For the first time in their programs history, fans of Robert Morris Colonials football can look across the sidelines and not see Joe Walton.
However while Walton, the only head coach in Robert Morris history, has retired, the program is in very good hands with John Banaszak as its new head coach. While Banaszak certainly has some big shoes to fill, he is certainly up for the challenge.
“It’s a true honor,” said Banaszak. “I’m very proud to be the second coach in Robert Morris history and I’m proud to follow in the footsteps of a man like Joe Walton who built this program from scratch. We have the best facilities in the Northeast Conference and what we want to do is continue the building process and take this program to a more consistent level.
Banaszak is no stranger to the sidelines and the Robert Morris program.
He won three Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1975-81 and had a very successful stint as the head coach of Washington and Jefferson College, where his teams went a combined 38-9 (1999-2002). In each of his four seasons at W&J, Banaszak was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and ranks third on the college’s all-time victory list.
Banaszak has been with the Colonials now since 2003 as an assistant coach and was introduced as the Coach-In-Waiting in January 2012, which allowed for a simple transition following the 2013 season.
“I’m excited to be a head coach again at the collegiate level,” said Banaszak. “There aren’t many of these jobs out there. The transition has been smooth, primarily because it has been a two year process. I’m fortunate to be able to have an opportunity to do it here at Robert Morris. I am very excited about it.”
Without ever seeing the Colonials practice or play a game, you know what type of team you are going to see with Banaszak at the helm.
That’s going to be a very physical football team that plays an old school brand of football.
“We’re still going to be a very good defensive football team,” added Banaszak. “I’m old school. I believe that you win by moving the chains, running the ball and playing great defense and solid special teams. I think that is certainly going to be visible by the way we play. We are going to be very physical and very fast.”
One thing that Banaszak could have going against him in a very tough NEC is that the Colonials are very young at most of the skilled positions, which includes redshirt freshman Luke Brumbaugh, who was named the Colonials’ starting quarterback for the opener Thursday night against Eastern Kentucky.
But one thing that should help ease the younger players along is a very experienced offensive line.
“We’re young,” said Banaszak. “But our young guys are very talented and they have picked up exactly what we have wanted them to so far and they are ready to play. But while we are young at some positions, our strength is our offensive line. We return four starters and they are a veteran group. We have some skilled kids that we think can be very productive behind them.”
When it comes to the defense, it is a similar situation.
The Colonials will be a bit inexperienced in the secondary, but their front seven has the potential to be dominant with guys like Forest Mason, Montour graduate Ryan Lewis, Zack Zamiska, Max Onyenwe and Steven Fiadewornu all having experience and great camps so far.
How the Colonials will fare this season will depend on how the veterans lead and how quickly the young players catch up to adjusting to playing college football.
Robert Morris was picked to finish third in the preseason NEC coaches’ poll and has the opportunity to be even better than that.
That all depends on one thing.
“For me it is to see gradual improvement in each of our first four weeks,” said Banaszak. “We have a very tough first four games, opening with Eastern Kentucky and then go to North Dakota, starting with a couple of perennial Top 25 FCS schools. If we get better each week and show we can play well against those teams and keep building confidence that we can play with anybody, I like the way the bottom half of our schedule shapes up. We are going to learn an awful lot about our football team the first four weeks.”
Photo Credit: Robert Morris University
