Former Pine-Richland School District head football coach Eric Kasperowicz was hired Tuesday as head football coach at Mars Area School District.

Kasperowicz was approved 7-1 at the school board meeting with one board member absent.

Kasperowicz will replace former coach Scott Heinauer, who occupied the position from 1992 until the board voted to open up the varsity head football coaching position in January. Heinauer is the athletic director at Mars Area.

Superintendent Mark Gross said that Kasperowicz came “highly recommended” from those who worked with him, and described him as having a “history of proven abilities in football.”

“We’re looking forward to having him,” Gross said. “It’s a fresh start for Mars, it’s a fresh start for him as a coach, and it’s also a fresh start for us and our football program.”

Kasperowicz was coach at Pine-Richland for eight years and led the team to four WPIAL and two state titles until the district chose not to renew his contract in April 2021, citing a pattern of “hazing and emotional and physical bullying and intimidation that arose in and around the football program,” according to a letter sent to parents in May 2021 by Pine-Richland superintendent Brian Miller.

A number of Pine-Richland football players and community members voiced their displeasure at the time over the dismissal of Kasperowicz. In January, while dropping a defamation lawsuit against the district, Kasperowicz’s attorney, Joel Sansone, maintained that the allegations made against the coach are untrue.

Kasperowicz joined the University of Pittsburgh’s football coaching staff as a volunteer assistant in the fall of 2021.

Gross said he had “a very candid and open conversation” with Kasperowicz about his past at Pine-Richland and was “satisfied” with the explanations he received.

“I’m not going to take a side on what occurred, I don’t know what occurred,” he said. “I really don’t want to talk about another district, or the gentleman’s past. I think it’s important that he focus on a new start, and we focus on a new start.”

Gross said that former coach Heinauer has been “nothing but a gentleman” throughout the hiring process.

“He’s continuing on, and he’s working with us, and is going to help us in this transition now that the hiring has occurred,” Gross said.

For the upcoming season, Gross expects to see big changes in the Mars football program.

“In talking to Coach K, and hearing his presentation and the things he does to promote school spirit and to involve students in other programs beyond football, getting them ready for life beyond football, and the X’s and O’s of the game, it is going to be an absolute complete change from what has been recognized in the past,” Gross said.

Mars junior and football player Noah Nesselroad said Monday night he was thankful that the school board came to their decision.

“The decision they came to is, quite honestly, one of the best outcomes the players could have asked for, and the parents, for that matter,” he said. “We all think of (Kasperowicz) very highly.”

He added that he expects to see “a lot of progress” in Mars Area’s program over the next few seasons.

“I’m really excited to see what he can bring to Mars and see how he can change the program here,” Noah said.

Alexandra Organ, Maddie Leachman, Dalaney James and Addison Keys, all members of the Mars Varsity Dance Team, a student group founded in August 2021, spoke at the meeting about concerns that the dance team was being sidelined. More than a dozen members of the dance team attended the meeting.

Team members said that the group had been asked to perform further down on the football field in 2021. For the upcoming season, they were told they would only be allowed to perform a 4-minute pregame show and then had to leave the field.

“Our team feels beaten down, with no support from the school or administration,” Dalaney said. “What have we done wrong to be treated so unfairly?”

Gross said that he had previously invited representatives from the cheerleading team, marching band and dance team to a meeting earlier in 2021 at the end of the football season to discuss a compromise, but discussions broke down.

“They were unable to reach an agreement on how they can incorporate both groups together, so I sort of left the meeting saying to go back and figure it out. In all the districts where it is successful, cheerleaders and dance team tend to work together in tandem, but unfortunately that isn’t happening,” he said.

Dance parent Robin Organ said the team was willing to compromise.

“These kids are here because the quote-unquote adults failed them. They could not come together, one would not come to the table and refused to listen to the other,” Organ said. “These kids are telling you what they want. They want to have what they had last year, they want to stand on the field.”

After parents and team members talked, Gross encouraged the dance team to decide on a representative to propose a solution and talk with the cheer team.

“I’m imploring them again to work together behind the scenes, because the best solution is going to be coming from both groups together, as opposed to administration making it top-down,” he said.