Charleroi welcomes in Aeschbacher
CHARLEROI – Ty Aeschbacher played and got his start in coaching at Carmichaels High School before heading west to coach in college at Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Ill., and Adams State University in Alamosa, Colo.
The 2018 Waynesburg University graduate admits the college coaching experience was great to build up his resume and learn more about the game, but he always had aspirations to be a head coach in the area he grew up in.
That dream became a reality when Aeschbacher was hired to be the head coach at Charleroi in February.
“Just growing up and being close to Charleroi, I always had a great respect for them,” Aeschbacher said. “They’ve always had really good teams, and the facilities and administration are second to none. Whenever I saw the job posted, I was really excited to apply.
“It is also nice to be back in the area because I hadn’t seen mom and dad in a while. My sister was a phenomenal volleyball player at Carmichaels and Penn State Fayette, and I never got to see her play in college, which hurt. My brother-in-law is on staff, and he and my sister live right down the street in Monongahela. I get to see them and my friends a lot more now.”
The Cougars were 1-5 in the Century Conference and 2-7 overall last year, so Aeschbacher is aware that work needs to be done.
Charleroi’s conference schedule is a meat grinder with McGuffey, Sto-Rox and Washington, but Aeschbacher doesn’t want to sleep on the other teams in Brentwood, Keystone Oaks and Waynesburg.
“Even before I was hired, I asked to hop on Hudl and see the film because I wanted to get a good pulse of where we were at in terms of athletes,” Aeschbacher said. “We have worked hard all summer and went to four or five 7-on-7s, so we have a pretty good pulse of who we are. We are definitely in a good conference, but I feel we have an idea of where we want to have our guys situated and doing what we do, but it comes down to blocking and tackling.”
Senior Gianni Pellegrini is the last in a long line of Pellegrinis who have been standouts for the Cougars. Aeschbacher said Pellegrini will be involved in all three phases of the game.
Sophomore Jackson Keranko returns at quarterback after taking some lumps as a freshman, but his determination and competitive fire impressed Aeschbacher when he watched the team on film.
“Looking at what he (Keranko) did last year, the first thing I thought was he’s just a tough kid,” Aeschbacher said. “He got smacked time and time again as a freshman, got up and never looked rattled. I’m excited about that, and he has worked really hard.”
Sophomore Drake Lilley will anchor the line, which is rare for his age, but the Cougars are a young team.
“We only have six seniors, so a lot of younger guys are going to get on the field,” Aeschbacher said. “We are excited to see what these young guys bring to the table.”
Conner Lucock (DE/RB), Daniel Hudock (WR/S), Bobby DiPiazza (RB/MLB) and Daniel Nusida (WR/OLB/S) will contribute and have demonstrated qualities to be leaders on the team.
“We want to make sure we are assignment-sound with our defense,” Aeschbacher said. “Of course, there are going to be times when we will bring pressure and when we will drop back. We may not have the size of some of our opponents, but I hope we can overcome that with our speed.”
Soccer standout Arlo McIntyre was ready to handle the kicking duties for Charleroi, but he broke his foot in club soccer and will most likely not come out for football, even when he’s back to full strength.
“He (McIntyre) has a future in soccer, and I think it would be pretty selfish of me to have him come out and kick for us,” Aeschbacher said. “I would feel horrible if something happened to him, but we will look around for a kicker.”
Aeschbacher said he can always go with freshman Braedin Lunger, who is known affectionally as “Speedy,” if he needs a kicker.
“We are talking about a kid who is a jack-of-all-trades and has some records on the track,” Aeschbacher. “We may have to use him at kicker, but he does it all. Any time we can get ‘Speedy’ on the field, we are happy about that.”