Seton LaSalle coaches Mauro Monz, Jason Pinkston suspended 1 year by WPIAL

PITTSBURGH — Seton LaSalle first-year football coach Mauro Monz and assistant Jason Pinkston were each suspended from coaching any PIAA-affiliated team for one year, the WPIAL announced Wednesday.

According to our partners at the Trib, the discipline comes a day after four school districts raised recruiting allegations against Seton LaSalle’s coaching staff during a lengthy closed-door hearing with the WPIAL.

Along with the two suspensions, Seton LaSalle principal Lauren Martin and the school’s administration were publicly admonished by the WPIAL “for their lack of institutional oversight.” This latest discipline comes seven months after the WPIAL also suspended a Seton LaSalle assistant baseball coach for recruiting violations. As a result, the WPIAL decided Wednesday to put the school’s entire athletics program on probation until June 30, 2023.

The WPIAL panel that heard Tuesday’s testimony voted 12-0 to impose the discipline. The one-year suspensions for Monz and Pinkston started Tuesday.

Additional penalties may be imposed if future recruiting violations come to light, the WPIAL said, which could include “the suspension of all or some Seton LaSalle athletic programs from competing against other PIAA member schools.”

A statement from the Diocese regarding the decision said “Seton LaSalle Catholic High School and the Diocese of Pittsburgh take seriously the concerns raised by the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) at the hearing of March 30, 2021, and the decision rendered this morning. As was stated at the hearing yesterday, neither Seton LaSalle, nor any high school in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, engages in the recruiting of students for athletic purposes. As a result, we are examining all bases for appealing this decision.”

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