Seasoned leader
Keith Jeffries helped get the Uniontown football team headed in the right direction.
The Red Raiders will now look to veteran coach Tim Bukowski to keep the Red Raiders on an upward trend.
Bukowski, who guided Southmoreland into the WPIAL playoffs in each of the last three seasons, was hired as Uniontown无毛视频檚 head football coach Monday night at the school board meeting by a unanimous 9-0 vote.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e super-excited to have Coach Tim aboard,无毛视频� Uniontown athletic director and former assistant football coach Harry Kaufman said. 无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 had a lot of success in the past in developing programs or rebuilding programs, like at Southmoreland. We无毛视频檙e looking forward to the extended success we strongly feel he can have here at Uniontown.无毛视频�
Jeffries took over as head coach when the Red Raiders were in the midst of a 34-game losing streak, the longest in the WPIAL at the time, and had a roster of 21 players. He guided Uniontown to victory in his second game as head coach and led them to a 15-20 record over the past four years while building up participation.
无毛视频淚 think Coach Jeffries and Harry did a great job of building the numbers back up in the program,无毛视频� Bukowski said. 无毛视频淥bviously they left the WPIAL a few years ago when the program was in a bad place but the numbers are a lot better now. It looks like just from the offseason workouts that have been going on there无毛视频檚 a lot of excitement in the program now.无毛视频�
Uniontown has played as an independent the past four years 无毛视频� it is one of four Fayette County independent teams along with Albert Gallatin, Brownsville and Connellsville 无毛视频� but Bukowski said the Red Raiders have a tentative goal of reapplying for reinstatement into the WPIAL for the 2026-27 season.
无毛视频淚 think the plan is to get back into the WPIAL after next season,无毛视频� Bukowski said. 无毛视频淗opefully everything goes smooth and that无毛视频檚 where we end up.无毛视频�
Bukowski has 32 years of coaching at the high school level under his belt.
无毛视频淚 started at Monessen, my alma mater,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淚 also coached at Charleroi, Clairton, Ringgold and Cal U where I was the running backs coach, before Southmoreland.无毛视频�
Bukowski played a key role in the resurrection of the Scotties football program.
无毛视频淚 coached there for seven years with the last three as the head coach,无毛视频� said Bukowski. 无毛视频淲hen Dave Keefer got the (head coaching) job I was his offensive coordinator. They had finished the season before with 14 players. We had 43 players last year so I无毛视频檓 well aware of what it takes to recruit your school district and get your athletes out for the team.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檒l have two of the guys with me that coached with me at Southmoreland so they know what it takes as well. I无毛视频檝e been running the offense ever since I was at Clairton. Dave Wojtanowski will be my defensive coordinator and Tubby Hall, who无毛视频檚 a running back/linebackers coach, will be with me. Joe Hazel has been the interim coach at Uniontown since Keith stepped down and will be on our staff also.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e really excited to get things going at Uniontown. I无毛视频檓 actually meeting with the team tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.无毛视频�
Bukowski is looking forward to working with Kaufman.
无毛视频淗arry Kaufman is a good man and has been so great throughout this whole process, I can无毛视频檛 wait to work with him,无毛视频� Bukowski said. 无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 a football guy and he无毛视频檚 officiated some of my games in the past so he knows how I handle myself.无毛视频�
The 57-year-old Bukowski was confident after his interview at Uniontown.
无毛视频淵ou get that feel when you leave if you did well or not,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淚 felt that they really ran a nice interview the way they conducted it and I felt comfortable when I left that I had a good shot to get the nod.无毛视频�
Bukowski has already seen some players on the Red Raiders roster close up.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檝e been coaching a seven-on-seven team and we actually have five or six Uniontown players on our squad and actually the middle school coach (Hazel) who will be one of my assistants helped me coach that team.无毛视频�
Bukowski hopes to continue to mine talent out of the school district.
无毛视频淯niontown is very successful obviously in basketball and you have to have athletes to win and we need to get those athletes, those big guys to come out for the football team,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淚 look at their football roster and I see talent and I see size so we无毛视频檙e just hoping we can develop it more and keep it going the way Keith and Harry have it headed and keep getting more participation.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 very confident that my staff will be able to do that.无毛视频�
Bukowski and his wife Laurel, a teacher at Ringgold, have been married for 34. They have two sons, Cole, 30, and Noah, 27.