BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      The game of football has strong roots in the Mahoning Valley.
      What first comes to mind is longtime Cardinal Mooney Head Coach, the late Don Bucci, who played in his prep days at East High School before becoming a quarterback at Notre Dame, and then moving on to lead the Cards to four state championships on the gridiron, often using coaching skills he learned from the legendary Denny Barrett, who helped establish Mooney’s football program.
      Mr. Bucci’s influence has had a strong impact on collegiate coaches across the country---coaches like Bob Stoops who won a national championship leading the Oklahoma Sooners, and Mike Stoops, who now serves as head coach for the Kentucky Wildcats and is the winningest grid coach in school history; or Bo Pelini, who guided Youngstown State to its last appearance in an FCS national title game after serving as head coach at Nebraska, where that grid team has never been the same since Bo left the school.
      As great a man as Don Bucci was, there is another Cardinal Mooney connection with greatness on the gridiron with the DeBartolo York family.
      It was in 1977 that Edward J. DeBartolo purchased the San Francisco 49ers for $13 million and turned the team over to his son Eddie, who teamed-up with Atty. Carmen Policy---and the Niners won five Super Bowls under their leadership.
      Eddie and Carmen were quite the team. Eddie was hands on, and he and Carmen worked the rules to the best of their ability, often raising the ire from their fellow owners. So what, the Niners still won five Super Bowls!
      The Niners are now owned by Eddie’s sister, husband and their son---Denise, John and Jed York---who have maintained the franchise as among the best in the National Football League.
      Last year, John and Denise turned the day-to-day operation of the Niners over to their son Jed, who learned his trade while on the Niners sidelines from his grandfather and uncle.
      Jed’s dad, John, took a lead role in the NFL as chairman of the league’s health and safety advisory committee, aimed at improving helmets and methods to reduce concussions and eliminate players using their heads as weapons.
      So consider, the Niners remain as one of the premier franchises in the NFL and depending upon the source, the franchise is now estimated to be worth between $6.8 billion to $8.5 billion.
      One year the Niners were playing up in Green Bay and following the game with the Packers, someone made some caustic remarks directed towards Eddie, so much so there was a bit of a conflagration over the matter.
      Now two Cardinal Mooney grads, Jed York and Ed Policy, the Packers chief executive officer (CEO) and president, lead both teams.
      It all started, however gauged, at Cardinal Mooney in the Mahoning Valley, where the philanthropy of the DeBartolo and York families has a very strong and lasting impact.
      Things have toned down a bit since the halcyon days of Eddie and Carmen, While Jed and Ed show a great deal of respect for each other, one might think Ed Policy has a bit catching-up to do.
      During York’s tenure, the Niners have experienced great success having won five NFC West Division titles (2011-12, 2019 and 2022-23), advanced to seven NFC championship games (2011-13, 2019 and 2021-23) and three Super Bowls (Super Bowl XLVII, LIV and LVIII).
      “He’s a perfect fit for Green Bay,” York said about Policy taking the reigns of the Packers in an interview with ESPN earlier this year. “I love how the organization works — where generally you’re bringing people up from the inside and you’re raising the next generation of talent — and you see it in Ed. He put in his time...and clearly was the right person for the job.”
      The DeBartolos, Yorks and Ed Policy all went to Cardinal Mooney during a time when Don Bucci was at the school.
      And back ‘in the day,’ another Mooney grad, Ed Muransky, a skilled offensive lineman with the Cards under Coach Bucci, went on to play at ‘the school up north,’ and after a brief pro career, joined Eddie Jr., and was on hand for a couple of Super Bowl wins; afterwhich he founded Southwoods Health that serves today as the Mahoning Valley’s premier medical center; and has provided strong support for the local United Way.
      Mr. Bucci’s influence on coaches and players around the country has to be remembered.
      So, Bob Stoops won a national title with the Oklahoma Sooners to cap the 2000 collegiate season.
      A brother, Mark now leading Kentucky, is entering his 13th season, the longest-termed coach in Wildcat history and having the longest term of any current coach in the powerful Southeastern Conference. Mark Stoops holds school records for wins (67), home wins (47), SEC wins (31) and wins over ranked opponents (12). Last season’s victory at No. 6 Ole Miss was fifth straight season that his Wildcats had knocked-off a ranked opponent, yet another school record.
      Assistant head coach for the Cats, Vince Marrow, and safeties coach, Frank Buffano who serve on Stoops’ coaching staff at Kentucky got their wings under the tuteledge of Mr. Bucci while playing at Mooney.
      Buffano began his coaching career at his high school alma mater as an assistant coach for the legendary Bucci from 1990 through 1996, working with the running backs and defensive backs for the Cardinals. The program reached the state semifinals in 1990 and 1996. As a player, he was part of the Mooney squad that won the Division III state championship in 1987.
      Also on the coaching staff at UK is Mike’s brother, Mark Stoops, who enters his fourth season as the inside linebackers coach of the University of Kentucky..
      Another Bucci-mentored coach on the national scene is Matt Kubic, who currently serves as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for the Campbell University Camelbacks in Buies Creek, North Carolina.
      Kubik is a 2001 graduate of Mooney Cardinal Mooney High School. He went on to become a three-year letterman and a two-year starter at quarterback at Louisiana Tech (2002, 2004-05) where he threw for 4,020 career yards and 28 career touchdowns.
      He has been a member of the Manning Passing Academy, the annual quarterback camp hosted by the Manning family.
      One of America’s best sports agents is Kyle McCarthy, another Mooney grad who went on to star at Notre Dame. There remains debate locally as to whether McCarthy, or running back Ted Bell, were the best players ever to come out of the local school.
      McCarthy was quarterback for the Cards when they won a state title in 2004.
      After Notre Dame, he was drafted by the Denvor Broncos, but his pro career was cut short due to injury.
      Today, McCarthy, 38, is a well-regarded sports agent and is rated by The Athletic’s as one of the Top-50 NFL difference-makers under the age of 40.
      Learning his coaching skills at Mooney as an assistant coach for the Cards was P.J. Fecko, who took over the helm of Cardinal grid fortunes following Bucci’s retirement. Fecko, who served as an assistant coach under Bucci, led Mooney to four state championships in 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2011, 2009; and the Cards also finished as the state runner-up in 2005, 2007 and 2013.
      Fecko now serves as the new Director of Athletics and Student Experience for the Youngstown City School District.
     
      THERE WAS NOTHING LIKE IT! Pictured is former Cardinal Mooney head football coach and athletic director Don Bucci at his office. Walking into that room was like walking into the history of Mooney football as it was cluttered with photos, sports stories and pictures of all his players. And Mr. Bucci treated everyone who entered with courtesy and kindness.