New Gov. Mifflin head coach won’t be on sidelines for opener vs. Pleasant Valley

By Mike Drago Last updated Aug 21, 2024

Gov. Mifflin head coach Nick Morrissey at practice this summer.

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Nick Morrissey’s debut as head coach at Gov. Mifflin will have to wait a few weeks.

Sources close to the team have confirmed that Morrissey has been suspended and will not be on the sidelines for Friday’s season-opener against Pleasant Valley at Mifflin Stadium.

Gov. Mifflin athletic director John Guiseppe declined comment about Morrissey’s status.

Former Mustangs head coach Mick Vecchio, the Offensive Coordinator, will serve as acting head coach in Morrissey’s absence, which will extend to next week’s game at Perkiomen Valley, sources have told MikeDragoSports.com.

Morrissey did not coach the team during its scrimmage Saturday against Twin Valley.

The 39-year-old Morrissey was elevated to head coach in December after Jeff Lang resigned following 33 years with the program. Morrissey had been an assistant coach at Mifflin for nine seasons and an assistant at Muhlenberg prior to that. He is a Social Studies teacher in the Gov. Mifflin school district.

Morrissey is one of three first-year football coaches in Berks, along with Rob Flowers at Muhlenberg and Dave Stahler at Berks Catholic.

Vecchio was Mifflin’s head coach for 26 seasons, winning 181 games before resigning following the 2017 season. The Mustangs won 11 league titles during his stint. Vecchio was inducted into the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2022.

He remained on staff in the years since stepping down as head coach but agreed to take a larger role this season when Morrissey became head coach.

Morrissey also hired his father, Mick Morrissey, and step-father, Todd DeIuliis, for his staff.

The Mustangs are coming off back-to-back losing seasons – an anomaly for a program that had reached the postseason 18 straight years and won 13 league titles over an amazing 15-year stretch.

They ended last season with a 28-19 loss to Pleasant Valley in the Eastern Conference Class 5A/6A championship game at Mifflin Stadium. The Mustangs led 19-0 late in the second quarter. The Bears took their first lead with 4:12 remaining and scored again two minutes later.