Dakosty’s legacy
Friday, December 9, 2016
Former Marian players talk about coach’s impact
By SAM MATTA tnsports@tnonline.com

EXCERPT:

The last of the old guard has announced he will not be returning as the head football coach at his beloved Marian High School.

Stan Dakosty stood at the podium at the Hometown school Thursday afternoon announcing his retirement as head football coach, a position he has held since the fall of 1977. His record speaks volumes about the success he enjoyed — 310 wins, 152 losses, seven District 11 championships, four Eastern Conference titles, and one PIAA Class A State Championship.

A native of Shenandoah, Dakosty played for the Blue Devils as a two-way end, as a freshman for Frank Ulicny, later under Charles Ratomski and finally under Geno Poli, a mentor who touched him in so many ways and inspired him to seek a career in coaching after he graduated from Lycoming College.

“Geno had a huge impact on my getting into coaching,” Dakosty said many times in interviews during his illustrious career. “He meant so much to me. He touched me with family first, God and football. I could never repay what he has done for me. Only my parents and my own family have impacted my life more.”

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HOMETOWN – The last of the old guard has announced he will not be returning as the head football coach at his beloved Marian High School.

Stan Dakosty stood at the podium at the Hometown school Thursday afternoon announcing his retirement as head football coach, a position he has held since the fall of 1977. His record speaks volumes about the success he enjoyed — 310 wins, 152 losses, seven District 11 championships, four Eastern Conference titles, and one PIAA Class A State Championship.

Dakosty knew it was time to go as this past season moved forward and after a season-ending loss to Williams Valley in the District 11 Class A championship game back on November 11th — a game during which the Colts let a comfortable double-digit lead slip away in the final minutes — he was at a loss for words, something he has never had trouble with during the past 40 seasons.

Truly a man of legendary status, Dakosty always preached “coal region” football. Even during his final press conference Thursday afternoon, he was still preaching and talking Coal Region football.

He is revered in tone with the greats of the past from the region ... Berwick’s George Curry, Mount Carmel’s Joe “Jazz” Diminick, Pottsville’s Bill Flynn, Schuylkill Haven’s John Davis and Shikellamy’s Dick Purnell.

A native of Shenandoah, Dakosty played for the Blue Devils as a two-way end, as a freshman for Frank Ulicny, later under Charles Ratomski and finally under Geno Poli, a mentor who touched him in so many ways and inspired him to seek a career in coaching after he graduated from Lycoming College.

“Geno had a huge impact on my getting into coaching,” Dakosty said many times in interviews during his illustrious career. “He meant so much to me. He touched me with family first, God and football. I could never repay what he has done for me. Only my parents and my own family have impacted my life more.”

There were suitors for Dakosty several times during his incredible tenure at Marian, and he nearly latched on to a position at Wyoming Valley West High School, a tradition-rich school in the Wilkes-Barre area. But he and his wife Mary decided it was best to stay at Marian. There were also tons of rumors that Stan would head back to his roots and coach the Blue Devils, or that he would be the successor to Flynn at Pottsville, but when it came down to decision time, Dakosty always stayed loyal to Marian.

Dakosty was very emotional on Thursday during his final meeting with the press. He came very close to breaking down a number of times as he talked with an awed feeling of the past, the present and what is to come in the future. Several times he had to pull back from the microphones and tape recorders that were placed on the podium to capture his final words as part of the Marian football program.

Dakosty had hoped that his family would have stayed home. Instead, they came as they always did. His son Stan Jr. stopped in while on the recruiting trail for Colgate where he is an assistant coach.

“There is a lot of emotion,” said the son of the coach. “I was driving around a lot (recruiting) and thinking about it. It’s very hard to put in words.

“I was with a high school coach this morning and when I told him about my dad stepping down, he said ‘I was very proud to know your dad’.”

Surely things have rubbed off on Stan’s son, who idolizes his father.

“Obviously from a consistency standpoint, and being at one place for all these years, he has had an impact,” said Stan Jr. “The character, the backbone and what he has stood for ... he never wavered from that. That makes it very special.”

