Archbishop Carroll boys' basketball coach Paul Romanczuk resigns
"My kids have had to share their dad with Archbishop Carroll basketball for a lot of years. … Now, I want to put all my time, energy, and commitment into my family."
It's been a domino effect when it comes to the departure of Catholic League boys' basketball coaches.
Paul Romanczuk informed Archbishop Carroll's administrators Thursday afternoon that he was stepping down as the school's coach.
On Wednesday, La Salle announced that it was not retaining Joe Dempsey as coach after 14 seasons and Jack Concannon resigned at Bonner-Prendergast after four seasons at the helm.
Romanczuk cited personal reasons for his decision. "It's just gotten tougher and tougher as my children have gotten older and become more involved in activities," he said Thursday night.
Romanczuk and his wife, Kelly, have three children: Cooper, 10; Collin; 9; and Riley, 5.
"My kids have had to share their dad with Archbishop Carroll basketball for a lot of years," said Romanczuk, who won 20 or more games in each of the last 10 seasons. "Now, I want to put all my time, energy, and commitment into my family. I had been kicking this idea around with my wife for the last few weeks."
A standout forward at Carroll (class of 1995) and Penn, Romanczuk was the head coach of the Patriots for 15 seasons and with the program for 17. He started in 2001-02 as an assistant under former coach John "J.R." Roe. "It was a lot of fun," Romanczuk said. "I loved pouring everything I had into it."
In 2008-09, which was the Catholic League's inaugural year in the PIAA, Carroll became the league's first state hoops titlist when it blasted District 7's Greensburg Salem, 75-54, in the Class 3A final at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.
Romanczuk and the Patriots reached the state title game two more times, in 2013 and 2015.
Carroll went 20-8 in 2017-18, advanced to the league semifinals, earned District 12's No. 3 playoff seed, and reached the Class 5A state quarterfinals before losing to District 3 champ Milton Hershey, 73-65.
"I'm going to miss coaching, no doubt about it," Romanczuk said. "After my playing days were over, I developed a love and passion for it. Carroll gave me the opportunity to coach when I was 24, and I'm thankful to them for that."
Romanczuk, whose father-in-law is ex-Sixers player and coach Doug Collins, is a certified public accountant.
"I'm going to take a year off to be around my family and spend more time with them," he said. "As far as getting back into coaching at some point, I would never say never. Maybe it's something that will pop up down the road."