Proud to be a Maple: Mapletown grad, longtime coach Messich helped Pitt win 1976 title (copy)
Mapletown graduate George Messich (right) poses with former Pitt teammate Tony Dorsett in September at the Johnny Majors Classic when a bust of Majors was unveiled. Messich was a starting offensive tackle who blocked for Dorsett during the 1976 season when the Panthers won the national championship and Dorsett won the Heisman Trophy. (Submitted photo)
Mapletown coach George Messich roams the sidelines during the Maplesâ 43-12 victory over Jefferson-Morgan at Parker Field on Oct. 15, 2021. Messich just completed his 40th season as head coach of the Maples, guiding them to their first ever playoff win and an 11-1 record which included a program-best 10-0 regular season. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Mapletown graduate George Messich poses with some fellow members of Pittâs 1976 offensive line at a reunion six years ago. Pictured are (from left) Joe Stone, Messich, Tom Brzoza, John Pelusi, Matt Carroll and John Hanhauser. (Submitted photo)
George Messich is a football lifer as a player and a coach.
âI agree 100 percent, that is an accurate description,â Messich stated.
Messich began his journey in athletics at an early age.
âI started to play football when I was 12-years old,â Messich recalled. âThey had Little League back then so I began in seventh grade. I also played baseball when I was younger. Around here there was a Little League because basically the coal mines kind of sponsored everything. We started to play baseball when we were five years old.â
Messich was a three-year starter at Mapletown playing for head coach Fred Answine. The Maples were 4-5 in 1970, 4-5 in 1971 and 3-5-1 in Messichâs senior season in football in 1972. He was All-County and All-Conference in football. He played offensive tackle and defensive tackle and defensive end. As a senior he switched to tight end on offense.
âItâs ironic I never played on a winning football team until I played in college at Pitt,â Messich offered. âWe were always a game or two under .500 when I was in high school.â
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Messich played three years of varsity basketball for Mapletown. The Maples were 5-15 in 1970-71 under Answine. Fran Bigley took over as coach in 1971-72 and the Maples finished 11-12 and 5-1 in Class C Section 22. They captured the WPIAL Class C championship because Section 22 was the only Class C section in the WPIAL. The Maples went 10-11 in 1972-73.
âWe went to the PIAA tournament in 71-72,â Messich said. âWe won our first game, beating Sparta 75-68, and we lost our second game to Karns City 63-55.â
On the hardwood Messich tallied 26 points in limited action as a sophomore. He notched 184 points as a junior and 262 points as a senior.
Messich played one year of varsity baseball his junior year.
When Messich graduated from Mapletown in 1973 he was was recruited for football.
âI signed a full scholarship at Youngstown State,â Messich explained. âWe had a wall phone in our kitchen and we got a call in July. My mother hung up the phone real upset and said you donât have a scholarship. It turns out that they had two transcripts for me and on one I was like an honor role student and on the other my grades werenât very good. We called the high school and he pulled the transcript and he changed the grades on it. You could get away with that back then and he called and said he found a junior college and I could go there and see what happens.
âThat was Potomac State and it was a great experience. I played there for two years and I was fortunate and was named All-Conference and All-Region and was named first-team Junior College All-American and was team captain as a sophomore.â
After Potomac State, Messich ended up at Pitt, where he was a two-year letterman and was a starting offensive tackle as a senior on the Panthersâ 1976 NCAA championship team.
âI had scholarship offers from all over the country,â Messich said. âI had my heart set on playing at West Virginia. I grew up only 20 minutes from there. Well, the only school that contacted me without offering me a full ride was West Virginia. I remember telling my dad I want to go to a school that plays WVU.
âI saw where Pitt played WVU and I kept getting calls from Pitt saying they wanted me to play there and were offering me a full scholarship. I didnât know much about Pitt but I did know they had West Virginia on their schedule and that influenced my decision.â
Pitt was in the middle of a football resurgence under head coach Johnny Majors.
âI was the only junior college transfer there in January,â Messich offered. âI walk into the weight room the first day with about 100 players who were already on the team. I thought about transferring and called my dad. He told me wait until you put pads on for the spring and see what happens.
âI waited until then and called him after the first day of spring ball and told him, âTwo things ⌠Iâm confident I can play here, and we have this super-human player.â He asked me who he was and I said âTony Dorsett.â He said he never heard of him. I told him, âDonât worry, you will.'â
Messich had help adjusting to life at Pitt.
âIt was tough. I didnât know one person,â Messich said. âFormer Laurel Highlands standout George Link realized I didnât know anybody and George took me under his wing and we got to be very, very good friends. My junior year I lettered, I didnât start any games. I was on the punt team and got to play a little bit of offense. My senior year I ended up starting 11 of 12 games.â
Messich eventually fit in with the Panthers and had a solid career. He was named the Panthersâ offensive lineman of the week three times in 1976. Messich takes great pride in having played with Dorsett.
âIt was unbelievable blocking for Dorsett,â Messich said. âYou didnât have to block real long. I remember one thing, I went down field to block a safety and I went in front of Tony and he tripped over me after about a 15-yard pickup and I looked at him and said, âTony my fault.â He said, âYouâre down field blocking for me itâs never your fault.â He was a first class person.â
Messich thoroughly enjoyed the Panthersâ national championship season with Dorsett winning the Heisman Trophy.
âWhat a run we had in 1976,â Messich gushed. âI was blessed with the way things fell in place. It was crazy the way things worked out for me. I just felt it was meant to be.â
Messich needed an extra year at Pitt.
âWe had so many seniors that needed an extra year of college to get our degree and Pitt paid for everything that fifth year even though we were out of eligibility,â Messich said. âSo I got my elementary degree and I got a job at Southeastern Greene at the elementary school when I was 22 years old.â
Messichâs first stint as the Maples head football coach began in 1978 and ended in 1981. After two seasons as an assistant coach at Waynesburg Central he took two years off, then was hired as an assistant coach back at Mapletown in 1986.
Messich was hired as head coach of the Maples again the next year in 1987 and has remained at that position ever since. He just completed his 40th year as head coach and 43rd year in coaching overall.
As head coach at Mapletown, one of the smallest schools in the WPIAL, he has compiled a record of 148-237-2 with three Tri-County South Conference titles, including this past seasonâs 11-1 record which saw the Maples win the schoolâs first WPIAL playoff game and record the second undefeated regular season in school history. Messich was recently named Tri-County South Coach of the Year for the fourth time.
Messich is the winningest and longest tenured football coach in Greene County history. He was inducted into the Washington-Greene County Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
Messich taught in the Southeastern Greene School District for 31 years before retiring from teaching.
Now 67 years old, Messich resides in Greensboro with his wife of 14 years Linda, who has been the athletic director at Mapletown for 27 years. They both have two sons from previous marriages.
Looking back Messich savors his long run at Mapletown.
âI never felt like I had a real job,â Messich stated. âI taught fifth graders and coached football and got paid for it and itâs the best job anybody in America could ever have.â
George Von Benkoâs âMemory Laneâ column appears in the Sunday editions of the TikTokłÉČË°ć. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.