Connellsville fails to rehire Renzi as baseball coach
He’s clearly been the most successful high school coach in the area in the last 13 years. And now he’s out of a job.
Bob Renzi said he was not rehired as baseball head coach at the Connellsville Area High School board meeting on Wednesday night.
Renzi did not attend the meeting, but said Connellsville athletic director James Lembo notified him – as is standard procedure – that he failed to get the necessary votes to maintain his post with the Falcons. Instead, former Southmoreland baseball coach Brian Shipley was hired to take over the program.
The official vote was 5-4 to hire Shipley.
Renzi guided the Falcons into the WPIAL playoffs in all 13 of his seasons, winning section titles 10 times. This spring Connellsville went 10-9-1 during the regular season and won the Section 2-AAA crown. The Falcons lost in the first round of the playoffs to a Bethel Park team that went on to play in the state championship game.
Renzi doesn’t believe his ousting had much to do with the baseball diamond, however.
“This had nothing to do with baseball,” Renzi said on Wednesday night. “This was a personal matter. It’s disappointing the way everything turned out … all the political ramifications.
“Anyone from Connellsville can tell you why this job was opened. It’s a strictly personal thing. I had a lot of support from the principal and athletic director. It’s just sad that they’re taking a coach who’s not in the school building, too. You separate the sport from the education. They’re losing a good coaching staff, as well.”
Renzi said his assistant coaches – his son, Bobby Renzi, and Ray Orndorff – decided they would not return if Renzi wasn’t rehired.
“They’ll have a whole new staff for next season,” said Renzi, who opted not to discuss the situation at length with his players. “They asked me a lot of questions, but I haven’t really said anything to them. I wanted to keep them out of it.
“There’s no doubt that what’s better for the kids or what’s better for the school had no part in this decision. This was only for what’s better for some particular school board members.”
Renzi pointed out that what happened to him is a possibility for any coach due to Connellsville’s desire to extend only one-year contracts for the most part. The only coach at Connellsville with more than a one-year deal is football coach Andy Robertson, who was hired for three years.
“They can open up any job, any year,” Renzi said. “They have that power, with one-year contracts, and they do it on a regular basis.”
Renzi’s claim is backed up by recent history. Connellsville has had four different coaches in the last 10 years in girls basketball, boys basketball and softball.
Renzi is the third highly successful, long-time coach to either retire or be replaced in recent years.
Tom E. Dolde retired as wrestling coach after guiding the Falcons to a pair of WPIAL titles in 35 years at the helm and was replaced by his son, Tom D. Dolde last season.
Dan Spanish was the Falcons’ football coach for 29 years and led Connellsville to the 1991 WPIAL championship before being ousted by the school board in a situation somewhat similar to Renzi’s after the 2002 season.
But while Spanish’s teams had slipped, record-wise, in recent years, Renzi’s forced departure was even more surprising since he was in the midst of a long run of section crowns and playoff appearances.
Renzi said he’ll survive, though.
“Like I tell the kids, this is extra-curricular,” Renzi said. “It’s not life or death.”