Nine-time WPIAL champion Bob Palko is returning to the sidelines at a place he knows well: West Allegheny.
The school board rehired Palko on Wednesday night, bringing one of the WPIAL’s most successful football coaches back to a program he led for 24 years. Palko won more than 200 games, eight WPIAL titles and one state championship at his alma mater before resigning after the 2018 season.
Palko, 66, later coached Mt. Lebanon for four seasons, winning WPIAL and PIAA titles in 2021, before joining Penn State’s football staff as director of high school relations.
At West Allegheny, he replaces Dave Schoppe, who resigned after six seasons with a 28-27 record. The team went 4-5 last year and missed the playoffs.
The Indians haven’t won a playoff game since Palko led them to the WPIAL Class 5A finals in 2018.
A 1978 West A graduate, Palko’s career record is 249-87, including 217 wins at West A. He won WPIAL titles with the Indians in 1997, 1999-2001, ’09, ’12, ’13 and ’16. They also won a state title in 2001 with his son Tyler at quarterback.
Palko was named the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year in 2021 when Mt. Lebanon capped a 15-0 season with a state championship victory over St. Joseph’s Prep.
At the time, Palko’s nine WPIAL titles were tied for the most in league history. Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak later won his 10th title in 2024.