A ‘drastic’ decision to leave the WPIAL turned around Butler football’s prospects. There’s still work to be done
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Crouching from left: Butler’s Stone Spack, Beau Burchett, Mark Klemz and Lucas Martin; and jumping from left: Tyson Pino and Nicco Baggetta on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2024 at Butler High School's Art Bernardi Stadium. The Golden Tornado went 4-6 last season and will again play an independent schedule in 2025. Rob MGraw/Butler Eagle
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Crouching from left: Butler’s Stone Spack, Beau Burchett, Mark Klemz and Lucas Martin; and jumping from left: Tyson Pino and Nicco Baggetta on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2024 at Butler High School's Art Bernardi Stadium. The Golden Tornado went 4-6 last season and will again play an independent schedule in 2025. Rob MGraw/Butler Eagle
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From left, Butler’s Lucas Martin, Mark Klemz, Stone Spack, Beau Burchett, Nicco Baggetta and Tyson Pino on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2024 at Butler High School's Art Bernardi Stadium. The Golden Tornado went 4-6 last season and will again play an independent schedule in 2025. Rob MGraw/Butler Eagle
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From left, Butler’s Lucas Martin, Mark Klemz, Stone Spack, Beau Burchett, Nicco Baggetta and Tyson Pino on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2024 at Butler High School's Art Bernardi Stadium. The Golden Tornado went 4-6 last season and will again play an independent schedule in 2025. Rob MGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Beau Burchett gets ready for the 2025 football season at Butler High School on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2024. Rob MGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Tyson Pino gets ready for the 2025 football season at Butler High School on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2024. Rob MGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Lucas Martin gets ready for the 2025 football season at Butler High School on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2024. Rob MGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Mark Klemz gets ready for the 2025 football season at Butler High School on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2024. Rob MGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Stone Spack gets ready for the 2025 football season at Butler High School on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2024. Rob MGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Nicco Baggetta gets ready for the 2025 football season at Butler High School on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2024. Rob MGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Tyson Pino works on footwork during football practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler head coach Eric Christy instructs players of a drill during football practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Nicco Baggetta runs through an agility drill during football practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Chase Boden runs through a tackling drill during football practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Mark Klemz participates in agility drills during football practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Kevin Shriver runs with the ball during football practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Beau Burchett (47) talks to teammates during football practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Stone Spack tackles a teammate during football practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Nicco Baggetta hands the ball off to Mark Klemz during football practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler assistant coach Chip McGuire talks offensive schemes during a team meeting ahead of football practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler head coach Eric Christy talks to his football team at the end of practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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The Butler Golden Tornado officially started the 2025 season with their first mandatory practice held on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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The Butler Golden Tornado held their first mandatory practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Butler High School. Jared Todhunter/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams, right, talks with the Butler football team during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day podcast on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams, right, talks with the Butler football team during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day podcast on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Beau Burchett, left, and Stone Spack answer a question from Butler Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day podcast on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Beau Burchett, left, and Stone Spack answer a question from Butler Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day podcast on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Beau Burchett answers a question from Butler Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day podcast on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Stone Spack laughs during an interview with Butler Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day podcast on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Stone Spack answers a question from Butler Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day podcast on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Stone Spack answers a question from Butler Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day podcast on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams, right, talks with the Butler’s Tyson Pino during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day podcast on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams, right , talks with the Butler’s Tyson Pino during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day podcast on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Stone Spack during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Tyson Pino during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Beau Burchett during the Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
If not for a risk taken in 2020, Butler’s football program might not be playing its 120th season this fall.
The Golden Tornado’s outlook was bleak following an 0-10 campaign the year before, their second winless effort in as many tries. Participation numbers were nosediving.
Rather than allow it to wither away, Butler athletic director Bill Mylan, head coach Eric Christy and the school district split the once-prominent program off the WPIAL path, a move that, after half a decade, has taken it off life support.
“It gets to a point with a program like ours where you just can’t stick your head in the sand anymore or beat your head off the wall,” Mylan said. “(You can’t) continue to do the same thing without trying to help your program. … We had to do something drastic.”
The program’s revival isn’t evidenced by district title trophies. Or boatloads of victories. However, the move it made to compete in District 10 from 2020-23 and, for this year and last, independently has paid off.
A once-sparse roster has filled in. Mylan believes the program — which went 4-6 last year and is 18-32 the last five years, including its first .500 season (2021) since 2003 — has become more competitive “to a certain extent. Sometimes the record doesn’t reflect that,” he said. Unlike lopsided WPIAL defeats, District 10 and independent losses haven’t been blowouts.
The improvement could serve as a blueprint. It could soon even shake up league structures. Behind the scenes, Mylan said there’s a plan that could help other down-on-their-luck programs.
“There’s one school in particular that’s struggled at the 5 and 6A level, they’ve come up with an idea of forming an independent conference in 5 and 6A football where you could opt to play in the championship game on the championship side, which means you qualify for the state tournament,” Mylan said. “Or your team could opt in just to play a WPIAL championship and play a mix of 5 and 6A schools (with no opportunity for state playoffs).”