Dakosty has produced hordes of outstanding student-athletes during his four decades at Marian, including the great Sean Love who went on to play for the late Joe Paterno at Penn State and in the National Football League, where he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys.

“Stan is a real standup up guy, let me tell you,” Love said about his former mentor. “A law-and-order type of guy. He didn’t want too much messing around and anything going against the program. He was pretty straight-laced.

“Coach Stan was just a great guy. Great family guy, who battled for 40 years. He really cared about his players. I still remember how he drove me up to Syracuse and out to Penn State when I was getting recruited.”

Love added that he has all the respect in the world for his former coach.

“You know in high school football you don’t make a lot of money in coaching, but coach Stan was all about the kids,” Love said. “Actually, I’m coaching here in Florida at Plant High School and we’re playing for a state championship Friday (today). I owe a lot of my success to coach Stan and what he taught me.”

Love is married to the former Renee Kern, a one-time standout Mahanoy Area basketball player who earned a scholarship to Boston University. The couple have two sons Bryce and Ty. Bryce is a 6-2, 220-pound junior defensive end at Plant High School and Ty is an eighth grade student. Love is the offensive line coach for the team, which plays in the 6A division in Florida, which has seven classes.

Quarterback Erick Hackenberg, who was great in his own right during his playing days at Marian, also offered his thoughts about Dakosty. Hackenberg went on to sign with Virginia and former head coach George Welsh after graduating.

“Let me say this, Stan preached family, he preached values and ethics, it was more than just football,” said Hackenberg, who now resides in Charlottesville, Va. and is married to the former Nikki Miller, the former volleyball coach at Marian. Erick, who coached under Dakosty for eight years before leaving the area, has three sons. His most notable, former Penn State and current New York Jets quarterback Christian Hackenberg.

“It is hard to put into words what someone like coach Dakosty means to the guys that played for him,” added Hackenberg. “You look at successful coaches, and in this day and age they are gauged by wins and losses, you don’t know if it’s the right way to do it.

“But the one thing that holds true with coach Dakosty and holds true with all the great ones on every level is that you look at what they have accomplished and go wow. The by-product how they built their program, and how they developed men is really special.”

Hackenberg also talked about how Dakosty helped those who played for him beyond the high school days.

“You look and see how he molds lives. He had a huge impact on me as a player. How to be tough, a leader, respect the jersey you put on, respect your opponents, fear no one, respect everyone,” Hackenberg said. “Those types of things impact your life … it has for me. He taught me how to be a good father, and a good family man and to cherish the good things in life. His football legacy will be that he built a great program.

“But the impact he had on his players is profound and goes far beyond that. It is far broader than just wins and losses. It is more life stuff. There are very few like him. You can’t find many guys like coach Dakosty anymore.”

Bruce Svetz, a 1983 Marian graduate, spoke at Thursday’s press conference and said he was fortunate to play for his former mentor.

“On behalf of the Marian board of directors, I would like to thank Stan and Mary for the sacrifices they made, and the thousands of football players coach has impacted.”

Svetz said Dakosty was more than just a coach.

“He was a great teacher who impacted the students around the school,” Svetz said. “He was there to listen, and as a leader he leads by example and walks the walk. Most importantly, Stan always cared and made academics a priority.”

For the younger Dakosty, it was more than just playing for his father.

“When he told me on Sunday it was final, it really wasn’t about playing for him, but being around him,” said Stan Jr. “All the practices, being on the sidelines, all the players I watched growing up ... That has been in my head since Sunday.

“I was so blessed to have him and the community I grew up in. I knew I was going to be around football the rest of my life. I’m as lucky as anyone to have him as a resource, Very rarely do we talk about the Xs and Os. He’s a blue collar guy. A coal region guy.”

Indeed Stan Dakosty is, was and will always be about Coal Region football.

His legacy will forever be a part of football in Coal Country and beyond.

Source: http://www.tnonline.com/2016/dec/09/dakosty’s-legacy