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I am pleased to share with you that Pete Riordan will be recommended for Board approval to the position of Penn Head Football Coach.

 Coach Riordan has been an assistant coach on the Kingsmen Football staff for 20 years (most recently serving as Defensive Coordinator). He relocated to Indianapolis from 2007-2009 while his wife was in residency as a physician. During this time Coach Riordan served as assistant coach at Ben Davis for three seasons (2007-2009), the last two seasons as defensive coordinator.

 He will be Penn’s seventh head coach of the Kingsmen Football Team.

 Coach Riordan teaches Economics, Advanced Placement Economics and ACP Business at Penn. And as you may remember, he was recently named a teacher Impact Award winner for helping his students increase their test scores on their AP exams by as much as 20%. 

 The announcement happened earlier this morning when Coach Riordan worked with Athletic Director Jeff Hart, Strength & Conditioning Coach Matt Cates, and retiring Head Coach Cory Yeoman to surprise his players with the news. It was important for Coach Riordan to talk to the team first before making a public announcement. A public news conference is taking place at 2:00 this afternoon.

 In addition to coaching Football at Penn, Coach Riordan was a Junior Varsity Baseball Coach at Penn (2001-2003). Penn won the State Championship in Baseball in 2001. He served as the Boys Freshman Basketball Head Coach (2001), the season that the Kingsmen finished as State Runner-up. He was a volunteer assistant Football coach at Northridge for the 2000 season.

 Coach Riordan owns a state championship legacy. He played on the 1995 South Bend St. Joseph State Championship Football Team and was a three-year starter. Coach Riordan also played one year of Football at Wabash College. He earned a B.A. from Wabash and earned an MBA in Finance from Indiana University South Bend.

 Coach Riordan credited his high school coach, Frank Amato, for teaching the love and respect for the game of Football. He also credited former Penn Defensive Coordinator Don Monhaut for teaching the details and preparation of game-planning, and former Penn Head Coach Cory Yeoman for his unbelievable passion for the game.

 The P-H-M Board of School Trustees will officially approve Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker’s recommendation of Coach Riordan to this position at its meeting on Monday, March 25, 2024.

 Coach Riordan and his wife, Nicole (Penn Class of 1999) have two daughters who attend P-H-M schools.

 Please join me in congratulating Pete Riordan on his new position as the Kingsmen Football team’s new Head Coach!

Pete is a good man, and a good coach, I don't know if he is the correct pick for this program to bring them back to 6A relevancy. Time will tell. 

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His resume looks pretty impressive. I would say the pros are that championships seem to follow him no matter the sport. The con is that his defenses appear to be average. Good luck to him. 

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5 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

I am pleased to share with you that Pete Riordan will be recommended for Board approval to the position of Penn Head Football Coach.

 Coach Riordan has been an assistant coach on the Kingsmen Football staff for 20 years (most recently serving as Defensive Coordinator). He relocated to Indianapolis from 2007-2009 while his wife was in residency as a physician. During this time Coach Riordan served as assistant coach at Ben Davis for three seasons (2007-2009), the last two seasons as defensive coordinator.

 He will be Penn’s seventh head coach of the Kingsmen Football Team.

 Coach Riordan teaches Economics, Advanced Placement Economics and ACP Business at Penn. And as you may remember, he was recently named a teacher Impact Award winner for helping his students increase their test scores on their AP exams by as much as 20%. 

 The announcement happened earlier this morning when Coach Riordan worked with Athletic Director Jeff Hart, Strength & Conditioning Coach Matt Cates, and retiring Head Coach Cory Yeoman to surprise his players with the news. It was important for Coach Riordan to talk to the team first before making a public announcement. A public news conference is taking place at 2:00 this afternoon.

 In addition to coaching Football at Penn, Coach Riordan was a Junior Varsity Baseball Coach at Penn (2001-2003). Penn won the State Championship in Baseball in 2001. He served as the Boys Freshman Basketball Head Coach (2001), the season that the Kingsmen finished as State Runner-up. He was a volunteer assistant Football coach at Northridge for the 2000 season.

