Fail, alma mater

Jeremy Sellew

There’s no hiding the fact that I’m proud of where I come from. Just ask my colleague Jose.
When the Frazier softball team won the PIAA championship last year, I can neither confirm or deny that I may have committed the cardinal sin of cheering in the press area.
Oh well.
But now, I’m in disbelief about what has happened in Commodore Country.
On Monday, the Frazier School Board opened the position of athletic director Zach Keefer, who has done nothing but work his butt off to promote Frazier sports and athletes. You know why? Some of the members are mad because Keefer wants to follow his passion and continue coaching football.
Let’s turn back the clock.
When Mike Steeber resigned as the head football coach, the school board hired Greg Boggs to fill the position. One of the candidates, and the preferred candidate by many I’m told, was former Frazier quarterback and Thomas Jefferson assistant Tony Battaglini. Keefer, who was the athletic director, did not even have a recommendation on the hiring. One would think the person who would be the coach’s immediate supervisor would at least have some input on the hire. Not at Frazier.
Keefer was Steeber’s defensive coordinator and since his job was open, the assistant positions are opened as well, standard practice. Keefer was not asked to return to the new Frazier coaching staff in any capacity, so as someone with a passion for coaching, he took a job as an assistant on Ed Woods’ staff at nearby California. And he did so with the blessing of Frazier superintendent Dr. Bill Henderson and high school principal Jason Pappas.
Covering two games at my alma mater this year, I can say the events went off without a hitch. No matter what their feelings are about the situation with Keefer, Pappas and Henderson, too, are ultimately at the mercy of the school board.
Keefer did things the right way. He discussed the issue with his administrators first. I know for a fact that Keefer could have coached for at least one of the Commodores’ conference opponents, but he didn’t want to do anything that could be misconstrued as being spiteful, petty or childish. And he didn’t want to do that to the student athletes he cared so much about. So he chose California out of multiple coaching opportunities.
Keefer and his entire family are staples at every other Frazier sporting event. He missed five events, the five home games on Friday nights when he was coaching at California. Even when he was coaching at Cal, he was still there for every home volleyball game. He’s still the head boys basketball coach for the Commodores. He loves Frazier and he bleeds red and white.
The school board’s dismay for Keefer and rumors of his AD job being opened continued to swirl after he accepted the job at California. But fierce resistance from the Frazier community followed and he was rehired to continue serving as the AD by a 6-1 vote. The lone “no” vote was cast by board president Tom Shetterly.
Well, those board members who were upset because of Keefer’s coaching finally got the last laugh.
In January, they drafted a new “Athletic Director Job Description” which was approved by a 7-2 vote. Now the former job description was drafted in 1992, so did it need an update? Absolutely. But the document thrown together is more of a full-time athletic director job description.
But this new one, literally, came with what I am now calling the Keefer bullet.
The second bullet point on the entire document reads, “The Athletic Director shall not be permitted to assume any coaching or athletic director duties and responsibilities for any other school district.” Wow, you couldn’t try to mask your personal feelings a little better than that?
That “bullet” is the one that struck down Keefer as athletic director because looking down the entire four-page document, that’s the only bullet (duty) Keefer would be unable to fulfill. Every single duty, all 60-plus of them on the new description, Keefer excelled at. Maybe there’s one other one he didn’t fulfill, but that’s because the school board wants all the power in the district — under the “Major Responsibilities/Duties” section of the description, Section E, Bullet 1, “Assist in selection and placement of coaching staff.” Maybe this school board will let the next athletic director play a role in hiring of coaches.
The former job description for the part-time job, which I’d imagine pays between $5,000-$7,000, had 17 duties.
I will commend two board members, Rick Adams and Vicki Olexa. They saw all along what was happening. Thank you for voting “No” on this new job description. They saw it for what it was, a personal hit job on Keefer by other board members. “The Keefer bullet” says it all.
I reached out to Keefer when I heard the job was opened. Obviously he’s hurting a little bit, and who could blame him? But I knew better than to expect him to give those who’ve wronged him a good verbal lashing. He’s still as gracious as ever.
“I’m certainly disappointed how this all played out,” he said. “I gave everything I had to the district and unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough. With that said I have no ill will toward anyone or this place, and I will still be rooting on every athlete that puts on a Frazier uniform.
“To a lot of them, I’ll still be their teacher, coach, mentor and friend, this doesn’t change that. I appreciate the opportunity I was given to do this job three years ago and I feel its in a better place now. I believe everything happens for a reason, and who knows what type of opportunities are on the horizon.”
Keefer deserved better. He deserved to remain the athletic director. As a Frazier alumnus, I’m disgusted at the actions of the school board. He may not have been a Frazier graduate, but Keefer and his entire family cemented themselves as a part of the Frazier community. Fixtures at Frazier events, kids clad in red and white, the Keefers adopted all Frazier athletes as their own.
Keefer worked tirelessly in promoting his athletic program and his athletes. He supported them wherever they were playing. How many of those board members can say that?
In the end, you know who suffers the most? It’s the student-athletes at Frazier.
Like all other students in the district, they should matter the most to the school board. But this was personal and Keefer is the one who lost.

Jeremy Sellew is the sports editor of the Mon Valley Independent.