Altoona Football

[Edsel12thman]

I live in Northeast Pa.( Berwick) and I grew up in Altoona. I still love the Mt.Lions. Coach Palfey is a friend and I want him to restore the roar for Mt. Lion football. Why does a school with good numbers (young men) struggle like Altoona does? I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

[kmr]

B/c Craig Sponsky should of got the job. Another record like this year, 77-0 loss, and State College continue success he's not going to be there long.

[Eaglealum]

going to the wpial sure won't help much either

[WPIAL~Titan]

Altoona may not do so badly in the WPIAL AAAA Foothills Conference...Connellsville, Hempfield, and Norwin are all terrible AAAA teams, and that is by far the weakest WPIAL AAAA section. Now, if they put Toona in the Northern 5, it will be much tougher...

True, Toona has numbers, but the issue this year was Palfey wasn't even hired until July, so he had zero time to implement anything, let alone start building the program with his philosophies...I also understand that there needs to be some "housecleaning" done in terms of addresing issues with some of the varsity players, parents, and even staff.

Hopefully, Toona will make a commitment, support the guy, and give him 5 years. That will be enough time to fairly assess if he can do the job, or if he is in over his head.

[qbcoach13]

I think everyone who lives in Altoona like I do wants to see Altoona return to some glory. The problem is that, as the old saying goes, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh@t". I had the opportunity to coach with Palfey the past few years and he is a great coach who really knows the game. The problem with Altoona is they don't have the talent in the school to compete at this point. Football is won in the trenches and you cannot compete in AAAA with 165 pound lineman. He is getting the kids to finally come back out for football, but they just don't have the size and athleticism around town anymore to compete at a high level. The Harrisburg game also was the kids quitting. The coaches were furious from what I hear because the kids just absolutely gave up. A good thing that came from that was Palfey told the kids that he didn't care if they lost by a hundred, the starters were finishing the game. Was sending a message to the younger kids you are going to stay in and fight no matter what.

[WPIAL~Titan]

Agreed, part of Toona's issue is lack of talent, and another big part is lack of motivation on the part of some players. Couple that with some parental, community, and administratiove interference, along with a coach who, although he is a nice guy, #1 was hired late, and #2 has ZERO head coaching experinece at any level, much less at the largest AAAA school in that part of the state, and it's a recipe for problems, such as 53-0, 55-14, and 77-6 losses.

The thing that I still cannot fathom is that the 3 finalists for that job were a pair of class A head coaches (SMith from JV and Sponsky from BC) and Palfey. Seriously now, are you kidding me? That's the best Altoona could do in terms of the quality of candidates that surfaced to the top at the best AAAA head football job in that part of the state? ??

Then, on top of that, they hire the finalist with no head coaching experience because the kids and community like him and who, according to the paper, does a great job organizing pep rallies, student buses to sporting events, and promoting school spirit (yes, the Mirror said this). Nothing against Palfey, but I am wondering if he hasn't been set up for failure from the beginning...

With that said, I hope he succeeds. I hope that the administration, parents, community, and kids will be patient and give him 5 years so that a fair assessment can be made. He seems like the type of guy who would see that as fair, and step down at that point if it's not working and results aren't being produced on and off the field.

[boxer156]

Altoona may not do so badly in the WPIAL AAAA Foothills Conference...Connellsville, Hempfield, and Norwin are all terrible AAAA teams, and that is by far the weakest WPIAL AAAA section. Now, if they put Toona in the Northern 5, it will be much tougher...

True, Toona has numbers, but the issue this year was Palfey wasn't even hired until July, so he had zero time to implement anything, let alone start building the program with his philosophies...I also understand that there needs to be some "housecleaning" done in terms of addresing issues with some of the varsity players, parents, and even staff.

Hopefully, Toona will make a commitment, support the guy, and give him 5 years. That will be enough time to fairly assess if he can do the job, or if he is in over his head.

I haven't been back home in awhile, but has Hempfield fallen THAT much? They used to always be a powerhouse. Also, Norwin had some nice seasons a couple years ago---have they went back in the cellar again? I'll agree on Connellsville--they never were a good football team, but were always a tough wrestling program.

[deepcreek]

Connellsville, late 80's early 90's, good football. Won WPIAL in 92 I think. Wheels have completely fallen off, Norwin is a decent program, Hempfield can;t get kids to come out, and Latrobe is too small of a AAAA school to be taken seriously. Pen-Trafford has had its moments, but none lately

[Edsel12thman]

Thanks for the feedback. I hope they are patient with Coach Palfey. The program has hit bottom and recipe`s for improvement are needed. Weightroom and conditioning are priority one . Football teams are constructed from Jan-August. Teams get bigger, faster, better and stronger. Allow nobody you play to out work you. All coaches on staff must share in weightroom duties. Give tee shirts for attendance and achievement. Teams that lift and condition develop a true sense of team. Players motivate each other and team leaders step up. Players need to hold team mates accountable for attendance and effort. Everybody has off season conditioning- Lions must do it better. Boosters must provide rewards. Team can picnic together and go to cinema or a zillion other venues to build unity. Palf needs to visit jr. high school and sell his program. He needs to sell his program in the high school. Get the kids out for the team. Mansion Park is a special place. A program with a rich history. Baby steps are big steps. I will always bleed Maroon and White.

[WPIAL~Titan]

The WPIAL AAAA Foothills Conference is embarassingly bad, the WPIAL's red headed stepchild of AAAA football. Sure, the section produces an occasional Marcus Furman (Connellsville, Pitt), Mike Shanahan (Norwin, Pitt), or Cecil Howard (Mport, Cuse before failing out), but it's western PA AAAA football at its worst. Norwin, Hempfield, Penn Trafford, and Latrobe are as bad as it gets. That should be 4 automatic wins for Altoona if they return to their glory days. Don't be surprised to see Altoona be competitive right away if they're assigned to that section.