BUTLER TWP— Former Butler varsity football coach Garry Cathell was hired to fill that position at Elizabeth Forward High School.

Cathell, 50, was named the Warriors' new coach at a school board meeting Wednesday night. He was fired by Butler in December.

"It's been a rough three months for me,"Cathell said. "The last three or four weeks have been a roller-coaster. I thought I had one job (offer) for a while, then two, then none.

"I have a lot of energy right now. I can't wait to get started."

Jerry Slamecka, Butler assistant superintendent of personnel, said Thursday that eight candidates are being interviewed for the still-vacant Butler position.

"This has not been an easy process,"Slamecka said. "When we do name a coach, we have to make sure he's the right fit for us and we're the right fit for him.

"The monetary package, what we have available in terms of a teaching position — it all has to work out.

"Our timeline remains to name a coach sometime in March,"Slamecka added.

Butler has school board meetings slated for March 12 and 19.

Cathell attended a youth football meeting in the Elizabeth Forward School District Thursday night.

Since his dismissal at Butler, Cathell applied and interviewed for head football coaching openings at Elizabeth Forward, West Mifflin, Peters Township and Neshannock.

He was offered the Neshannock job a few weeks ago.

"Those folks have been very good with me in allowing me to pursue these other opportunities,"Cathell said of Neshannock. "They've been very patient."

Cathell began his 28-year football coaching career at Elizabeth Forward, where he served as an assistant coach from 1981-84. He was girls softball coach there for five years.

Cathell has been a head coach at Peters Township, West Point (Va.) and Butler, compiling a 98-112-4 record in 21 years. He was 18-32 in five years at Butler.

He replaces Pete Rostosky, a Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle from 1984-86, at Elizabeth Forward.

The Warriors were 1-8 under Rostosky last season, losing their final eight games and going winless in the Class AAABig Seven Conference. They averaged 7.9 points per game and allowed 32.2 per contest.

Elizabeth Forward has not had a winning football season since 2000.

"Just like we eventually did here, we need to build up numbers there,"Cathell said. "They had 53 varsity football players last season. I'd like to get those numbers to 25 to 30 per class.

"I always seem to run into this type of (rebuilding) situation, but I enjoy this kind of thing. You try to do the right thing for kids.

"Sometimes a program comes together quickly and the turnaround happens quickly. I just couldn't get it done fast enough in Butler," Cathell added.

Cathell also will be a health and physical education teacher in the Elizabeth Forward district. He plans to relocate to the Elizabeth area.

"This is coming full circle for me,"he said. "I've been told to hire who I desire to fill out the staff. I know a lot of people I've coached with in the South Hills, so that shouldn't be a problem.

"It's time to get to work again."