PUP high school football Coach of the Year: Aliquippa’s Mike Warfield

Mike Warfield is a former Aliquippa quarterback who not that long ago worked as the quarterbacks coach for one of the Quips’ chief rivals.

These days, Warfield quarterbacks one of the premier programs in Pennsylvania, one that just produced one of the grandest seasons in the team’s rich history.

Warfield, a 1987 Aliquippa graduate, guided Aliquippa to its third consecutive WPIAL title and 20th overall this season. No other school has won more than 14. The Quips also claimed a fifth PIAA title, tying them with Thomas Jefferson for most all time among WPIAL teams. And for the first time ever, the Quips captured a state title with a perfect record, this after punctuating a 14-0 season with a 60-14 romp against Dallas in the PIAA Class 4A championship.

And when you consider Aliquippa has a Class 1A enrollment and plays three classes up, the impressiveness of what the Quips have accomplished reaches a whole new level.

In six seasons, Warfield, who was an assistant coach at Central Valley before taking the Aliquippa job, has a staggering record of 74-6 (.925 winning percentage). Warfield has guided the Quips to four WPIAL titles and three PIAA titles.

Warfield is our Coach of the Year for the 2023 season, as voted on by the Pittsburgh Union Progress sports staff. We caught up with him to discuss the special season:

Q: The season started in Canton for Darrelle Revis’s Hall of Fame enshrinement and ended with winning a state title. Was this really the year of the Quips?

A: Thinking about back in August, Darrelle sending for the whole team to be there. The kids getting to see him being enshrined. That’s an experience that the kids will always remember. And for him to be a Quip, that was special. And then with the new stadium (Heinz Field), that first game was so eventful and so memorable. And then to finish it off with a WPIAL and then a state, it has been a really good year for the Quips.

Q: There have been a lot of great Aliquippa teams, but this is the only one that won a state title with an unbeaten record. What does that mean to you?

A: I think it means more to the kids because this was something they wanted to accomplish. It was a challenge for them. And, you know Aliquippa kids, when you challenge them, they’re going to try to step up to the plate and make it happen. This is something that they’ve wanted and I’m happy and so proud of them to go out and work every day to reach that goal.

Q: Being the first to do it, was that something that was discussed before or during the season?

A: No, not at all. Even last year, it wasn’t. I know we haven’t lost, but I don’t know how many wins we have because I’m so concerned with moving onto the next game and getting prepared for the next game. It’s something that I don’t think about. We don’t discuss it as a coaching staff, either. The only time I really discussed it was after [the PIAA semifinal win against Selinsgrove] because we were in the same predicament as we were last year, undefeated going into the last game. We said, ‘We’re going to accept it this time. We’re not going to run from it. We’re not going to be superstitious about it. We’re going to work and get it.’

Q: You guys went unbeaten but there’s always adversity. What was the biggest piece of it that you guys hit this season?

A: I think the Central Valley game when we were down three starters on the offensive line. We played Central Valley with basically three freshmen starting on the offensive line, so that was a trying time. And then we didn’t have Brandon Banks that game, so Central Valley was really the game that I figured if we ever got our pieces back together all at once, we can make a good run.

Q: Tikey Hayes is now the all-time leading rusher at Aliquippa. Where is he on the list of best Aliquippa players ever?

A: It’s hard to do. I don’t want to take away from anyone else because, as you know, we’ve had a lot of special backs to come through here. I know we’re considered “DBU,” or at least that’s what the defensive coaches want to say. But we’ve been “RBU” for a while, as well. You’re talking about Pudgy [Abercrombie] and Chico [Williams] and Dravon [Henry] and Terry [Swanson] and Kaezon [Pugh]. And we can go on and on. He’s up there. Of course, being the all-time leading rushing in just three years, that’s saying something. In 4A, that’s saying something. I have to give him his credit, as well, but I don’t want to compare him.

Q: You lost a couple of standout veteran linemen from the 2022 team. Who was the leader of the group in 2023 and how good were those lines overall?

A: I think the leader of the group was the coach, Shelton Colbert. What he did with this line this year is pretty special. He started with these guys back in April and May getting them together. We had kids coming and going. We weren’t sure who actually was going to be here. There were a lot of question marks. For him to put together a line that he did. For us to do it in this type of style, which was different. We weren’t as bulky as in the past. Just to do it, collectively working together, it was special to see. We were a lot faster up front. Maybe not as big, but a lot faster. And them just working together collectively as an offensive line was special to see.

Q: You won five playoff games, and the first one was the closest one (a 37-29 win against Latrobe). What did you learn about your team in that game?

A: I think that was probably one of the best teams we played all year. That’s something you can see on tape and that was something I was concerned about. We got ahead, we started off real fast. Their coach is a great coach and didn’t let them quit. And they fought their way back in it. I think it did give us a sense that we could play at a high level because we knew how good they were no matter what their ranking was. For us to compete at that level, we had a sense that we could be pretty good going down the final stretch and it showed.

Q: What will you remember most about this senior class?

A: What they accomplished. When you have a senior class that’s won three WPIALs, won two state championships, went undefeated. [Quentin] “Cheese” [Goode] is the G.O.A.T [Greatest Of All Time]. I can say that because I was a quarterback and I’m able to give my opinion about that. Cheese is the G.O.A.T. as far as quarterbacks at Aliquippa. To go 41-2, win three WPIALs and two states, all-time leader passer in both yardage and touchdowns, he’s the G.O.A.T. And I’m not afraid to say that.

Q: One of those seniors, Brandon Banks, will continue his career at Yale. For an Aliquippa kid to go to the Ivy League school, how meaningful is that?

A: It’s wonderful. He was on the visit and he called. He said how much he liked it and this was something he wanted to do. I was elated because this is a life-changer. It also gives an example of what you can do if you keep your head down and do the right thing on the field and in the classroom. For him to go to Yale, an Ivy League school, for our young kids to see what’s possible is just priceless. That’s just another icing on the cake relative to our kids doing the right thing. The narrative has always been just about football, but you can see the narrative is changing. There’s more to us than just winning games and winning championships.

Q: How did Mike Warfield celebrate winning a PIAA title?

A: Actually, I was sick. I started feeling sick the day before the game, Wednesday. And I didn’t have time to be sick on Thursday. But Friday and Saturday, I was in bed. But, Brad, I’m going to make up for it!