Head coach
John Semian
founded the program.
John “Jake” Semian’s obituary calls him the founder of the North Pocono football program and says he coached his teams to two Suburban Conference championships. The 2016 Times-Tribune flashback lists the Suburban titles as 1968 and 1970.
The Oct. 29, 2015, flashback does name him. North Pocono, coached by John Semian, won the 1970 Suburban Conference championship. Three players made the all-star team: tackle Kurt Dyer, guard Bernie Aston, and running back Fred Lenny.
Nick Donato’s 2017 Butler Award story says Donato began as an assistant for five seasons under Semian, then took a graduate assistantship at Arizona State, and became North Pocono’s head coach in 1981.
The obituary says he was recruited out of the 1956 Taylor High School class by Al Davis to play at The Citadel, then transferred to Houston, where he was the starting center until he graduated in 1961.