By John D'Abruzzo
New Castle News
Neshannock High School has a new football coach.
Acting upon the recommendation of Superintendent Dr. Mary Todora, the Neshannock Township School Board approved the hiring of Pat Cuba Thursday night (March 8, 2007).
Pat is the son of Chuck Cuba, a member of the 1953 class and a former star at New Castle High who went on to play at Virginia Tech. Pat's grandfather was Paul Cuba who was a standout player at Pitt.
A Neshannock Township resident and elementary arts teacher in the Laurel School District, Pat Cuba replaces Rob Nogay.
Cuba, a 1976 New Castle graduate who starred on the football field for the Red Hurricane before doing the same at Westminster College, spent the past two years away from coaching after serving as an assistant coach with the Titans for 14 years.
A defensive backs coach at Westminster, Cuba also served as a linebackers coach for four seasons at Slippery Rock University. His first collegiate stint came running the defensive scout team and working with the linebackers as a graduate assistant under Bruce Arians at Temple University for two seasons. Arians recently signed on to serve as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator next season under new coach Mike Tomlin.
“I learned a lot about the passing offense during (Westminster’s) time in the GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference),” said Cuba, who was a part of three NAIA national championship teams, playing on Westminster’s 1976 and 1977 teams and coaching in 1994. “All they want to do up there is pass the ball, so I learned a lot about trying to stop the pass, as well.”
The Lancers went 1-9 last season.
“I know some of the kids because of my kids,” said Cuba, who is the father of four: Lauren (15), Courtney (14), Paul (10) and Kiley (7). Niece Ashley Kay also lives with Cuba and his wife Kim.
“I hate to say it because it’s a cliché used too often in sports, but we’re going to take this one day at a time. You take a challenge and want to do the best you can, but more than anything I want to make sure it’s fun for the kids and it’s fun for me.”
