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Chris Escala

Sam Crilly and Tyrone Head Coach George Gripp

Tyrone Head Boys Varsity Basketball Coach George Gripp announced on May 2 that he is stepping down after taking the Golden Eagles under his wing for the past 17 seasons, posting a career coaching record of 276-129.

“It just felt like the time was right, I’ve been doing this a long time. I want to spend more time with my family and my granddaughter who’s six,” said Gripp, “My wife and I will be able to do some more traveling around the holidays. Typically for close to 20 years from October until March I was locked into basketball season.”

Gripp spent his entire coaching career at Tyrone, first at the junior high level, then four years as a varsity assistant, before taking the position as Tyrone’s head coach in 2005. 

In his head coaching career, Gripp had just one losing season, his first, at 11-13. He led Tyrone to seven Mountain League titles and a top-three finish in 15 of his 17 seasons.

Being a varsity coach for so long allowed Gripp to mold several generations of Tyrone athletes.

In 17 years, Gripp said he feels like he’s seen almost everything, on and off the court. 

“I have seen a lot in my years, from bringing the wrong color uniform to games or no uniform at all.  Forgetting your shoes, to scoring in the wrong basket,” said Gripp. 

According to Gripp, his most memorable moments on the court were wins against teams they weren’t supposed to beat, as well as heartbreaking losses. 

“Anytime we would go into a packed hostile gym or play a bigger school that no one ever gave us a chance to beat, but we would. Those nights are special, to see your players get rewarded for all the hard work and dedication they have put into the program,” said Gripp. “You remember the good wins, but like any coach will tell you, you remember those heartbreaking losses more than the good wins,” said Gripp.

An example of almost both at the same time occurred this season when Tyrone took on 17-1 Central Mountain. 

Tyrone came into the game as a heavy underdog. Few expected the Golden Eagles to stay in the fight all game, let alone win, but Gripp’s team played tough and took the game to the buzzer.  

Even though the game ended in a heartbreaking 76-73 loss on a just-missed buzzer-beater, the game exemplified Gripp’s career-long commitment to hard work and a never-give-up attitude. 

Many of Gripp’s former players, including his own children, credit him for his consistency and dedication.

“My dad deserves a lot of credit for how long he has coached, not only at the varsity level but also helping out at the YMCA and Rec Center, helping the junior high teams at the beginning of each season, and coaching both Damon and my elementary leagues and travel teams. He truly loves coaching the game of basketball,” said Gripp’s son Brandon. 

Gripp asked a lot from his players, holding two-hour practices every day, with a focus on the fundamentals of handling, shooting, and finishing. 

“Coach Gripp taught me that no matter how hard you think that you are working there is always someone else working harder. Put up the extra shots after practice and be the last person in the gym,” said former Tyrone player Parker Mitchell.

“He was hard on us, but he made us better,” said current sophomore Drew Escala. “Coach Gripp has a winning attitude and made us better,” added sophomore Logan Harpster.

Over the past 17 years under Gripp, Tyrone has been a consistent force in District 6. Tyrone made several trips to the PIAA playoffs and was always competitive at the District level. 

“Any good player will tell you it doesn’t come overnight. It’s about what you’re doing when no one is watching that makes or breaks a great player,” said Gripp.

Looking back, Gripp says he accomplished what he set out to do. 

“I took over 17 years ago and just wanted to make the Tyrone basketball team relevant. I think I have done that. I think in those 17 years, I have won (an average of) 16 or 17 games a year. We really never had a rebuilding season or had two or three down years. It just seemed like every year we were right in the mix,” said Gripp.

Gripp credits the great coaching that he had as a Tyrone athlete for his own coaching success. 

“I think it starts with the three coaches I had here at Tyrone, Dave Erney, Bill Abbott, and Tom Miller,” said Gripp. 

Gripp also thanks his family and his business partners for allowing him the flexibility and time necessary to coach a successful program.

“It certainly was a challenge, when we had days off you try to spend as much time with your family as possible. [Fortunately] my work schedule is very flexible, and thankfully my other partners in the business were very understanding during basketball season. I can’t thank my wife enough for everything she has done and sacrificed for me over the years to allow me to coach at Tyrone.”

One of the highlights of Gripp’s career was the opportunity to coach his sons Brandon (2014) and Damon (2021) and see his daughter, Nicole (2013), play for Tyrone. 

All three Gripps were very accomplished players, each was named MVP of the Mountain League and was an all-state selection. Amazingly, all three also reached the coveted 1,000 career point mark (see related story).  

Gripp’s youngest son Damon currently plays at Lock Haven University, and he hopes to see his son play a lot during the upcoming season. 

Tyrone Athletic Director Luke Rhoades appreciates everything that Gripp has done for the basketball program at Tyrone.

“Coach Gripp was committed to putting in the time to make the program very successful, and he’s going to be greatly missed,” said Rhoades.

Even though he’s stepping down, Gripp doesn’t use the term “retirement” and hopes to stay involved with Tyrone basketball. 

“[Rhoades] has graciously accepted if I wanted to stay on and volunteer in some way, whether that’s run open gyms or whatever, that could be possible. I understand the new coach, whoever it is, may not want me around, and that’s fine. But I told Luke I would be willing to stick around,” said Gripp. 

So even though he’s no longer leading the Golden Eagle program, don’t be surprised if you still see George Gripp opening the TAHS gym early on a cold winter morning.