SLIPPERY ROCK — Brendan Hathaway has many talents.

He can teach English and history, he is a former Marine, and, at age 31, he already has enjoyed years of success as a football coach.

To Hathaway, that makes him more than ready to tackle his next challenge: taking over a Slippery Rock High football program that now has had four different head coaches in the last two years.

"When (the Slippery Rock job) was offered to me, I was floored," Hathaway said.

And he didn't hesitate to take it.

A 1997 Shaler graduate, Hathaway starred as a wide receiver for the Titans and he played one year at Edinboro University.

But he decided to leave school to join the Marines. He said that experience taught him the discipline he now employs as a coach and as a teacher.

"The reason I love to coach is for the players," Hathaway said. "I love being around the kids."

Hathaway has spent the past five seasons at Coudersport High, the first three as an assistant under Hall-of- Fame coach Paul Simcoe.

Hathaway served as the head coach there the past two seasons, leading the Falcons to the District 9 Class A playoffs twice.

Slippery Rock athletic director Dan Szolek said the school received "quite a few" applications for the coaching job. He said Hathaway quickly set himself apart from the pack.

"I think he comes with a lot of experience, not with just the X's and O's, but with establishing a relationship with his players," Szolek said.

The football coaching job at Slippery Rock has been in a state of flux since Clyde Conti resigned at the end of the 2008 season.

Joe Lamenza was hired to replace Conti, but he abruptly resigned last summer. Glenn Hazlet was hired as an interim coach, and the Rockets, dealing with a death of a player and the severe injury of another at midseason, stumbled to a 2-7 record.

Hathaway has wasted little time trying to establish continuity in the program, adding former Slippery Rock standout players Travis Sarver and Jono Powell to his coaching staff.

"There's no doubt that (the talent) is there at Slippery Rock," Hathaway said. "Just like it has been there in the past. (Sarver and Powell) are guys who want to give back."

Hathaway plans to bring his triple option attack to the Rockets, something the team has run off and on for several seasons.

Powell became the first quarterback to win the Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy while running an offense similar to the option in 2008.

"(The option) gets so many people involved on offense," Hathaway said. "You never know who is going to get the ball. What I love about it, too, is it is a ball-control offense. If you run it well, you can control the clock."

Hathaway, who also was hired by the school district as a history teacher, plans to get started right away.

He finishes the school year at Coudersport June 6 and will get started in Slippery Rock the next day, he said.

"We're getting things going as soon as possible," Hathaway said.