Former Jeannette coach Roy Hall to be honored at Westmoreland County scholar-athlete banquet

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, April 30, 2022 | 5:01 PM

Roy Hall learned a lot from the coaches who preceded him at Jeannette.

He said he owes a great deal of credit for his success as a coach to the late Joe Mucci, whom he played for in the early 1980s, and former coaches Art Tragesser, Bob Murphy and Ray Reitz.

“I learned from Coach Mucci as far as the discipline and what it takes,” Hall said. “I felt like I’m one of the luckiest coaches in (Westmoreland County) because I’ve had some fabulous coaches. I can’t say anything bad about them. I learned so much from all of them.

“Having a guy like Coach Mucci, who I played for, I can honestly say there is no school in the county that has had coaches tied together like we have at Jeannette.”

Hall, 59, retired after the 2021 season.

The Jayhawks’ new coach is Jeannette graduate Thomas Palone.

Hall stepped down a year after winning the 2020 WPIAL Class A title and finishing second in the state, losing to Steelton-Highspire in the PIAA championship game.

Jeannette won PIAA and WPIAL titles under Hall in 2017.

The school has won eight WPIAL championships.

Hall was the offensive coordinator for Reitz when the Jayhawks won consecutive WPIAL Class AA titles (2006-07) and made it to back-to-back state championship games, winning in 2007.

“What made Roy such a good coach was his rapport with the players,” Reitz said. “He treats everyone the same. There is no nonsense in how he runs the program.”

For his work with players, Hall was named the 2022 Michael and John Ferrante Memorial Award winner for promoting sports and student athletes.

He will be honored at the 66th annual Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete Judge John J. Driscoll banquet Tuesday at Ferrante’s Lakeview in Hempfield.

The banquet will honor two student athletes from each of the 18 county schools. A male and female will win the Excellence Award.

Mt. Lebanon coach Bob Palko, who coached with Hall and Mucci at Jeannette, will be the guest speaker.

“I’m definitely honored to receive this award, especially seeing all the people who have received it,” Hall said. “So many great coaches and sports figures, I’m grateful. It means a lot to me.”

Hall coached 37 seasons at Jeannette, the last 35 on the high school level. He was the head coach for 13 years.

He joined Tragesser’s staff as an assistant. He was 1982 Jeannette graduate and attended Cal (Pa).

“My first year as coach, we didn’t make the playoffs for the first time in 16 years,” Hall said. “But I made a promise we’d be back, and I received a lot of support from the school and community. I wanted to keep the Jeannette tradition going.”

Hall said one of the most memorable seasons was when the Jayhawks won their first state title.

“That was a pretty special team,” Hall said. “It was a special season.”

JOHN AND MICHAEL FERRANTE MEMORIAL AWARD WINNERS

1984: Frank Buscanics

1985: James Weir

1986: Robert Rodebaugh

1987: John Bacha

1988: Donald Hall

1989: Henry Funk

1990: Lawrence Dalla Betta

1991: Frank “Patsy” Malpezzi

1992: Oliver “Ollie” Molter

1993: Howard “Huddie” Kaufman

1994: Gary Garrison

1995: Robert Van Atta

1996: Ralph W. Snyder

1997: Ronald Peduzzi

1998: Joseph Mucci

1999: Judge Charles E. Marker

2000: William “Bill” Abraham

2001: Joseph E. Pellis

2002: Bob “Spike” Melago

2003: Ralph R. Conde

2004: Bob Trautwine

2005: William “Bill” Priatko

2006: James “Jim” Farrell

2007: Dave P. McNichol

2008: Ron Firment

2009: Gerald Page

2010: Patrick Ratesic

2011: Raymond Zsolcsak

2012: Tom Traynor

2013: Bob Murphy

2014: Carl Davis

2015: Art Tragesser

2016: Paul Schofield

2017: John Sullivan

2018: Bob Kalp

2019: Lynn Jobe

2020: Ron Colland

2021: Chuck Tursky

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Jeannette