McKeesport Area High School football coach resigns from position amid controversy, source says
The highly regarded McKeesport High School football program is facing a major shake-up stemming from a controversy behind the head coach.
A source close to the McKeesport Area School District told KDKA that high school football coach Matt Miller has resigned.
This comes after KDKA learned the school directors decided not to rehire his entire assistant coaching staff, following a controversy that's been building for years since Miller got his role in 2016, and escalated with some of the staff's involvement in a murder trial.
Former football player Allen Wright said concern started to pile up about Coach Miller when it came to what was happening on the field.
"Regardless of who goes and speaks to him, you know it's always my way or the highway," Wright said.
While Wright didn't play under Miller, Miller was on staff at the time; nonetheless, Wright remained close with multiple people involved with the team. He said eventually, the problems became bigger off the field than on.
"He did not qualify to be a head coach. It was a few different people that said, 'Hey, we're going to put him in place,'" Wright said.
Wright alleges multiple cases of nepotism, from the way Miller got the job to Miller making his son the starting quarterback.
Then came last week's sentencing of Isaac Smith, the man convicted of killing Karli Short, the daughter of one of the city's best football players, Brandon Short, along with her unborn baby.
Brandon shared these remarks afterwards.
"I love my family, and this tragedy has put them through unimaginable pain," Brandon said.
Brandon said that two men, at least one being a former teammate, testified as character witnesses on behalf of Smith. He also said Smith, and those two men were members of Church of Life in Christ, a congregation headed by Pastor Guy Miller, Coach Miller's father, and a man subject of a 2016 KDKA investigation. The investigation shared testimonies from former members claiming the church acted more like a cult.
"That was the icing on the cake," Wright said.
Wright said those two character witnesses were assistant coaches on the team until school directors on the board spoke out at their meeting Wednesday night, including Matt Holtzman.
"Due to what has transpired and the profound loss of trust that has followed, I'm calling for the resignation of this entire football coaching staff right now," Holtzman said at the meeting.
A source close to the district told KDKA that at that meeting, the directors decided not to rehire the assistant coaches. The source said they were to be voted in, but they were not.
The next morning, on Thursday, the source said, Coach Miller verbally resigned to the athletic director.
Coach Miller confirmed the news regarding his staff to KDKA in a statement, saying in part, "While I am deeply disappointed by these decisions, my main concern, as always, is for the student athletes who will be impacted by these actions. My coaching staff and I have consistently led a successful program with accomplishments that speak for themselves."
KDKA asked Miller about his own job status, but he did not respond.
KDKA also contacted the district superintendents and the solicitor for comments on these developments, but has not heard back at this time.
On Saturday, Superintendent Donald MacFann sent out a letter to families and the community, only saying, "…the Board voted to table the hiring of football coaches due to personnel-related matters. As these matters involve personnel considerations, the District is unable to disclose additional details."
As for Wright, he is ready for some positive change for a city that holds so much pride in its team.
"At this point, you know, McKeesport's ready to move on from that distasteful situation," Wright said.
Holtzman told KDKA he could not share more due to potential litigation.
The source also told KDKA that it's possible some of the assistant coaches, who were not involved in the murder trial, could be rehired at a future meeting.
