Damned if you do: Woodland Hills coach, WPIAL board to chat about Tweet

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, January 11, 2021 | 7:45 PM

Woodland Hills boys basketball coach Matt Furjanic has a no cursing policy and violators run sprints at practice. Now, Furjanic might be the one running, although he disputes whether the word he uttered should count.

Furjanic said he was assessed a technical foul Friday for yelling: “Dammit. That’s steps.”

After the game, Furjanic searched online to see whether his exclamation was considered a curse word and found the web labeled it a “mild imprecation.”

He then shared his thoughts on Twitter, suggesting the WPIAL hand out a list of banned words.

The WPIAL now wants to talk with him. Members of the WPIAL board voted Monday to call Furjanic to the league office sometime soon to explain his Twitter comment.

“He had a negative social media post that they want to discuss more with him and the administration,” WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said.

On Twitter, Furjanic’s wrote: “I got a T for Dammit. My Mom used to say that & she never cursed. Seems HS officials can be subjective in this rule. Needs clarity. If I put God in front I see. My Mother never said those 2 together. Maybe a list of words should be given out.”

In an interview Monday, Furjanic said the tweet was lighthearted and he never meant to offend anyone.

“I thought it was kind of odd that I got a technical for that,” he said. “If anyone was offended, I apologize. I didn’t mean it to offend anybody. It’s a term that I never thought would be construed as a curse word.”

Furjanic tagged the WPIAL’s official Twitter account in the tweet.

The foul came in the first quarter and Furjanic was forced to stay seated for the rest of the game. Woodland Hills lost 76-36 at Gateway. He wasn’t ejected or suspended but blamed his technical in part on a new PIAA rule this school year that allows officials to hand out two-game suspensions for egregious misconduct.

The PIAA has made a larger effort in recent months to shield game officials from harassment, said Nick Morea, a WPIAL board member who represents officials. But speaking in general terms, Morea noted that cursing at officials has never been permitted.

Furjanic is entering his second season at Woodland Hills, a program he also coached from 1991-95. He said he received no technical fouls last season.

Before returning to the WPIAL, Furjanic coached junior college basketball at Polk State College in Winter Haven, Fla. He also coached at Robert Morris, Marist and Pitt-Greensburg.

“I have a no-cursing policy with my team,” he said. “It was kind of humorous to me that I would get a technical for it. My players know that they run if they use a curse word. They know they’ve got to get on the line and run a 30-second sprint.

“I’m sure I’ll hear it from them once this gets out.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Woodland Hills