By Matt Popchock

(mpopchock@kdka.com)

Springdale head football coach Chuck Wagner has decided to retire after 47 years of coaching in the WPIAL.

The 76-year-old Wagner, whose 270 wins are the fourth-most in District 7 history, also spent three years as an assistant at Bucknell, but the bulk of his career centered on the Allegheny Valley area. He spent time with the football programs at Oakmont, Riverview, and Fox Chapel, in addition to his 19 seasons with the Dynamos.

After meeting with his team this morning to break the news, he told the Post-Gazette’s Mike White, as tough as this decision was, he had all but made it after his season ended with a WPIAL Class A Quarterfinal loss to Clairton. When I spoke with Wagner not long ago, he said he had been considering retirement seriously for much longer.

He told me that, when the team prepared for off-season activities this past spring, he found he didn’t have the same physical energy he normally does for that part of the job. Furthermore, he wanted to leave the job behind while he still enjoyed it.

In the meantime, he wants to channel whatever energy he does have toward his golf game, and spending more time with his many family members in the greater Pittsburgh area.

In addition, Wagner said he will increase his commitment to his business, the Print and Copy Center in Verona, and he will also continue work on his autobiography, which I’m told he’s been writing for about a year and a half to this point.

Wagner, who led the Dynamos to a WPIAL Class A title in 2003 and a WPIAL championship appearance in 2007, said Springdale has not yet contacted him about his successor, though he expects the school to give him input into that process.

(Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/mpopchock)