William Penn opens football coaching position
William Penn High School has opened the football head coaching position after the Bearcats' winless season, William Penn athletic director Joe Chiodi said.
Chiodi re-iterated Tuesday this is a common practice for the school at the end of every athletic season, "that's not just for football, it's for every sport." But a change could be in store since Chiodi said head coach Shawn Heinold has informed him he "probably would not re-apply" for the position.
Heinold did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone Tuesday.
William Penn has gone 17-44 in six seasons under Heinold. The team's best season under his guidance came in 2010, when the Bearcats went 5-6. William Penn has not posted a winning season since 2009, and it has not won a league division crown since going 10-1 in 2007. The Bearcats reached the District 3 playoffs from 2006 through 2010.
Heinold provided stability for a program sent reeling when head coaches stepped down in back-to-back seasons. An assistant with 10 years of experience with the Bearcats, he took over as head coach in August 2010, just days before preseason workouts began. He replaced head coach Tim Hibbs, who stepped down after the school district furloughed his teaching position. Hibbs had been the Bearcats' head coach for just one season, replacing Matt Ortega, who left to take the head coaching job at Coatesville High School.
This year the program suffered through its worst season since going 1-9 in 2002. The Bearcats had not gone winless since going 0-10, including two forfeits, during the 1978 season. A group of more than a dozen parents and alumni raised questions about the state of the program during a York City School Board meeting in October.
Chiodi said he hopes the opening will attract candidates from around the state or even outside the state.
"That was my suggestion to the powers that be," Chiodi said.
Chiodi hopes any search, however, would end with a head coach in position by Jan. 1, allowing a head coach to implement an offseason training program as soon as possible.