Hamburg’s new football coach needs no introduction to program, players
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Tyler Hartranft calls coaching football “the family business.”
Hamburg’s newly hired head coach was first coached by his dad, Dave, at the youth level; long before that his dad was coached by his father, Clarence.
“I had no choice but to get into it,” Hartranft joked the other day after meeting with his new team for the first time.
The 31-year-old Hartranft didn’t need to introduce himself to the players: He was on the Hawks coaching staff just two seasons ago as offensive coordinator. He left for a season to be offensive coordinator at Pottsville but now he’s back on Hawk Hill and ready to hit the ground running.
(Photo courtesy of Aaron Menapace)
“These kids know how I operate,” said Hartranft, who coached with the Hawks during their 2022 and 2023 playoff runs, and who still teaches in the school district. “It’s huge for me. That’s one of the big reasons this (job) was so attractive to me. I know the kids; they know what I stand for.”
His players should also know this about Hartranft: He doesn’t waste time. The minute he saw that Matt Hoffert had resigned as Hawks coach he reached out to Hamburg athletic director Aaron Menapace to inquire about the job. In roughly two weeks he had an interview; a few hours after that he was told he had the job.
“It was a no-brainer for me,” he said of going for the job. “Having the opportunity to lead a program of my own is really a dream come true.”
Hartranft played just up the road at Blue Mountain. He passed for over 1,400 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior in 2010 and led the Eagles to the district playoffs. His coach was Mike Brennan, who won a pair of state titles at Mount Carmel.
When Brennan took over the program at Pottsville earlier this year Hartranft left Hamburg to become the Crimson Tide offensive coordinator. He expected to stay with his mentor for longer than a season but life had other plans for him.
“The opportunity to learn from a guy who’s done it at a high level for a long time, won state championships, and that I knew I had a close personal connection with, it was a no-brainer to go learn from him,” Hartranft said. “I loved my time at Pottsville. I had a great experience there; those are my guys. I learned a ton from Mike this year.”
Hartranft will be the youngest head coach in the Lancaster-Lebanon League but he brings a wealth of experience. After playing quarterback at King’s College from 2011-14 he joined the Monarchs staff for three seasons. He spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons at McDaniel College as passing game coordinator and recruiting coordinator, spent a year at Spring-Ford as quarterbacks coach, returned to King’s for a season, then was hired by Hoffert in 2022.
He retooled the offense upon arrival at Hamburg, ditching the Wing-T in favor of a Spread attack that helped senior quarterback Xander Menapace and the offense take off. The Hawks set a program record for scoring (42.2 points per game), cracked the state rankings after a 5-0 start and finished 9-3, one win short of the program record.
“Any time you’ve got a quarterback you’ve got a chance to be a really good football team,” Hartranft said, “and I knew we were gonna have a really good one (in Xander).”
The Hawks had a really good one the past two seasons in Tyler Shuey; he erased many of Xander Menapace’s passing records the past two seasons.
Hartranft will be looking for a new quarterback for 2025 but isn’t looking at a total rebuild after the Hawks went 6-5 and finished with a winning record for the fourth straight season – the first time they’ve done that in program history.
Hamburg reached the District 3 playoffs in 2021 and 2022 and the Eastern Conference playoffs the past two seasons. It went 21-13 during Hoffert’s three seasons.
Hartranft likes the fact that several starting lineman return, as does leading rusher Blaise Ernst. There are 10 seniors to replace – including Shuey, Section 5 Receiver of the Year Ty Werley and all-league linebacker Daniel Brady — but the junior class includes 15 players.
“Hamburg should be in position to fight for the top every year,” he said of the Section 5 race. “Lancaster Catholic and Schuylkill Valley have been the top the last couple years and Hamburg’s been right there with them. I’m hoping we can take that next step to win the Section 5 title.”
