GREENVILLE— Thiel College's head football coaching vacancy didn't last long.

A few hours — maybe.

As soon as eight-year head coach Jack Leipheimer decided to accept the athletic director position at Thiel, offensive coordinator Kurt Reiser was named to replace him.

"Kurt was the immediate choice,"Leipheimer said. "That was a no-brainer."

Reiser, a 1989 Knoch graduate, was recruited as a player by Leipheimer when the latter was an assistant coach at Allegheny College.

Reiser became a Division IIIAll-American tight end with the Gators and was voted team MVP his senior year. As a sophomore, Reiser caught the winning touchdown pass in overtime of the 1990 NCAADivision IIInational championship game.

"That is one of the best memories of my life,"Reiser said. "I've been fortunate."

And Leipheimer and Reiser have been forever bonded.

"We always stayed in touch," Leipheimer said. "Kurt is a quality individual with high character. I've always known that about him.

"I always told him if I ever became a head coach, I'd be calling him to come join my staff."

After graduating from Allegheny, Reiser headed to Chicago and worked for an environmental company for a year. He decided to pursue a career in teaching and coaching and earned his master's degree at DePaul University.

Shortly afterward, he accepted a job at Leyden High School in Illinois and was an assistant on the football staff there for six years.

When Leipheimer was named head coach at Thiel in 2001, he kept his word.

"Kurt took a pay cut to uproot his family and move to Greenville,"Leipheimer said. "I've never forgotten that."

Reiser admitted his goal was to coach college football.

"I was going to have to take the risk and the pay cut at some point,"he said. "Based on my relationship with Jack and the fact it was a chance to get back closer to home, I took the job."

Reiser was the Tomcats' offensive coordinator from 2001-2006, helping the team post a 7-3 record and its first winning season in 13 years in 2004. The following year, Thiel finished 11-1, reaching the Division IIIplayoffs for the first time ever and winning a playoff game.

Reiser was the only one of Leipheimer's assistant coaches to be on his staff all eight years. He served as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach the past two years.

"Before I left this football program, I wanted to make sure it was in good hands and I wanted to take care of my loyal assistants,"Leipheimer said. "I feel like I've done both."

"It's a win-win situation for me,"Reiser said. "I know how much Jack will support the football program as athletic director and he's still going to be around for me to bounce ideas off."

Since its playoff season, Thiel has posted records of 5-5, 3-7 and 2-8 the past three years.

"We experienced some staff turnover that hurt us in recruiting and we've had a lot of injuries the past couple of years,"Reiser said. "Our immediate goal is to bring in a great recruiting class.

"We want quality young men who will graduate from Thiel in four years, If we get that, everything else will fall into place."

Thiel returns eight starters on offense and seven on defense, "but we don't have a lot of depth behind that,"Reisder admitted.

One of eight children, Reiser is the uncle of Knoch graduates Nicole and Kyle Reiser. Nicole is a senior and standout basketball player at Pitt-Greensburg while Kyle was a standout receiver for Knoch's WPIAL Class AAAsemifinalist football team in 2007.

One of Reiser's brothers, Nick, followed him to Allegheny and played football there.

"I recruited Nick, too,"Leipheimer recalled. "It's a great athletic family. Kurt's earned this opportunity."