After eight years heading the Fox Chapel Area High School football program, and a career total of nearly 50 years coaching the sport, Tom Loughran has announced his retirement from coaching at Fox Chapel Area.
Throughout those nearly five decades, Coach Loughran has been one of the most respected and experienced coaches in the WPIAL. He began his career as an assistant at Central Catholic, his alma mater; moved on to Penn Hills; spent a year at Duquesne University; and then spent 40 years as a head coach, 32 of them at South Park High School, before joining the Foxes program.
In his years with the Foxes, Loughran was instrumental in achieving the program’s best overall record in 15 years and led his players to three WPIAL Class 5A playoff appearances, including last season’s postseason, in which the Foxes won their first playoff game in 24 years. He celebrated his milestone 200th career win during the 2021 season and, in true Loughran form, humbly said it had been made possible because of his players, not because he was their head coach.
Throughout his career, Coach Loughran was voted 16 times as coach of the year, including twice as the WPIAL Class 5A Conference Coach of the Year (2017 and 2021) during his tenure at Fox Chapel Area High School. In 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers also honored him as coach of the week for the team’s win over Woodland Hills.
When Coach Loughran was at South Park High School, where he was also a well-respected math teacher, he was named twice each as coach of the year by the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. There, he led three teams to undefeated regular seasons. His teams also won the Class AA Century Conference and WPIAL championships, and his 1997 and 2005 teams were PIAA champions.
Over the years, Loughran’s leadership earned him many additional awards. He was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Tri-Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame and was a coach for its 2013 all-star game. He also helped coach the Big 33 Pennsylvania team in its 50th annual football game versus Ohio’s all-star team. Both teams were victorious in their respective competitions. The eastern chapter of the Football Officials Association previously named Loughran coach of the year.
“Tom came to us at a time when we were looking for a coach that could offer some stability to the program and, fortunately for Fox Chapel Area, he had just retired from teaching and moved from the South Hills to our area,” says Fox Chapel Area School District Athletic Director Michael O’Brien. “He brought a lot of heart and soul to our program, and we were very fortunate that he accepted the position as our head coach, because he has certainly impacted our students for the better, as well as built a firm foundation for the program, in his time here.”
“Throughout his career, Tom has been a wonderful role model for thousands of young men. While he attained many lofty football achievements during his long career, he is a teacher at heart, and that’s what makes him so good at what he does. His main goal has always been to prepare his players for their lives beyond football by instilling the values of responsibility, accountability, integrity, respect, and the value of teamwork. Tom will be missed, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”
