Tony Howard

Tony Howard will be pacing just in front of his team's bench when the Mars girls basketball team takes on rival Hampton next winter.

It's something he has done for the past eight seasons, but now he will be coaching against the Planets.

In early June, Howard accepted the varsity head coaching job at Hampton following the resignation of longtime Talbots' coach Mary Bukovac.

Howard used to coach eighth and ninth-grade basketball for the Talbots before arriving at Mars in 2007. All the while, he has remained a business education teacher at Hampton High School.

“This was such a difficult decision,” he said. “In eight years at Mars, I've worked with a lot of great people and formed a lot of great relationships.

“It was already awkward because I was teaching at Hampton and coaching Mars. Now it will be awkward the other way.”

Hampton is coming off a 17-6 season that ended with a loss to Beaver in the first round of the district playoffs.

Howard and his wife, Kerri, have three children ages 11, 10 and 7. They reside in the North Allegheny School District.

“This will give me 45 more minutes every day to spend with my family. The job at Hampton opened up and it is the only school I would have left Mars for. It's something I just had to do.”

The Mars Area School District is accepting applications to fill the void.

“We hope to name a new coach at August's board meeting,” said Planet athletic director Scott Heinauer. “Tony and I have become good friends since he came to Mars and he did a tremendous job here. I wish him well.”

Howard, 42, met with the returning Mars players last month.

“I held a team meeting,” he said. “The girls had heard the rumors, but I wanted to meet them face-to-face. They deserved that.”

In his eight seasons at Mars, Howard's teams compiled an overall record of 116-72, making the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs every year and the PIAA playoffs once (2009). He guided the program to a 76-20 mark in Section 1 while facing Hampton twice every year.

Based on record alone, this past season was Howard's best at Mars as the Planets went 18-5 and won a section title outright.

Howard, a 1991 graduate of Union (Rimersburg), tried to instill certain qualities in his players at Mars.

“I wanted them to simulate characteristics on the court that could be applied to life,” he said. “Things like self discipline, confidence and teamwork. I coached them hoping that if any of them ever wanted to coach basketball in the future, they would be able to do that.”

Hampton and Mars tied for the section crown in the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons.

“It's always been a game between two really good teams,” said Howard of the rivalry. “Mars lost a lot of talent to graduation, but they have a lot coming down the pipeline, too. They are going to surprise a lot of people next season.”