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By Neil Rudel
nrudel@altoonamirror.com
Some coaches are outstanding tacticians but not necessarily the best at the many other aspects required beyond Xs and Os -- things like detailed organization, internal and external communication and overall leadership.
Others are good at the details and intangibles but not quite up to it on the night of the game.
Paul Litwalk checked all of the boxes.
Everyone who interacted with Litwalk -- players, fellow coaches, parents, media, fans and referees -- respected him as a great coach and class act.
Litwalk, who died Monday from an extended illness at the age of 79, coached the Greater Johnstown High School boys basketball team to six District 6 championships and 441 wins between 1970-97.
When Litwalk's career started, there was no ESPN to keep people at home. Girls basketball was played in the fall. The boys played on Tuesday and Friday nights.
In those days, boys basketball wasn't a big deal. It was the biggest deal.
One of Litwalk's first great players, Pat Cummings, spent 12 years in the NBA.
Litwalk's 1972-73 team, featuring Cummings, Don Maser and Ken Horoho, was ranked No. 1 in the state much of the season.
The Johnstown-Altoona series -- still a rivalry in football then, too -- was at its height.
In Litwalk and John Swogger, the coaches were fierce rivals (and later friends) and personalities.
After Larry Betar succeeded Swogger, Altoona didn't miss a beat.
Swogger developed Johnny Moore, who became Altoona's first NBA player, and three others (Doug West, Mike Iuzzolino and Danny Fortson) followed.
Fueled by star power that fans flocked to see, home courts, either the Altoona Fieldhouse or the Johnstown War Memorial, were packed.
Johnstown had the War Memorial Tournament and Altoona followed with the Altoona Rotary Tournament as interest in the sport locally peaked.
Litwalk was a constant, called "the founding father of Johnstown basketball" by current Trojan coach Ryan Durham.
He also served as a "father figure" to many of his players, according to one of his best, Geroy Simon.
"He's someone who I valued and hung onto almost his every word," Simon, also a football standout at Maryland who is now the assistant general manager of the Edmonton Elks in the Canadian Football League, told Mike Mastovich of the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat. "They say that coaches have just as much influence on a child as the parents. The lessons I learned from Coach Litwalk are some of the seasons I've had success throughout my life."
Another former Trojan, Dan Shipman said: "Being raised by a single woman in Johnstown, there were people who were instrumental in my growth as a man. He was definitely one of those people."
Shipman, who succeeded Litwalk and coached the Trojans from 1997-2004, is now the dean of students at Ringgold High School.
As we all get older, with the benefit of hindsight, it's clear the coaches who impact their athletes should be judged as favorably as the ones who delivered state championships.
Paul Litwalk didn't win a PIAA title, but for so many reasons, he should be viewed on Johnstown's Mount Rushmore of high school coaches.
Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.