Mike DeChellis

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Mike DeChellis success started early for Mike DeChellis; at age 7 he won the Punt Pass and Kick competition in Beaver Falls. Then in high school he won eight letters in three sports: two in basketball, three in baseball, and three in football. Although he hit 428 for the Beaver Falls American Legion team that went to the state finals in 1974, Mike was best known for his prowess on the gridiron. A three-year starter, for Coach Larry Bruno he received all WPIAL and honorable mention All- State honors as a running back his junior and senior years, then at Westminster College, Mike lettered all four years and helped the Titans win back-to-back National Championships his junior and senior years. The Titans were 34-4-21 in Mike’s tenure with the team, their four losses by a combined 11 points. Mike ended his diamond days as a player in an American Legion State championship contest and he finished his grid days in a National Championship game. After graduating from Westminster in 1978, Mike accepted a job at Blackhawk and coached on the football staff for eight years. He became an offensive backfield coach for Geneva College in 1987 and coached four All Americans and helped the Golden Tornados reach the NAIA playoffs four times, earning Mid States Association Assistant Coach of the Year honors in 1998. Mike also had an impressive career coaching girls’ basketball at Blackhawk; from 1982 to 1998, he amassed a 284-140 record and won two WPIAL championships. In the 1995-1996 campaign he was Pennsylvania Girls’ Basketball Coach of the year. He returned to coach the Lady Cougars from 2002 to 2005 and won section titles all three seasons.

In 2007 he was hired as the Head Coach for the New Brighton High School Boys’ Basketball Team. And then in 2010 he joined the New Brighton High School football staff as an assistant coach. In 2013 he returned to Geneva College as an assistant football coach, a position he held until deciding to retire this year after a total of 28 years of coaching at the college. While coaching was more than an avocation to him, Mike’s career was that of a schoolteacher. He taught, mentored and influenced hundreds of students in the Blackhawk School District before retiring after 34 1/2 years of service.

He now spends his spare time as a starter at the renowned Old Stonewall Golf Course.

Mike and his wife Theresa reside in Chippewa Township. They are the parents of 3 children and have 8 grandchildren.