Montecalvo retiring as C-M’s AD
For 30 years, Guy Montecalvo patrolled the sidelines of football fields across Western Pennsylvania. Montecalvo, who is known for his signature clean-cut beard and baseball cap, resurrected the program at his alma mater, Washington High School, and won a PIAA Class AA championship in 2001 and two WPIAL titles.
After leaving Wash High in 2002, Montecalvo went on to turn Canon-McMillan football into a contender while orchestrating some of the biggest upsets the Big Macs accomplished in decades.
Since his retirement from coaching in 2010, Montecalvo has been a fixture at every sporting event from swimming to volleyball as C-M’s athletic director. In every facet of his career, Montecalvo, 58, has a track record of molding boys and girls into men and women, building teams into champions and athletic programs into some of the best in the WPIAL.
After 36 years in public education, the 2014-15 school year will be Montecalvo’s first as a spectator. He officially submitted his retirement papers and will step down effective Aug. 30 as athletic director, but will remain at the school in a volunteer capacity to help ease the transition.
It is a decision he has wrestled with for more than a year. With Canon-McMillan’s athletic success in recent years, leaving the post was not an easy decision.
Montecalvo’s constant presence at every sporting event has led to very few nights at home with his wife, Marie. He also became a grandfather 10 months ago and his daughter, Laura, was named the girls basketball coach at Chartiers-Houston in April.
All were factors in his decision to retire.
“I had to kind of weigh the financial benefits of retirement with my love of the affiliation with our coaches, our kids and my colleagues,” Montecalvo said. “Life is short and I wanted to be able to enjoy some of the things I enjoy doing in my free time. I do it with reservations because I’m going to certainly miss a lot of aspects of the job and the relationships I’ve built.”
Spending time with his wife is at the top of the list. The two met when Montecalvo was a football player at Penn State under Joe Paterno and married 34 years ago while he was a graduate assistant coach in Happy Valley.
Once Wash High’s all-time leading rusher, Montecalvo went on to play for the Nittany Lions but sustained several injuries that cut short his playing career. Known as one of the best athletes ever from Washington, Montecalvo was hired in 1980 to take over the Prexies’ football program.
His coaching career ended 30 years later with two state championship game appearances and a reputation as one of the best coaching minds in the state. His 225 career wins rank second behind Fort Cherry’s Jim Garry (265) for the most in Washington County history.
Montecalvo also guided the Wash High boys track team to WPIAL team titles in 1998 and 2000, as well as a PIAA championship with the girls team in 1996.
Wash High boys basketball coach Ron Faust was a senior at the school in 1969 when he met Montecalvo, who was an eighth grader. The two bonded and years later became the top coaching tandem in the WPIAL.
“Kids can pick up things quickly and they learned work ethic from him,” Faust said. “No one is going to outwork him. The kids know the head man is going to work as hard as he can and pull his share, so they are going to have to follow suit.”
Montecalvo credits his staff, which included secretary Debbie Kretz and middle school athletic directors Doug McKenry and Vince Faith, for his success at Canon-McMillan, which began in 2003 when he was named athletic director.
Since 2008, the school has won nine WPIAL team titles and seven state titles in various sports. Montecalvo traveled each time a team reached the state championships in Hershey and would not leave a sporting event until the coaches and athletes were lauded for their effort.
“I try to go to everything. I really believe that you have to give equal treatment, time and support to everyone if you want your programs to be successful,” Montecalvo said. “You have to let your coaches and those athletes know that you appreciate and value what they are doing.”
Former wrestling coach Chris Mary, who spent work under Montecalvo for 10 years, stressed the value of his time with Montecalvo.
“He’s a class act and a true supporter of all athletic programs at Canon-Mac,” Mary said. “As a head coach, I was very fortunate to work under such great leadership. We had his full support and he was always there to give guidance. He would bend over backwards for us.”
Montecalvo will spend the coming months enjoying his other passions in life. Trout fishing, golfing and going to Pirates games are the most notable.
While his time as an athletic director has come to a close, he is not ruling out a return to coaching. He has been working with the Big Macs’ football coaching staff for months and values the time he spends helping athletes reach new heights.
“I would leave the door open to something like that,” Montecalvo said. “I actually had a couple of job opportunities in the spring with football, but I had to turn them down because of obligations. It would have to be the right situation. I can’t imagine sitting around all year and just watching soap operas or game shows on television.”