Mertiff takes over at B-A

Tyler+Mertiff+takes+over+for+Pat+Cassidy+as+the+B-A+boys+basketball+coach.

Terry McCaulley

Tyler Mertiff takes over for Pat Cassidy as the B-A boys basketball coach.

Cooper Guyer, Sports Writer

Growing up in Tyrone and playing for some of the most successful football teams in school history, Tyler Mertiff may have never imagined coaching against his alma mater at the school’s top rival.

The odds of that seemed even less likely when Mertiff was a member of the Tyrone varsity basketball staff. But that’s where Mertiff finds himself now after he was named the new Bellwood-Antis boys basketball coach last week.

The transition for Mertiff is not as difficult as one may think. He has lived in the district for 10 years now, residing in Tipton, and his children are all students at B-A and participants in various B-A youth athletic programs. That’s one quality that made Mertif, a 2003 Tyrone grad, such an attractive hire – he’s here for the long haul, hoping to one day coach his sons on the hardwood.

BluePrint sportswriter Cooper Guyer had the chance to catch up with Mertiff this week and discuss his excitement over his first varsity head coaching job.