Peters Welcomes New Coach, Pittsburgh Welcomes New Team

On Feb. 22, the voted 8-1 to hire Richard Piccinini as Indians’ varsity football head coach.

Two and a half weeks later, on March 11, the Pittsburgh Power hit the field for the first time with a 52-58 loss against the Philadelphia Soul.

Both events received mixed reviews. Criticisms were voiced over Piccinini’s background while the Power’s loss was taunted as a prediction that arena football would once again fail in Pittsburgh.

Yet, despite these rocky starts, neither Peters’ Piccinini nor Pittsburgh’s Power allowed such negative publicity to thwart their forward progress.

Coach Piccinini settled in at his office in the athletics department, where he is currently hard at work on next year’s playbook, which will feature new offensive and defensive plays. And, the Power went on to win its next two match-ups, with a 58-28 win against the Iowa Barnstormers and a 49-47 win against the Milwaukee Mustangs. The Power’s 22-45 loss against the Tulsa Talons on Saturday puts it at 2-2 for the season thus far.

As Coach Piccinini prepares our Indians for next fall and the Power plays out the rest of its first season, football enthusiasts should keep one thing in mind — “It’s all about chasing dreams.”

Those aren’t my words. They’re Coach Piccinini’s — that was his response when asked his opinion on arena football. While this quote demonstrates his respect for arena athletes dedicated to the pursuit of their sport, it also sums up one of his main goals as a high school football coach.

He sees it as his duty not only to pursue titles and accolades, but also to enhance the futures of his student-athletes. Whether his players want to further their football careers by playing college ball, or use football as a way to achieve their college educations, he is there to help them reach their goals both on and off the field.

Similarly, whether an arena player is looking for a stepping stone into the NFL or simply playing the game he loves in the only forum available to him, arena football can help undrafted post-grad athletes realize their dreams.

One athlete in particular chased his dreams all the way from the arena to three Super Bowls. I’m talking, of course, about QB Kurt Warner, who played arena ball with the Iowa Barnstormers for three seasons before he led the 1998-99 Rams to victory over the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV, and later took the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.

Though I’ve never had the pleasure of talking with Warner, I’m sure he’d have something to say to those cynics who argue that arena football isn’t really football since it’s so different from NFL play.

Comparing arena football to NFL football is as fundamentally flawed as comparing apples to oranges. You can’t compare them because they’re not the same thing — and, to expect them to be is to take an unnecessarily narrow view on football that ignores the myriad of factors that distinguish arena play, such as the smaller field and the fact that there’s no punting on fourth down.

Tunnel vision seems to be the trend. Many detractors of Piccinini’s appointment have focused their dissent on the three years he spent as head coach at North Catholic, where he compiled a 7-23 record, while overlooking the many other successes he has enjoyed throughout his career.

Following his graduation from Duquesne University, where he was a four-year starting DE, Piccinini amassed 20 years of high school coaching experience, including posts at Keystone Oaks, Sto-Rox, Seneca Valley and, most recently, Upper St. Clair.

For those concerned exclusively with numbers and stats, here’s something to crunch. Considering Piccinini’s unyielding devotion to his student-athletes and the length of his coaching career, I challenge you to calculate the number of lives he has positively affected and the sum of dreams he has helped our sons, brothers and friends achieve.

Give Peters’ new coach and Pittsburgh’s new arena football team a chance before dismissing either because of past disappointments. Yes, Coach Piccinini has had his share of bad seasons — what coach hasn’t? And, sure, arena football previously left Pittsburgh almost as quickly as it came; but it has since proved very successful in other markets and, in my opinion, being part of the audience is a lot of fun.

We should build our teams up rather than tear them down. Anticipating a team’s failure leaves little room for its players’ success.