McKeesport is currently dealing with a major shakeup of its high school football coaching staff. Head coach Matt Miller reportedly resigned from his role after the Pennsylvania school district chose not to rehire his assistants.<\/p>\n
This stems from an ongoing controversy that involves an NFL-adjacent murder trial.<\/p>\n
Some of the high school football<\/a> coaches could be allowed to return to the program at a later date. Everything is on pause. They were not fired. Just not rehired.<\/p>\n McKeesport High School is located in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania. It enrolls approximately 1,051 students in Grades 9-12. <\/p>\n The Tigers compete in Class 4A of the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League in Section 2, which is often referred to as the Greater Allegheny Conference, in District 7 of the PIAA. They are one of the better teams in the region.<\/p>\n McKeesport went 9-4 and reached the state championship game in 2025. The program has not finished with less than eight wins since Matt Miller was hired as head coach in 2016. It recorded multiple 11-win seasons in the last decade and rarely finishes worse than second in the district. The Tigers are legit!<\/p>\n Head coach Matt Miller reportedly resigned.<\/p>\n However, the 2026 high school football season is just a few months away and McKeesport does not have a coaching staff. A source close to the McKeesport Area School District told KDKA<\/a> that Miller has stepped down from his role. This comes after the school district decided not to rehire the rest of his staff.<\/p>\n Superintendent Donald MacFann addressed the rumors in a letter. He said that the school board did not fire any of the football coaches during a meeting on Wednesday. Rather, they voted to table the hiring (and rehiring) of football coaches due to personnel matters.<\/p>\n The coaches were not terminated. They were not rehired.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the hiring of football coaches has been tabled, all football-related activities will continue throughout the summer as scheduled. The District will make the necessary internal arrangements to ensure that football activities proceed in a normal manner and that student-athletes continue to have access to the opportunities and support they expect.\u201d<\/p>\n This decision to halt the hiring process stems from an ongoing controversy. It is two-fold.<\/p>\n First and foremost, former football player Allen Wright said that there is concern about Matt Miller\u2019s coaching decisions. He also alleges multiple cases of nepotism, from how he got the head coaching job to how Miller made his son the starting quarterback.<\/p>\n \u201cRegardless of who goes and speaks to him, you know it\u2019s always my way or the highway,\u201d Wright told KDKA. \u201cHe did not qualify to be a head coach. It was a few different people that said, \u2018Hey, we\u2019re going to put him in place.’\u201d<\/p>\n That is the least of the issue. There is a much larger concern afoot.<\/p>\n Members of the coaching staff are allegedly involved in a murder trial.<\/p>\n Isaac Smith was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder for the killing of Karli Short and her unborn child in McKeesport in September 2021. He will spend life behind bars without parole for killing a pregnant women he thought was carrying his child.<\/p>\n Karli Short is the daughter of former NFL and Penn State football player Brandon Short. Short, a two-time First Team All-Big Ten player, was born and raised in McKeesport.<\/p>\n Prosecutors told the court that Smith killed Short because he was concerned that his long-term girlfriend would find out about her pregnancy. A DNA test of the fetus\u2019s remains showed that Smith was not the father of the child Short was carrying.<\/p>\n \u201cFor that, I\u2019m grateful. My granddaughter wasn\u2019t murdered by her father. Her father didn\u2019t kill her; a murdering coward did. That is one small blessing in all of this,\u201d Brandon Short said.<\/p>\n Brandon Short also said that two men, at least one being a former teammate, testified as character witnesses on behalf of the man who killed his daughter. He also said that Smith and those two character witnesses were\/are members of the Church of Life in Christ. The congregation is headed by head football coach Matt Miller\u2019s father. Short, and former members of the church who also testified in court, claim the church acts more like a cult.<\/p>\n This is the McKeesport football situation\u2026 \u2014 Colin Dunlap (@colin_dunlap) June 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Short also revealed that at least one of the two character witnesses for Smith was an assistant football coach at McKeesport High School on Miller\u2019s staff. That revelation led McKeesport school director Matthew Holtzman to call for the entire staff to resign.<\/p>\n \t\t
McKeesport great Brandon Short says members of staff are in a cult \u2013 veiled as a church. And lead pastor is father of the head coach.
And a coach was a character witness to the man who killed Short\u2019s daughter. pic.twitter.com\/OXHb8Wk8Sn<\/a><\/p>\n