Pine-Richland hires Penn Hills’ Jon LeDonne as football coach

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, February 7, 2022 | 12:05 PM

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As a parent with three kids in the district, Jon LeDonne already wore a number of hats around Pine-Richland. Scorekeeper for middle school basketball. Coach for a fourth-grade girls team. Scorers’ table duty at youth wrestling matches.

“I see him at every event,” athletic director Joe Gironda said. “You’d think he’s employed here already as often as he’s there.”

The Pine-Richland school board made it official Monday night and voted unanimously to hire LeDonne as football coach, giving the championship-caliber program a new leader with a state title already on his resume.

LeDonne went 46-13 over the past five seasons at Penn Hills, winning WPIAL and PIAA titles in 2018. He becomes Pine-Richland’s third coach in three years, replacing Steve Campos, who resigned after one season for health reasons.

“Being a community member here was a huge part of it,” LeDonne said of his decision, “being able to go all-in with the community and not split time back and forth.”

LeDonne also talked with Pine-Richland a year ago about the job after then-coach Eric Kasperowicz was ousted. He hoped to “help mend some wounds,” LeDonne said, but the timing wasn’t right for him or the school, so he stayed at Penn Hills another year.

This time, it worked out.

“Knowing a lot of the community members here, I always had their support,” LeDonne said. “I’m very, very excited for this opportunity.”

Tonight, @Coach_LeDonne will be named the new HFC for @PRRamsFootball. We would like to wish him well & thank him for his time at PH. While we hate to see him leave, we understand why. The LeDonne’s will always be #PHamily & #Indians4Life
Thank you & much ❤️ 2U!!#IndiansNation pic.twitter.com/kVzePKaHvI

— PENN HILLS INDIANS FOOTBALL (@phqbclub) February 7, 2022

Gironda said school administrators were drawn to LeDonne’s demeanor, combined with his football experience, educational background and familiarity with the district.

LeDonne will earn $10,123 as coach.

“From the first time we met him in the interview process, we could tell he was special,” Gironda said. “His demeanor is so calm, but we know it won’t always be calm. He’s passionate, and we’re excited about that as well.”

LeDonne, 38, is a 2001 Aliquippa graduate with an engineering background and a doctorate degree from Carnegie Mellon. He and wife Maggie have resided in the Pine-Richland district for nearly a decade. They have three children, Mia, Makenna and Marco, who are in seventh, fourth and second grade.

He works at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin.

“He’s highly educated, motivated and driven,” Gironda said. “He’s an interesting fellow to be around and we want our student-athletes to have that opportunity.”

Gironda said the district received around 25 applicants.

LeDonne had on a flat-brimmed Pine-Richland cap and wore shorts to Monday’s school board meeting, sticking with his traditional sideline style.

Gironda described LeDonne as “authentic.”

“Growing up in Aliquippa, you learn to be yourself no matter where you are,” said LeDonne, who won WPIAL football and basketball titles with the Quips. “You trust in who you are and what you’ve done and where you’ve come from. I may be a little rough around the edges, but I am who I am, and I’m going to stay true to that.”

I appreciate the opportunity provided to me by @PennHillsSD and look forward to the next chapter @PRSchools pic.twitter.com/lyfOIXE5o1

— Dr Jon LeDonne (@Coach_LeDonne) February 8, 2022

LeDonne takes over a Pine-Richland program that’s only two years removed from winning a state title. The Rams won four WPIAL titles and two state championships in the past eight years. They went 7-5 last season under Campos and reached the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals.

Pine-Richland and Penn Hills shared a conference the past two seasons.

“The players are very hard working, and they have a lot of support from family and friends,” LeDonne said. “When you look at their stadium from the visiting side, all you see is the masses of people in the stands. You’ve got a varsity student section, a junior high student section, young ones running all around.

“There’s a lot of excitement in the air and I’m looking forward to that as well.”

Penn Hills qualified for the playoffs in all five of LeDonne’s seasons. His best was in 2018, when the Indians went 16-0 and celebrated WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A titles. They finished 8-4 last season and reached the WPIAL semifinals.

LeDonne intends to bring much of his current coaching staff with him. He met with his former team Monday.

“It’s very tough to leave because you invest so much into what we do and the development of young men,” he said. “It goes beyond the football field.”

LeDonne’s hire closes the door on speculation about Kasperowicz returning. He was ousted as coach last April following a school district investigation into allegations of hazing or bullying involving the football team.

Kasperowicz has denied the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against the district. His attorney had announced in January that Kasperowicz was dropping the lawsuit and wanted to be reconsidered for the job.

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: Penn Hills, Pine-Richland