MOUNT CARMEL - Frank Sheptock is a three-time Little All-American, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and was a head coach at the college level for 18 seasons.
Now he'll really face pressure.
Sheptock was hired unanimously Thursday on a 9-0 vote by the Mount Carmel Area school board to be the Red Tornadoes' next head football coach, and will also serve as athletic director and secondary dean of students, effective Jan. 5. Sheptock, a 1982 Mount Carmel graduate and football legend, replaces another Mount Carmel icon, and a former coach of his, Carmen DeFrancesco, who was fired as coach last month despite a five-year record of 42-20, one district title, and no losing seasons.
Obviously, the head football coaching job at Mount Carmel comes with some thorns attached to the crown.
Sheptock was hired at a salary of $54,000 as athletic director, $8,000 as football coach and will earn $20 per hour, up to $4,000 a year as weight room coordinator, a total of $66,000. Current Athletic Director Greg Sacavage will now serve as elementary dean of students and director of extracurricular activities.
Sheptock said he missed coaching more than he thought he would when he resigned at Wilkes University last year to become athletic director and presumed coach-in-waiting for George Curry at Berwick High School.
"I wanted to get back as a coach, and when
this came up, I obviously wanted to take a look at it," Sheptock said after Thursday's meeting, which he attended with his wife, father and mother and two nephews. "It's a traditionally strong program, plus it's where I got my start. I've always talked about trying to give back to the community, and this is my community."
Of course, it's DeFrancesco's community, too, and he still has a full-time job at Mount Carmel. There may be some fence-mending to be done.
"It's an honor to follow Carm," Sheptock said. "There have been a lot of great people who have coached Mount Carmel and he's one of them. He was passionate about Mount Carmel football as a player and coach and I hope he continues to be. He coached me and I have a lot of respect for him. I'm looking forward to sitting down with Carm and having a talk with him."
Sheptock set Mount Carmel records for tackles in a game (24) and season (166) in 1981 before heading to Bloomsburg University, where he helped stoke a renaissance in the Huskies' program, earning All-America honors at linebacker in 1983-85. He still holds Bloomsburg's records for tackles in a season and career.
Sheptock began coaching at the college level as an assistant to Joe DeMelfi at Wilkes University and became head coach of the Colonels in 1996. He posted a career record of 107-81, leading Wilkes to NCAA Division III playoff appearances in 2005 and 2006, and ECAC appearances in seven other seasons.
Sheptock said he doesn't think coaching at the high school level will be all that different from coaching at the college level.
"I think I've learned how to relate to young men," he said. "When I was recruiting, I looked for ways to make the school appeal to players. I'm going to do much the same thing here. One of the things I'm going to do is make it about them. Every player deserves a coach that believes in them, and I will believe in them."
Sheptock said he hasn't though too much about putting a staff together yet.
"For now I just want to get the word out that I'm actually here before getting a staff together," Sheptock said. "Once I do that, I'll reach out to some people. I think I have some good contacts out there."