 Coach Riordan owns a state championship legacy. He played on the 1995 South Bend St. Joseph State Championship Football Team and was a three-year starter. Coach Riordan also played one year of Football at Wabash College. He earned a B.A. from Wabash and earned an MBA in Finance from Indiana University South Bend.

 Coach Riordan credited his high school coach, Frank Amato, for teaching the love and respect for the game of Football. He also credited former Penn Defensive Coordinator Don Monhaut for teaching the details and preparation of game-planning, and former Penn Head Coach Cory Yeoman for his unbelievable passion for the game.

 The P-H-M Board of School Trustees will officially approve Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker’s recommendation of Coach Riordan to this position at its meeting on Monday, March 25, 2024.

 Coach Riordan and his wife, Nicole (Penn Class of 1999) have two daughters who attend P-H-M schools.

 Please join me in congratulating Pete Riordan on his new position as the Kingsmen Football team’s new Head Coach!

Pete is a good man, and a good coach, I don't know if he is the correct pick for this program to bring them back to 6A relevancy. Time will tell. 

Now THAT is impressive. Do you have any idea if he will remain in those roles while taking the Head Coaching job at such a prestigious school?? 

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4 hours ago, temptation said:

Why so bitter?

Because he sucks. Because this program has fallen off majorly over the last decade and he contributed to it. Because he’s a milquetoast continuation of everything that isn’t working. Penn has significant tangible/intangible advantages they are not leveraging because they remain loyal to this good ol’ boy network of guys who the game has clearly passed by. This was a missed opportunity by Jeff Hart, he fumbled this hire.

-Kingsmen99
 

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10 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Pete is a good man, and a good coach, I don't know if he is the correct pick for this program to bring them back to 6A relevancy. Time will tell. 

If he is successful in making Penn a threat in 6A, it will be because he had the courage to force the program into evolving instead of simply iterating on what already exists. Only time will tell on that.

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21 hours ago, BTF said:

His resume looks pretty impressive. I would say the pros are that championships seem to follow him no matter the sport. The con is that his defenses appear to be average. Good luck to him. 

This is going to be arguing out of both sides of my mouth here, so please allow me this moment.

Penn's D has never been the issue when it comes to competing. Why they give up so much in terms of numbers is when the Offense cannot generate a fart let alone a first down. Look at the games Penn has been blown out in within the last couple seasons. If you look at the numbers Penn's D spent most of the game on the field. Most of the scoring would occur during the middle to late periods. I don't blame kids for being gassed. 

The Crown Point game was hot and cold. Penn's D looked great for periods allowed the O to climb back into the game and then Crown Point would rattle off 14 quick points, leaving us to scratch our heads as to what happened. 

My one frustration with this current situation, is will he be his own coach and try to change the culture or is he going to just do what we have been doing for the last ten years? If he can change the culture and go get an OC that is hungry to develop a real offense I think Penn will be competitive again.  Time will tell, but I am cautiously optimistic. 

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1 hour ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

https://www.wndu.com/video/2024/03/20/phm-video-announcement-new-head-football-coach/

Well let's just say....I am no longer optimistic..

Penn was thinking oh we will get a Marcus Freeman type reaction....they got...clapping. Watch this video....it is cringe and bad.

Thanks for sharing. I didn't think it was as bad as you made it out to be. Maybe the kids weren't as surprised about the outcome as the Notre Dame kids were. My only advice to Penn fans would be: Give this guy a shot! I like the youth in him. Hiring from within the program tells me that there's still passion from within the program.

Ready to get this season started! 6A North: Crown Point, Penn, Snider, & Carroll. Let's see if  "True North" can make it three in a row. Note that I put Penn in there and not Homestead (although always a threat). I think most fans still consider Penn a perennial contender regardless of their outcome a year prior. That's says something about the program. 

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24 minutes ago, BTF said:

Thanks for sharing. I didn't think it was as bad as you made it out to be. Maybe the kids weren't as surprised about the outcome as the Notre Dame kids were. My only advice to Penn fans would be: Give this guy a shot! I like the youth in him. Hiring from within the program tells me that there's still passion from within the program.

