Longtime high school basketball coach Mark Jula wound up taking the advice of a guy who wasn't too bad of a coach himself.

Jula was quoted in the Beaver County Times saying “it's like that old theory of Chuck Noll: If you're thinking about retiring you may as well do it.”

So Jula did it.

The former Butler boys basketball coach — who won a WPIAL championship here in 1991 — recently called it quits after coaching at his alma mater Ambridge for the past seven years.

Jula, 66, was a varsity basketball coach for 38 years. He stepped down shortly before this weekend's start of the 2019-20 season.

It's hard to fathom this guy not coaching somewhere.

Jula was 561-373 in his career.

Besides Butler and Ambridge, he coached at WPIAL schools Moon, North Allegheny and Center. He was at Butler from 1987 through 1993 before leaving to coach at NA.

The Tigers, of course, are a big basketball rival of Butler. There was some ill feeling between Jula and the Butler community for a while after his departure.

When I joined the Butler Eagle in 1997, Jula refused to talk to me as a representative of this newspaper. That rift lasted for a couple of years.

But, eventually, time heals all wounds.

Jula, who coached current Butler coach Matt Clement and Karns City coach Chris Bellis in high school — and on that 1991 title team, — was inducted into the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016. His 1991 team was inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame last spring.

Jula's record with the Tornado was stellar. His teams won 136 of 170 games, including 78 of 88 section games, winning four consecutive section titles.

When Jula accepted his HOF induction before a Tornado home game, he rattled off the name of every Butler kid he coached. He lauded the booster club as well.

“That 1991 team ... I gained 25 pounds, have no hair, I'm wearing glasses, they wore me down ... those kids gave everything they had to this school,” Jula said that night.

“Man, we had great times here.”

Indeed, they did. And he was a big reason for it.

Defense was Jula's staple. Affectionately known as “Jula Ball,” his teams would often work the ball around the perimeter and play for a lay-up, taking minutes off the clock at times before shooting.

Defensively, Jula teams would hunker down and force opponents to run clock as well, often times resulting in very low-scoring games.

Jula lost his son, Brett, in an automobile accident a few years ago. He had coached his son at Center. He coached with a heavy heart since his son's death.

Now he's had enough.

Congratulations, Coach.

Thanks for making Butler part of your resume'.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle