May 20, 2025 By Rob Burchianti 6 min read

Joe Hough and his brother Paul Hough helped put in the building blocks for a Brownsville boys basketball team that eventually won a WPIAL championship.

Joe Hough, who was an assistant under Paul, has had several coaching stops since then but was brought back to Brownsville as the Falcons boys basketball head coach at the school district’s board meeting Thursday.

Hough takes over for Rob Ramsey who guided the team for the past three years but stepped down to spend more time with his family. Ramsey led the team to a playoff spot two years ago but the 2024-25 squad was hampered by injuries and suspensions with the Falcons ending up with a 4-17 overall record and 2-8 section mark.

Hough wasn’t actively seeking the position.

“I will honestly say it’s not something that I set out to pursue” Hough admitted. “I was sitting at home several weeks ago and didn’t even know that Rob had resigned. I got a message from Terry Clark who’s the head of the athletic committee and he asked if I’d be interested in applying for the boys basketball job. I told him I’ve got to think about it.

“I took about a week to make sure this is what I want to do, because I kind of understand the program needs a bit of a rebuild from the bottom up. I talked to some people that I trust and came to the conclusion that I would apply for the position.”

The 57-year-old Hough has plenty of experience, starting at his alma mater in Brownsville.

“I was the middle school coach at Brownsville for about six years, then spent one year as the ninth-grade coach,” Hough said. “I spent one year as the varsity assistant at Beth-Center with Tony Molish, then I was with my brother Paul as an assistant under him for three years.”

The Falcons had success under Hough and his brother and two years after they left Pete Logan guided the team to the 2001 WPIAL Class AAA championship.

Hough spent one year as Beth-Center’s head coach and one year as an assistant and ninth-grade coach at Chartiers-Houston.

“Then I went to Avella and spent 11 years there with the first three as an assistant coach and the last eight as the head coach,” said Hough who led the Eagles to a section championship in 2011.

Hough also spent two years as an assistant coach at Brownsville under Mark Marino and then Stewart Davis.

Hough still has close ties at Avella.

“One of the final pieces for me to take the job at Brownsville was (Avella athletic director) Jason Fogg,” Hough said. “We were texting back and forth and he convinced me to take it. I trust a lot of people at Avella and Jason is someone who I really respect.”

The reaction to his hiring has been positive, according to Hough.

“The outpouring of well-wishers has been unbelievable,” he said. “My phone started blowing up Thursday night. The good-luck messages, the congratulations, it’s been overwhelming and I appreciate that. I got a lot of support from Avella people also who know me from when I was there, including a lot of kids who played for me.

“I’m humbled to say the least.”

Hough is familiar with the Brownsville school district.

“One of the things that was brought up in the interview was I do know the community and most of the kids I have some connection to in some way whether it be through a relative or whatever,” Hough said. “I want to meet with the kids Tuesday morning just to try to get a feel of what numbers are coming back and then take it from there. I’d like to get the process going of trying to get more kids involved. I think there are seven kids returning from that group and I think there is some talent there.

“One of the things I know is we’ve got to try to get the kids more excited about playing basketball at the lower levels. That’s one of the major goals over the long haul we have to strive for as a coaching staff. I’ve already been talking to some people about doing some things like running a summer camp for the younger kids and I’m already planning on doing, in the fall and into the winter, clinics for kids.

“It’s getting our youth program to where we’ve got more kids involved, getting their excitement level up and then if we can get a higher quantity of kids coming through that will help build up the program from the bottom up. From quantity you always get quality.”

Hough already has his coaching staff assembled.

“I’m bringing Tony Molish back as being my right-hand man because you’ve always got to have that one coach to lean on and bounce things off,” Hough said. “Tony coached with me and my brother and I coached with him at Beth-Center.

“Cody Castor helped last year and is going to be one of my assistants. He knows the kids and I’m excited to get to know him better and build a good relationship with him. Nicky Seto is going to be our middle school head coach. Nicky, who has coached the middle school girls, and Cody will both be inside the building for me. Those three were the first people I called to see if they were on board with this.

“Nicky played for me when I was under Mark Marino and is someone I really believe has got a bright future in coaching. Cody did a real good job with the kids when he came in I believe in January last year.”

Hough admits he has altered his coaching style slightly over time.

“I’m known as a no-nonsense, hard-nosed, demanding coach but I have mellowed over the years a bit,” Hough said. “You do change some as you go along but you still have your standards that you hold the kids to. I always tell kids and their parents if I am getting on your rear end that is because I know there is something there.”

Hough said he realizes the task at hand.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Hough said. “There’s no magical dust you can spread to make everything better. One thing that is very important to me is getting the kids to understand and know it’s alright to be a Brownsville Falcon, you need to be proud to be a Brownsville Falcon. That’s one of the things I tried to impress on the kids at Avella, is you need to be proud to be an Avella Eagle and our kids there bought into that.

“We do want accountability and discipline. We want you to understand on and off the court you are representing your family, your community and the Brownsville Area School District.”