Really good point. Also, it's weird to be used as a prop for PR as a high schooler and the guys aren't exactly bouncing off the walls listening to the strength coach. 

@BLACKGOLD2007 I share a bit of the sentiment in that I don't care for handling our business through this type of contrived PR stunt––I have to believe this is Thacker's work. I'd expect a high school's PR misstep wouldn't be enough to affect your optimism given the number of your thoughtful and intelligent contributions to this board. 

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The Penn faithful sound about as grim as myself discussing the disaster that is the Chicago Bears organization. Lol seriously though, I hope coach Riordan and staff can put the Penn faithful's minds at ease and have a successful career as Penn's next head coach. Best of luck to coach and the Kingsmen! 

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13 minutes ago, PDB26 said:

Really good point. Also, it's weird to be used as a prop for PR as a high schooler and the guys aren't exactly bouncing off the walls listening to the strength coach. 

@BLACKGOLD2007 I share a bit of the sentiment in that I don't care for handling our business through this type of contrived PR stunt––I have to believe this is Thacker's work. I'd expect a high school's PR misstep wouldn't be enough to affect your optimism given the number of your thoughtful and intelligent contributions to this board. 

The lack of energy and excitement from the players is what worries me. I hope I am wrong. I hope these kids want to play for him... I hope they set the world on fire.

I want to be wrong. But, if it is my announcement to the team, I wouldn't say something like I cant match this other coaches excitement. I get it, probably nervous...but you want to make a great first impression, even if the players are familiar with you. You are now the man in charge of the ship. Command that room with complete confidence and get the players excited to be in the room with you. 

 

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1 hour ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

The lack of energy and excitement from the players is what worries me. 

They need to get their swagger back. "We are Penn. We have 5 state titles. And we have the best record in all of Indiana spanning four decades. Come one come all." If they can do it at Center Grove, they sure as hell can do it at Penn. 

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8 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

The lack of energy and excitement from the players is what worries me. I hope I am wrong. I hope these kids want to play for him... I hope they set the world on fire.

I want to be wrong. But, if it is my announcement to the team, I wouldn't say something like I cant match this other coaches excitement. I get it, probably nervous...but you want to make a great first impression, even if the players are familiar with you. You are now the man in charge of the ship. Command that room with complete confidence and get the players excited to be in the room with you. 

I wouldn't put too much stock into their "reaction". I don't recall our reaction being all that different when Cory was announced as head coach. We had a pretty simple team meeting in LGI A. There was no dramatic reveal, no hugging and cheering, and Cory didn't spend any time trying to fire us up. We wanted Cory to be the guy, he told us he was going to be himself, it was a relief when the announcement came, and it was business as usual from there.

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On 3/21/2024 at 1:53 PM, tango said:

Don't know much about Penn... Who were the first two coaches getting the troops pumped up?     

The first was the strength coach....he was not there when I was. And the second is former Head Coach Yeoman. 

On 3/22/2024 at 2:07 AM, PDB26 said:

I wouldn't put too much stock into their "reaction". I don't recall our reaction being all that different when Cory was announced as head coach. We had a pretty simple team meeting in LGI A. There was no dramatic reveal, no hugging and cheering, and Cory didn't spend any time trying to fire us up. We wanted Cory to be the guy, he told us he was going to be himself, it was a relief when the announcement came, and it was business as usual from there.

Sure, but Penn wasn't trying to do a PR stunt at that time either. When you get the media involved and are clearly trying to make some huge reveal, the goal should be lets generate buzz...They did, just not good buzz. 

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3 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Sure, but Penn wasn't trying to do a PR stunt at that time either. When you get the media involved and are clearly trying to make some huge reveal, the goal should be lets generate buzz...They did, just not good buzz. 

I think we agree it was an error for Penn to make their public announcement this way. It always going to be connected to and viewed alongside the masterful production for Notre Dame football by Fighting Irish Media after Freeman was hired with no chance of capturing any of that energy––let alone editing.

My contention is that the players' reactions tell us nothing about their willingness to play for Pete. The answer to that question will come on Friday nights. 

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