Cowboys QB Ben DiNucci supports Eric Kasperowicz after coach’s surprise firing at Pine-Richland

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, April 16, 2021 | 3:56 PM

Ben DiNucci lives 1,200 miles from Pine-Richland but was stunned when word reached him in Texas that his high school football coach had been fired.

“At first, like anybody else, I was wondering what the heck was the reasoning or logic behind it?” he said.

Now an NFL quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys, DiNucci graduated from Pine-Richland in 2015. His former coach, Eric Kasperowicz, and his entire coaching staff were fired Wednesday night for reasons the school district still hasn’t explained.

However, some current and former players say the school’s decision to not renew their contracts came as administrators spent weeks investigating allegations of possible hazing or bullying.

DiNucci said no one from the school contacted him, but in a way, he wishes they had.

“For a coach that’s done everything the right way and established P-R as one of those perennial powerhouses, this would be one of the last things that would ever surface about him,” he said, “and at a very odd time.”

Current players have said years-old allegations were among the questions school administrators have asked about. If so, DiNucci said, there are no scandals from his playing days, and said he couldn’t imagine Kasperowicz condoning hazing or bullying now.

“In no way, shape or form has there ever been any type of hazing or bullying that has occurred,” DiNucci said. “And if something did (arise), I would have no question Coach K would have handled it in the right way. So it’s kind of surprising to everybody that this is coming out now.”

Pine-Richland administrators have not confirmed that they conducted any investigation into hazing, but DiNucci hoped if so, they set the bar much higher than locker room antics such as hitting teammates with towels.

“If that’s what they’re calling hazing, then every high school coach in the country should be fired today,” he said.

DiNucci led Pine-Richland to a WPIAL title his senior season with a 15-1 record and added a state runner-up finish. After hearing Kasperowicz was fired, teammates from that era began exchanging text messages.

“We’ve been going back and forth about old memories and kind of reliving that whole senior year,” he said. “There was never any hazing that happened with us. We felt like that wasn’t the way to build a team, to build a tradition. We were kind of the first class that started that winning tradition there.

“For us, we wanted to be as inclusive with everyone as possible with everybody. Having seniors beat up on the freshmen and sophomores was not the best way to do that.”

Kasperowicz won four WPIAL titles and two state titles in eight seasons as Pine-Richland’s head coach. The Rams went 85-18 with Kasperowicz as coach.

After high school, DiNucci played quarterback and Pitt and James Madison, which was the NCAA Division I FCS runner-up in 2019. The Cowboys drafted him in the seventh round last year.

“Coach K has been my guy through and through since Day 1 when I arrived at the football program as a sophomore at P-R,” DiNucci said. “Ever since then he’s always been there for me and been there for everybody else. He’s done so many things for the program, putting guys in colleges and helping guys out in different ways.

“The success he and the program have had over the last several years speaks for itself.”

The entire coaching staff received an email Wednesday saying Kasperowicz’s contract wouldn’t be renewed, and the assistants were let go as well with an option to reapply once a new head coach was hired. DiNucci reached out to both Kasperowicz and assistant Todd Jochem, the team’s quarterbacks coach.

“It’s tough for those families,” DiNucci said. “I have no doubt none of them will have a problem finding new jobs. I’m sure Coach Kasper has already gotten calls about head coaching jobs at other places and whatnot.

“I don’t think that’s going to be the most of their worries, but it sucks that his reputation is taking a little hit from allegations he allowed hazing to happen.”

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.

Tags: Pine-Richland