do hope Wilkes-Barre has that for them.
Yeah, I do too. And even to go back to this merger of Catholic schools,
O'Reilly, a couple of state basketball championships.
Yeah. What a basketball history they had. I hope that's not lost on the same breath too.
Because it shouldn't be. We're a part of something bigger. But here's the small
pieces in what they did. Here's what GAR did.
Here's who they produced, Coughlin. You could still go. I Googled.

(55:23):
This might be a couple years ago. Famous Coughlin graduates.
There's people that did all kinds. NASA scientists. Like, it's unbelievable.
It's unbelievable, the history. And it was just, it was really, I learned.
Because you don't hear that. You know who James M. Coughlin was.
I had to look that up. And again, I mean, we went completely off topic from

(55:46):
football, which is awesome. I love talking about local history anyway.
But one of the things that like it's a pet peeve of mine is right down by Coughlin was –.
Jesse Fell, the tavern where they first burned anthracite coal,
which is gone. Years and years and years ago, they ripped it down.
And there might be a little historical marker somewhere. But talk about something
that started the American Revolution.

(56:08):
The burning of anthracite coal, it started right there, probably,
I don't know, a hundred and some feet away from Coughlin High School.
And I guess the economic development of the time thought it was important to
get rid of that building and use it for something else.
And then I can tell you that there's generations of people that don't even know who Jesse Fell is.
And probably don't even realize that anthracite coal was first burned over a

(56:28):
grate in Wilkes-Barre City.
And that started, you know, basically the American Revolution,
American, the Industrial Revolution.
So I just little things like that, like you have to preserve history.
You have to show respect, your word that you like to use.
And it's important to have respect for not just each other, but for things that came before us.
And I think that's the biggest thing about this podcast is talking about what leadership,

(56:53):
what coaching, what teaching, the hard truth that the consistency of things
that generations before us got right are still true.
And those ideas of family bonds, hard work, consistency, it sounds old and it's
not the sexiest kind of terms to throw around to get you on a TikTok video, but that's what works.

(57:15):
You know and everything we've been talking about kind of all circles back to those things right.
It it definitely does you know we we had this long conversation i don't know
how long we've been on i could do this all night if you want the the term rpo
never came up once veto no it's the hottest thing in football since you know
the the invention of laces on it i guess i don't know,
it's funny it's funny how this went and you've done

(57:36):
a great job talking about you know really main ideas
well i'll tell you what i'll i'm gonna i'm gonna reach out
to you over the course of the the season and and revisit we'll talk
about you know how the season's has gone for local teams
and you know maybe some college stuff whatnot again it's fun for me to do this
because i get the it's hey it's the podcast that i'm i'm kind of hosting so
i could bring on who i'd like and i'm going to talk to people i want to hear

(57:59):
their opinion on so you know like i said i remember and again somebody else
that was on that unico team with us you know smarter than us you have
johnny dechak you know who was a politician now
he's the president lcc so those things too
again if it wasn't for football you know we wouldn't have
met those guys and and you develop lifelong friendships with people and you

(58:20):
can pick up the phone and call them and whatnot so again another byproduct of
a sport that has nothing to do with the x's and o's so it's been very good to
both of us yes it has definitely had well i'm going to wrap it up here coach
it was a a pleasure to talk with you. I thank you for giving your time.
You know, we'll definitely circle back and revisit with you later on in the
fall, but I want to say thank you, and it's been a great time,

(58:43):
and hopefully you had as much fun as I did. It was great to hear from.