Butschle

JACKSON TWP — Ron Butschle's time as Seneca Valley football coach didn't last nearly as long as he had hoped.

"When I took this job (in 2004), my plan was to retire from here as a coach and teacher," said Butschle.

Instead, his tenure lasted five seasons.

Butschle resigned Dec. 22, though it will not be official until it is taken before the school board later this month.

"After every season, the coaches in every sport at Seneca Valley sit down with (athletic director) Greg Caprara and are evaluated," said Butschle. "I had my meeting with Greg in mid-December and waited for him to either recommend me for another season or not."

But a recommendation, good or bad, didn't come for a week after the meeting.

"No answer was an answer as far as I was concerned," said Butschle. "The writing was on the wall. I let Greg know of my decision to resign on Dec. 22.

"I needed to know whether I was coming back or not," he added. "With kids in the weight room, they should know who their coach is going to be. And I've been around long enough to know when a coach's time is ending."

Caprara was not able to shed light on the situation.

"I can verify facts, but I can't give my opinion on personnel decisions," he said. "I can't speak for the school board."

Butschle's five seasons (2004-08) yielded an overall record of 15-33 and one playoff appearance.

His time with the Raiders began with two straight 1-9 seasons, before going 3-6 in 2006.

SV made the playoffs for the first time in five seasons in 2007 (6-4 overall) and the team went 4-5 in 2008, the first season the Raiders record fell from the year before under Butschle.

"This past season, we did have our shortcomings, but we also had a record-setting offense," Butschle said. "The overall record wasn't great, but I do believe we took steps forward every year."

Before taking over SV's program, Butschle was head coach at Sto-Rox High for four seasons, taking the Vikings to the WPIAL Class A title game in 2003.

His overall head coaching record now stands at 41-50.

Butschle's son, Nate, who will turn two years old in March, has been ill for over a year. But the former wants to make it clear that his family's situation did not factor into his decision to resign.

"That had nothing to do with it," said Butschle. "Nate's actually doing well."

Butschle is an English teacher at Seneca Valley's Intermediate High School. He lives in Moon Township.

He does hope to coach again.

"Including my years as an assistant, I've been coaching football for 19 years," he said. "I love it and I want to continue it.

"I don't have any actual plans to do that right now and I'm just going to focus on Nate and teaching," added Butschle. "But if there are coaching opportunities at other places and a teaching job is available, I'll take a look at it."