West Allegheny hires Dave Schoppe as football coach

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, February 20, 2020 | 4:00 PM

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West Allegheny looked to its past to find its future head football coach.

The school board Wednesday hired Dave Schoppe, a 1988 West Allegheny graduate who’s coached 27 years as an assistant as various schools, said athletic director Dave McBain. Schoppe, 49, was a volunteer assistant at West A last season working primarily with quarterbacks.

He previously coached as offensive coordinator at North Hills and with his brother, Darren, at Bishop Canevin, among other places.

West Allegheny had 17 applicants and interviewed nine candidates, McBain said.

At West Allegheny, Schoppe replaces Chris Lucas, who resigned in January after one season. He becomes the school’s fourth coach in three years.

West Allegheny won eight WPIAL titles under Bob Palko, who coached the team for 24 years before resigning after the 2018 season. The transition since his departure hasn’t gone as planned.

The school had hired Kim Niedbala as the program’s coach-in-waiting to work alongside Palko in 2018 and then take over last fall, but Niedbala resigned in February 2019 and later rejoined Palko at Mt. Lebanon.

Under Lucas, West Allegheny went 3-6 and missed the WPIAL playoffs.

Schoppe is a teacher at North Hills.

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: West Allegheny