There no doubting it – there will never be another Joe Salvino

They just don’t make ‘em like Joe Salvino anymore.

The veteran basketball coach announced last week his 41st season as a head coach at Monessen and Belle Vernon Area would be his last.

As someone who not only worked with Salvino for most of his career starting at the beginning and has known him personally for over 50 years, I’m surprised he hung around as long as he did courtside.

Salvino is as old school of a coach as you will find and after 41 years, there just aren’t many old school guys left in the sport.

A coach who started in Monessen’s youth league program and joined the Greyhounds as an assistant on Craig Austin’s staff 42 years ago before taking over the reins of the Greyhounds, Salvino’s role model for coaching was the legendary Bob Knight.

And it showed. Anyone old enough to remember Knight can recall his style of stalking courtside and ruling his teams with an iron fist while wearing his heart and emotions on his sleeve.

Critics be damned! There is little doubt that if Knight were alive today, while his style made him one of college basketball’s best coaches from the 1970s through the end of the century, he could never survive and excel in today’s collegiate environment.

Salvino, over the years, adjusted his style with the times. He was less of a strict disciplinarian and more of a calmer, philosophical mentor in his later years.

Instead of bucking the trends of today’s kids who have so much more going on outside of sports and don’t respond to disciplinarian coaching, Salvino found a way to change with the times and still stack wins.

And even though he may go out a winner as a WPIAL champion for the seventh time in his career, winning gold at BVA would not have the same effect as it did when he was at Monessen, earning six WPIAL and two PIAA titles.

The Joe Salvino fans came to know at Monessen is not the same one who is at BVA.

I remember the feisty coach, the loud, demanding leader, whose firm style was “It’s my way or the highway.”

He was known for his highpitched scream at courtside, often accompanied with the veins in his neck protruding through as he scowled at his players, officials and sometimes opposing coaches.

I recall the disciplinarian who ruled his players with intimidation and severe penalties for not following his rules on the outside, but loved his kids like no other on the inside I remember fans of opposing teams reacting in different ways to his vocal demeanor during games.

I remember the coach who once told his leading scorer to stay home after his ineligibility to play late in the regular season ended because Salvino felt his actions were selfish and not team-oriented. That Greyhound team ended up winning one of his six WPIAL titles.

I remember the coach who once reached in his pocket and pulled out a wad of money, ceremoniously offering it to an official who he felt was giving his team a raw deal on the road. Yeah, he got a technical for that one.

I remember the coach who once walked into the superintendent’s office at Monessen and threw the keys to the dressing room and coaches’ room on his desk because he disagreed with some of Salvino’s coaching philosophies. He won that battle, too.

I remember a coach who, when he won his 400th game, said he didn’t know how many wins he had, but the only result he ever cared about was his 100th loss because he didn’t want to lose 100 games.

I remember the coach who

SALVINO • B2 cried in the dressing room after his Greyhounds suffered a painful three-overtime loss in a championship game in Pittsburgh. The disappointment of watching his team fight so valiantly only to come up short in tormenting fashion was too much for him to bear.

That’s the kind of coach Salvino built his career on, a career that has generated 741 victories and counting.

He’s not that coach today, but he is still great. Still a leader. Still respected.

And while other coaching legends I worked with over a 40-year career as a writer one by one walked away from their sport, Salvino was pretty much the last of the Mohicans, so to speak.

Joe Gladys, Rab Currie, Bap Manzini, Phil Pergola, Jack Scarvel, Gary Dongilli, Major Corley, Don Asmonga, Joe Ravasio, Kevin Mollis and Fran Celaschi – to name a few – pretty much called it a career when they felt the time was right (although Scarvel actually died as coach of the Greyhounds). But Salvino, he kept on going.

He still had the fire burning inside, and I’m sure that fire is still in there.

But changing times and age have a way of throwing some water on that fire and so, for the Dean of area coaches, the 73-year-old Salvino is hanging up his whistle.

I’m glad that my career paralleled his and, more important, I was blessed that he allowed me to be in his small circle of trusted people over the years.

When we look back on Salvino’s career, was he the greatest coach the Mon Valley has ever known? We can debate that, but certainly we can’t debate his success.

The thing I will take away from my working relationship with Salvino is how it reminds me of a song by another legend, Frank Sinatra.

He did it his way and he did that for so many years.

Unfortunately, when you do something long enough, times change and Father Time knocks on the door.

I’m not sure if he has any regrets over his career, but I doubt he does. He really did things his way. It’s just a shame nothing lasts forever.

There is little doubt when the talk of the greatest scholastic coaches to ever wear a whistle in the Mon Valley come up, Salvino will be in that conversation.

Thanks for the ride, Coach. It certainly was a thrill.

Enjoy retirement. But, before you get there, how about grabbing the gold ring one last time?

I can’t think of a better way to bring down the curtain.

Anyone with any thoughts, opposing views or comments on this column can reach Jeff Oliver by emailing justjto@ verizon.net.