Bagnall announces retirement

BY JOBY FAWCETT and MARTY MYERS

Times-Shamrock Writers

Dick Bagnall gave a big part of himself to the Susquehanna football program, and now it’s time for his family.

After a long career that dates back to the early 1970s, Bagnall announced that this would be his final season as head coach of the Sabers following Friday’s 22-15 loss at Old Forge.

And he has no regrets.

“I love Susquehanna football, I bleed blue and white, and I want to continue to see it become a success,” Bagnall said Saturday. “It’s time for me to go. I have been involved with football as a coach and athletic director and I had my hand in this program for 39 years.

“It’s time.”

Earlier this year, Bagnall’s daughter and grandchildren visited for the Lackawanna Trail game and the veteran coach realized then, while grateful, that football had become too much of a time commitment.

He spent hours perfecting and devising ways to attack an opponent’s defense with his triple-option veer offense that gave coaches headaches throughout his stay at Susquehanna.

Finishing his 28th season as a head coach, Bagnall, who had resigned after the 1995 season before returning in 2004, closes out with a record of 169-129-3. His team’s won Suburban Conference titles in 1975, 1981, 1982 and 1995.

In 1994, Susquehanna won the District 2-12 Class A championship game with a win overLakeland, ending the Suburban Conference’s 22-game, eight-year losing streak to Big 11 opponents. The Sabers went on to advance to the PIAA Class A semifinals where it lost to eventual state championSouthern Columbia.

Susquehanna also repeated as District 2-12 champion in 1995 and won the Lackawanna Football Conference Division III crown in 2010.

“I was thinking about leaving last year,” the 62-year-old Bagnall said. “I felt there were some kids who I felt obligated to stick around for.

“I had my 15 minutes of fame. I am not a spring chicken and I would like to see my grand kids more in the fall.”

While Susquehanna has seldom been able to match numbers of players with other programs, it has been a formidable foe.

“I have a great deal of respect for coach Bagnall,” Old Forge coach Michael Schuback said. “I think he resurrected that program. I wish him the best of luck.”