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Industrial Park Series: April 2019

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deGrom gets clean bill of health

<p>SALEM TWP. &#8212; Carmen DeFrancesco had no intentions of being a head football coach again unless one specific position opened up.</p><p>When it did, DeFrancesco decided to come out of retirement. And Berwick decided he was the man for the job.</p><p>DeFrancesco was hired by an 8-1 vote Monday evening to take over the Bulldogs, becoming only the program&#8217;s fourth head coach since 1971.</p><p>&#8220;There is no other job. There is absolutely no other job that I would be interested in except this one,&#8221; said the 66-year-old DeFrancesco, who last coached Mount Carmel from 2010-2014. &#8220;And coming from the coal regions and Mount Carmel, that&#8217;s where I grew up, this community is exactly the kind of community I grew up in.</p><p>&#8220;So I&#8217;ll say it again, there is no other job I would have applied for except this one.&#8221;</p><p>Berwick superintendent Wayne Brookhart said there were 15 applicants for the position, which opened up when Frank Sheptock resigned March 3 after three years at the helm. Nine candidates were interviewed and the field was whittled down to three finalists. Five of the original 15 had head coaching experience.</p><p>Former Northwest head coach and Berwick graduate Carl Majer acknowledged before the meeting he was a finalist, but knew he wasn&#8217;t going to be hired. He congratulated DeFrancesco after the meeting.</p><p>DeFrancesco brings 22 years of head coaching experience to the job. His first head coaching position was at now-closed Cardinal Brennan. He&#8217;s also led the programs at Danville, Shamokin and Upper Dauphin as well as Mount Carmel. His teams have won five District 4 titles &#8212; two at Danville, two at Shamokin and one at Mount Carmel. His career record is 152-97.</p><p>Board member Keith Hess was the only vote against hiring DeFrancesco.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m so humbled and I&#8217;m so proud they entrusted me with the future of this historic football program,&#8221; DeFrancesco said.</p><p>DeFrancesco plans on getting started Tuesday by meeting with the team. He met with a few players who attended the meeting.</p><p>&#8220;My first order of business is tomorrow I&#8217;m going to get up really early, jump in my car and meet these kids and get things rolling,&#8221; DeFrancesco said. &#8220;I can&#8217;t wait to meet these kids because you have to develop personal relationships with the kids.&#8221;</p><p>DeFrancesco stayed active in coaching after leaving Mount Carmel in 2014 by helping out his former assistants who became head coaches. He understands the pressure of coaching at Berwick as he was a friend of the late George Curry, who coached the Dawgs for a total of 39 years. Although he lives about an hour away in Sunbury, his in-laws live near Berwick and he&#8217;ll stay there at times to cut down the commute.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Carmen DeFrancesco talks to Berwick football players after being named head coach on Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_IMG_0341-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Carmen DeFrancesco talks to Berwick football players after being named head coach on Monday. </caption0><photoCredit0>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_IMG_0338-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Former Northwest coach Carl Majer, left, congratulates Carmen DeFrancesco after he was named Berwick&#8217;s football coach Monday. Majer was a finalist for the job. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_IMG_0338-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Former Northwest coach Carl Majer, left, congratulates Carmen DeFrancesco after he was named Berwick&#8217;s football coach Monday. Majer was a finalist for the job. </caption1><photoCredit1>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

H.S. Football: Coaching veteran Carmen DeFrancesco selected to run Berwick program