After leading Latrobe’s football resurgence, coach Ron Prady steps down

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, December 19, 2024 | 5:41 PM

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Latrobe could count only one WPIAL playoff win in team history before Ron Prady arrived as football coach three years ago.

He quickly led Latrobe to two more, but his coaching tenure there is now ending in rather swift fashion. Prady resigned Wednesday as coach, saying his primary goal was to leave the program in a better spot than when he took over.

He went 20-15 in three seasons.

“When I took the job three years ago, I think we all knew it wouldn’t be a long-term thing,” said Prady, a Latrobe teacher, who accepted the job when the school was striving to find a coach. “The goal truly was to build the program, get it onto solid ground and hopefully have some success along the way. I’m extremely proud of what we accomplished.”

His record includes a 28-21 playoff win over Highlands in 2022 and a 39-7 victory over West Allegheny a year later. Latrobe ended a five-decade drought without a postseason win.

The previous win was a 19-7 victory over Kiski in the 1968 WPIAL championship.

“We’re proud of that, and it takes a ton of people to make that happen,” Prady said. “I certainly don’t take credit for it all. I was fortunate to have a great staff, great support from the district and tremendous kids who were committed from day one.”

Latrobe athletic director Zac Heide credited Prady for bettering the program in his time as coach. Latrobe went 24-70 combined with no winning seasons in the 10 years before Prady was hired.

“Ron has been great for the past three years,” Heide said. “He has taken a program that was on the rise and he took it to the next level. You can’t be disappointed with anything that he did.”

But Heide said the team’s success made Prady’s resignation surprising.

“A head coach who takes over and makes the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, someone who’s riding high at the moment, stepping down is a little bit unexpected,” said Heide, who also acknowledged that being a head coach is time consuming. “As out of the blue as it was, I understand it.”

A 1990 Penn-Trafford graduate known by the nickname “Boomer,” Prady was hired as coach at Latrobe after serving 10 years as an assistant at his alma mater. He also had stints as an assistant at Latrobe and Franklin Regional.

Prady said he’d likely coach again next season but as an assistant elsewhere.

The 2022 playoff win over Highlands was thrilling for the Latrobe players, but also for many longtime members of the coaching staff, Prady said. He noted how equipment manager Jim Feather has supported the team for decades.

“One of the reasons we wanted to have success was for a guy like that who’d been through tough years at Latrobe for so long,” Prady said. “Maybe my greatest memory was the reaction of some of the guys who’d been coaching there for years. To get that (playoff win) was an incredible feeling and something I’ll never forget.”

Latrobe went 15-9 combined in his first two seasons while competing in Class 4A. The Wildcats won a first-round game in the playoffs each season.

This year, they went 5-6 overall in their first year in Class 5A. The season ended with a 42-7 first-round loss to Bethel Park.

Prady said the team’s growth was evident beyond the wins and losses. The program, which had 43 players when he took over, had 87 this year.

“I firmly believe that Latrobe is going to continue to be good,” he said. “Building a good team is different than building a good program. … The program is solid and built on a foundation that’s ingrained in the kids now.”

In a social media post Thursday, the Latrobe football account announced Prady’s resignation.

“We are beyond grateful for the contributions and successes that Ron has given to the players, staff, program and community of Latrobe over the past three seasons,” @LatrobeFootball wrote on X.

The team’s resurgence under Prady was led by seniors John Wetzel and Alex Tatsch, who both signed this month to play college football at FBS schools. Wetzel signed with Marshall and Tatsch with Penn State.

“I feel grateful to have served for three years,” he said. “I’ll cherish the memories. The wins and the losses all come with it, but the relationships built over the three years will stick with me forever.”

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.

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