Todd Massack resigns as Riverview football coach

By: Greg Macafee
Friday, December 13, 2019 | 5:25 PM

Riverview has always held a special place in Todd Massack’s life.

Over the course of his 14-year coaching stint at Riverview, he coached all three of his sons — Nick, Jacob and Jared — and had the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of some of his mentors and his grandfather, Elmer Gross, who coached at Riverview when it was Oakmont High School from 1948-60.

But, on Thursday, the longtime coach and Riverview alum resigned as head football coach.

“It was a tough decision for me” Massack said. “I’ve been coaching for 30 years, and this would’ve been my 15th year at Riverview, and I just felt it was time. That’s all. I love coaching. I loved my experience at Riverview. I loved my time there, but it was just time for me to move on.”

Massack has been involved in the program in one way or another since 2005. He came on as a defensive coordinator, and then took over the program from 2007-13, amassing a record of 20-46. During that first stint, he got to coach his two oldest sons, Nick and Jacob, which he said was something special. He later coached Jared in his second stint with the team.

“I’m so glad I had that opportunity,” Massack said. “To be able to coach is a great opportunity, but to be able to coach your sons makes it even more special. It was awesome.”

Due to a family matter that he needed to be more involved with, Massack resigned from his head coaching position in 2013 but still stuck around the program in other capacities.

He was a junior high coach in 2014, a volunteer assistant in 2015, then acted as a defensive coordinator for two years before taking over the program for a second time in 2018. Massack said to be able to coach at the same school where he played will always hold a special place in his heart.

“It was a great experience,” Massack said. “I think anybody that is in coaching and has an opportunity to coach where they played, it was a great opportunity for me and I enjoyed it. I’ve had some great players that have come through and some great coaches that I’ve worked with. So, I have some great memories from here and I definitely will cherish those times.”

Although he’s stepping away, Massack isn’t done with something he’s loved for the past 30 years.

“I still want to coach. I don’t have any plans right now, but I’m not done coaching,” Massack said.

Before Riverview, Massack spent time as a coach at both Plum and Fox Chapel. He headed the Fox Chapel program from 2001-04.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Riverview