Matey will take it easy

Former Chaney High player, coach and athletic director Ed Matey spent his entire career at the school.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ed Matey has ridden off into the sunset, leaving 35 years at Chaney High behind.
Matey isn't sure where his life will lead him now. He will spend time riding his motorcycle with wife Sherry.
"I'm going to take it easy for a while," Matey said.
That, he deserves.
Saying goodbye
Matey, 56, retired last June after spending his entire career at Chaney, from which he graduated in 1963. He will be honored at the Chaney-Canton Timken football game Thursday at Stambaugh Stadium.
"To come back to the high school you graduated from, it's a special thing to do," Matey said.
"Chaney was always a good place for me," he added. "We had good kids. I was fortunate to be surrounded by good coaches and good people."
During his time at Chaney, Matey went from being a student, to assistant coach and teacher, to head football coach, to athletic director, to assistant principal.
Matey was an All-City Series defensive middle guard for the Cowboys who later played at Youngstown State from 1963-66.
"He was an outstanding player here," said Ron Berdis, the current Chaney football coach who was an assistant to Matey for nearly 10 years before replacing him.
"When I was growing up, he was one of the first premier players to come out of that era."
With aspirations of becoming a coach, Matey was given his first opportunity at Chaney by then-coach Red Angelo. For the next four years, Matey was Angelo's assistant.
Opportunity presented
When Angelo stepped down, it appeared the job would be filled by John Pelusi.
"But he never wanted to be the head coach," Matey said of Pelusi. "When Red left, he did everything he could to make me the head coach."
Matey spent the next 17 years as Chaney's head coach.
"Red had a great influence on my career," Matey said. "Playing for him and then going back and coaching for him, I was just plain fortunate to be there at that time."
Former NFL players Matt Cavanaugh, Michael Zordich and Jerry Olsavsky passed through Chaney during Matey's tenure. He remembers them and so many more.
"Being involved in coaching, you get a side of high school that you don't really get if you're a teacher," said Matey, who also taught social studies.
"You develop such a relationship with parents, with young men, people I would have never had the opportunity to be friends with had I not coached."
Matey led Chaney's 1975 team to a 10-0 record, which was capped with a victory over unbeaten Cardinal Mooney. It ranks as one of Matey's best teams.
By the time Matey finished his 17th football season at Chaney, he felt the need for change.
"When you're a football coach, your entire life has to be football. You have no time off," he said. "At that point, I was ready to start a new style of life."
New roles
Just as he succeeded Angelo as Chaney's football coach, Matey did the same as athletic director for the next 14 years.
The new position challenged him. City schools were closing, and scheduling became more difficult.
"The organizational skills learned as a coach, I used as an athletic director," Matey said. "The transition was easy, but as far as judging one job to another, being athletic director is a tough job, especially in Youngstown because you're still teaching five classes."
Matey's final transition at Chaney came when he was promoted to assistant principal, a position he held for four years before retiring in 2001.
"It's a whole different world," he said. "As the assistant principal, discipline is your main occupation. But I enjoyed the transition, and I have an appreciation for the people in the front offices."
And it is the people at Chaney who have an appreciation for a man whose loyalty spanned more than three decades.
"He was one of those guys who built the Chaney tradition," said Chaney athletic director Jim Mullally, who was one of Matey's students. "People like Ed built Chaney High School."
richesson@vindy.com