After 2 winless seasons, Butler football might leave WPIAL for independent schedule

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, November 7, 2019 | 10:14 PM

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Mired in a 20-game losing streak, Butler’s football team might leave the WPIAL for an independent schedule next season.

“We are considering it,” athletic director Bill Mylan said Thursday, “but we haven’t made any kind of decision one way or the other.”

The school district’s administration will meet later this month to discuss the football program’s future. The team recently finished its second consecutive 0-10 season and was outscored 505-132.

But the recent struggles aren’t new.

Butler hasn’t had a winning season since 1997 with six coaches during that span.

The Golden Tornado could follow a route taken this season by Albert Gallatin, another long-struggling program in the WPIAL. Albert Gallatin went 5-3 this fall while playing an independent schedule against opponents mostly from West Virginia, Maryland and the Pittsburgh City League.

Those wins were refreshing for a program that went 0-10 in 2018 against WPIAL opponents and was outscored 479-46.

Seeing that success could entice other schools — maybe Butler — to consider the independent route. One obstacle would be finding enough opponents to play, Mylan said.

Butler is one of the largest schools in Western Pennsylvania and its enrollment ranks third in the WPIAL.

If Butler chooses the independent route, that could leave the WPIAL with only eight Class 6A schools next season: North Allegheny, Seneca Valley, Canon-McMillan, Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon, Norwin, Central Catholic and Baldwin, which is expected to join the largest classification.

Butler’s record is 15-78 in the past 10 years with eight conference wins.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

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