The plan, Mylan said, has been sent to the WPIAL.
Mylan said Butler is the largest school district to choose to play an independent slate. Albert Gallatin, Brownsville, Connellsville and Uniontown are other would-be WPIAL-area programs to compete independently this upcoming season.
“Just look at the records at the end of the season, and what you’ll see is the same teams that are on the top are always on the top and the same teams on the bottom are always on the bottom,” Christy said. “You’ll see a lot of teams that are in the same boat as us from 1A all the way up to 6A. Some of those teams ... want to do something.
“There’s others who, I think, are scared maybe to step out and go against the norm because they think it may hurt them.”
Added Mylan: “We, obviously, are not the only one. I really feel there’s a good chance that there’s going to be something created by the WPIAL to help struggling football programs. … This blueprint, I think, will open some eyes.”
The 0-7 Golden Tornado visited eventual WPIAL Class 6A champion Central Catholic in October 2019. Christy remembered Butler’s seniors were reluctant to take the field and wanted to vote on whether they should.
“We were like, ‘I don’t think so. We’re definitely playing. There’s a game out there,’” Christy said.
In a 55-6 loss, the quarters were shortened to 10 minutes and a running clock was used after halftime even though the Vikings’ 34-6 lead didn’t warrant one yet by PIAA rules. Most alarmingly, Butler fielded 25 players, a paltry number for a Class 6A program.
“At that point, you’re worried about having a program in the next year or two with those kind of (roster) numbers and the number of injuries,” Mylan said. “It’s hard to imagine a school our size being in that situation, but unfortunately that’s where we were.”
Added Christy: “That was the point where we thought it was probably going to dissolve as a program.”
The biggest drawback of the independent circuit is an inability to reach the postseason; however, Butler had reached the WPIAL playoffs just once this century before joining District 10.
“Even when it was an option, it wasn’t an option, because we weren’t able to get there,” Christy said. “To me, that was irrelevant.”
Since splitting from the WPIAL, Butler has played competitive games more often.
“It’s good football,” Christy said. “If you’ve came and watched the games, we’ve had some really good games, really some competitive games. It’s fun to watch again.
“It’s not walking up, watching a 64-7 game.”
There came a point in the half decade before the relocation in which a bulk of the results on the schedule were essentially predetermined.
“The trend seemed to be the season would be (approaching) and people would say, ‘Hey, I think we might get one or two (wins) this year. We’ve circled those dates,’” Christy said. “It’s really hard to get kids to come out for that, to get people excited for when you’re saying, ‘Maybe we’ll get one or two wins with the schedule we’re in.’”
Those wins certainly weren’t going to be over WPIAL powers Central Catholic, North Allegheny and Pine-Richland. From 2015-19, Butler went 0-15 against those three programs, losing by an average of 42 points to the Vikings, 37.2 to the Tigers and 45.6 to the Rams.
The Golden Tornado conceded at least 40 points to an opponent 28 times, 50 points on 11 occasions and 60 four.
Even so, the eternal optimist Christy put in hours of work trying to find something — anything — Butler could use as an upper hand against bigger and more athletic. He’d install pre-snap shifts and motions to try to throw defenses off and gadget plays to attempt to outsmart them.
“There was a former coach (on staff) who came to me at one point, and he said, ‘Are you gonna be able to score 64 points this week?’” Christy said. “And I was like, ‘Nope. ... I think I might be able to put up 21 or 28 this week if I do this and that and we get this to go.’ He was like, ‘We’re probably going to give up 64, so what are you really doing? What are you training for?’”
Butler contended for a WPIAL championship at least once for five consecutive decades, winning one outright in 1950. But the Golden Tornado last played for one in 1990, bowing to North Allegheny at Three Rivers Stadium. Between those, they were runners-up in 1963, 1965, 1976 and 1982. They shared a district crown with Penn Hills in 1977.
The high school gridiron landscape doesn’t look the same as it did during those days.
Mylan referenced an increase in athletics classifications as part of the difference. Butler has played in Class 6A since the PIAA expanded football from four to six classifications in 2016.
Because of that, Mylan said juxtaposing Butler coaching great Art Bernardi’s era to Christy’s is “comparing apples and oranges.”
“When you look at the 120-year history of football, we’ve obviously struggled in the last 10-15 years, but, certainly, when you look across the board, we’re a program that’s been successful and definitely (has) a tradition of being good,” Mylan said. “Our goal has been, since we have gotten out of the WPIAL, is to restore our program, get the numbers back up and restore some passion and enthusiasm back in the program.
“So that we can eventually reach the goal of having a winning season and going to the playoffs.”
Mylan and Christy have a clear idea of what standing they’d like the program to be in before a return to the WPIAL. To Christy, that means winning eight or nine games a season or be competitive in every game as an independent.
“Because, if you’re going to go play 6A, which is the top, the best of the best around, in an independent schedule, we should be winning the majority of our games,” Christy said.
“Are we getting to there? We’re starting to.”
