Playoffs would delay Wilson’s debut as Frazier hoop coach
PERRYOPOLIS – Larry Wilson might be called a glutton for punishment. Ordinarily, when a man coaches one high school sport, or a sport at any level for that matter, he can expect to catch a lot of thunder from those on the sidelines for whatever reasons come to their minds.
Wilson is in his third year as head football coach at Frazier High and is coming off a season that produced a 4-6 record and a trip to the WPIAL Class A playoffs. Right now, he is grooming his Commodores to pick up where they left off last year, and take that bigger step to a higher level of the playoffs.
But in the meantime, he has added another dimension to his own coaching.
Wilson was recently named head basketball coach of the Commodores, and will make his debut in November. But for the moment, he will be happy to take a slight detour in his first appearance as basketball coach, hopefully not until after the football playoffs end.
So why would a coach want to catch double thunder, going from one schedule directly into another?
Wilson pondered the question for a second or two, then said, “Well, I think it will be a big opportunity for both me as a coach and for my players. I’m around the kids from both teams so much as it is, and as a double head coach I can work with them constantly on conditioning and other aspects needed in both sports.”
Wilson has “played basketball most of my life, and I felt this was a good opportunity for the players and me both.”
And what if the Commodores should advance to the football playoffs?
Wilson said matter-of-factly, “That’s no worry. I have good basketball assistants, and they can take charge of the program until I get there.”
Looking ahead, he said, “Our prospects have been playing a lot of summer basketball, and they look ready to go right now. We are going to have a lot of underclass players to work with.”
Hopefully his basketball work won’t begin until late November – after the WPIAL playoff finals.
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There is a familiar face back on the football sidelines this year, and in this case you might say that the cleat is on the other foot.
Back in 1993, when Woody Salisbury coached Frazier to the section championship, one of the players helping win that title was Wilson. Now Wilson is the football boss and Salisbury is one of his assistants.
Salisbury is still the winningest football coach in the school’s history, directing the Commodores to a 135-70-1 record in his 19-year tenure.
After finishing at Frazier, Salisbury went on to be an assistant to Gary Dongilli at Belle Vernon for four years, and then moved over to Hempfield with Dongilli for two more years. Now he returns to Frazier as quarterbacks coach, succeeding his son, Chad, on the staff.
When he joined the Frazier lineup, Salisbury didn’t need any introductions to the other coaches. They all had played for him at one time or another – his son, Brian; Wilson, now the head coach; and Craig Kordich, line coach.
As to what it’s like coaching for one of his ex-players, Salisbury said, “Well, back then I told him what to do and hoped he did it. Now he tells me what to do and I had better do it.”
But then he added more seriously, “I think we can have some fun here this year. This is a good staff to coach with and we have some good boys to work with. I’m looking forward to the season ahead.”
And hoping it extends into late November …