Several coaches with SOL ties were inducted into the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame recently. (Photos provided courtesy of Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame.)
Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame
Inducts 16th Class
NORRISTOWN, Pa. – Four coaches, with stellar records in varied sports, make up the latest class of inductees into the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame. They were the centerpiece of the 16th annual induction banquet on Tuesday, November 21 at Normandy Farm in Blue Bell.
The newest class of inductees includes Jim Donofrio, who has won more than 400 games and a state championship as basketball coach at Plymouth Whitemarsh High; Will Lapp, who amassed an overall game record of 1146-304 and won a state championship as volleyball coach at Souderton High; Gwynedd Mercy Academy’s Tom Lonergan, who has coached a number of girls’ basketball programs and compiled a 662-252 record during 33 years; and Cathy Miller, who put together a 485-211 record as softball coach and a 107-21 record as girls’ tennis coach at Methacton High.
The new class of inductees brought a long list of accomplishments to this year’s banquet.
Jim Donofrio
The basketball tradition at Plymouth Whitemarsh High has received national recognition over the years. When Jim Donofrio moved up from assistant coach to take over the reins of the program in 1998, he was walking in the footsteps of two Hall of Fame coaches – Hank Stofko and Al Angelos.
That could have been an intimidating situation for a young coach. Not for Donofrio. He built on the legacy of PW’s vaunted basketball program.
In 19 seasons he has won 13 league titles, a District title and, in 2010, his team grabbed the third state championship in PW history.
Donofrio’s carer record as a head coach is now 406-133 … and continually getting better.
Will Lapp
As an accomplished athlete, Will Lapp is deserving of Hall of Fame recognition in both volleyball and fast-pitch softball. He was that good in both sports.
But as a volleyball coach, he has eclipsed his personal triumphs. At Souderton High he built a dynasty, winning 13 Suburban One titles in 16 years. That included eight undefeated Suburban One seasons.
His teams held a 299-38 record overall in match play. Their overall game record was 1146-304. From 1991 to 1994 the Souderton teams rolled through a dual match win streak of 65 games.
The highlight of his volleyball coaching career came in 1998 when Souderton won the state championship. He was inducted into the Pennsylvania Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2002 and the North Penn/Souderton Hall of Fame in 2006.
He is the founder/director of the Souderton Community Education Volleyball Program and he now supervises a 140-team summer league.
Tom Lonergan
To say that coaching girls’ basketball has been a life passion for Tom Lonergan is an understatement. He has coached the sport at Bishop McDevitt High, Central Bucks East High and Gwynedd Mercy Academy. Everywhere he went, he turned the program into a winner.
During his McDevitt tenure, he was named Catholic League Coach of the Year six times. In 2000 he was named Coach of the Decade by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
At CB East his teams recorded nine straight 20-win seasons and eight consecutive PIAA State Playoff appearances. He is the winningest coach, boys or girls, at both McDevitt and CB East.
In 2013 he took over a program at Gwynedd Mercy Academy that had 11 straight losing seasons. He turned it around by recording more wins in four years than the previous 11 seasons combined. Gwynedd Mercy Academy now has three straight 20-win seasons and a 2016 Academies League Championship.
Cathy Miller
Cathy Miller is the epitome of a career coach. It is safe to say that her entire life revolves around coaching.
She has been the Methacton High softball coach for 36 seasons, compiling a 485-211 record. Her teams have won 16 Suburban One championships, a PAC-10 championship and a District I championship. Her name is synonymous with girls’ softball in the region.
Proving her drive to coach, the softball job was not enough for her.
In 2009 she also took over the girls’ tennis program at Methacton. She has put together a 107-21 record, while winning six PAC-10 championships and one District I championship. In 2013 her tennis team finished runner-up in the state.
Football Coach Mike Pettine Jr.
To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
The Pettine name has been synonymous with the sport of football throughout the region for years. The late Mike Pettine was a star player at Conshohocken High and Villanova University, then made a national name as a football coach at Central Bucks West High School and was in the second class of inductees in the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame.
Now his son, Mike Pettine Jr. stood in the spotlight when he received the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 16th annual induction banquet.
Pettine Jr. played football for his father at CB West, earning all-state honors as a quarterback and defensive back. He then played free safety for the University of Virginia.
After graduating from college, he embarked on his own very distinguished coaching career.
After serving as a graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh, he became an assistant to his father at CB West. He followed with head coaching jobs at North Penn High School and William Tennent High School. After a short, but successful high school coaching career, he took a position as a scout in 2001 for the Baltimore Ravens and began a career in the National Football League. He was promoted to linebacker coach in 2005.
Under head coach Rex Ryan, Pettine became the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets in 2009 and was credited with contributing strongly to the team’s ranking as the No. 1 defense in the NFL that year. He then went to the Buffalo Bills as defensive coordinator for one year in 2013.
In 2014 he was hired as head coach of the Cleveland Browns and spent two seasons in that position.
Though Pettine’s term of service as a coach in Montgomery County was not long enough to qualify him for induction into the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame (reserved for those born in the county or who coached 10 years in the county), Pettine’s contributions to the local football scene made him a candidate for the Lifetime Achievement Award.
In addition to the celebration of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Pettine Jr. on the night of the banquet, there was also a special tribute made to his father, who died on February 24 of this year.
“There was unanimous support for both of these motions at our Selection Committee meeting,” said Dale Hood, president of the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame. “The amount of respect for both the father and son throughout the community is amazing.”
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