Making the transition: Prep coaches join IU's staff

Middle school physical education teacher in the mornings and afternoons. College football coach in the late afternoons and early evenings.\nThat was how Ted Huber spent his long work days in the early 1980s when he served as Lee Corso's defensive ends coach at IU.\nIn 1980, Huber left his job as Bloomington South football coach to join Corso's staff.\n"I had a secret desire to become a college coach," said Huber, who now coaches centers and guards at Ball State.\nIt's easy to forget Huber once coached at IU. Hundreds of players, dozens of assistants and three head coaches have come and gone since the time Huber and Corso left Bloomington.\nHuber's legacy, though, has resurfaced since coach Gerry DiNardo made the decision of adding high school coaches Mo Moriarity and Dino Mangiero to his staff earlier this month.\nUnlike Huber, Moriarity and Mangiero won't have to worry about teaching local middle-schoolers how to play dodgeball while trying to help a struggling program win games.\nMoriarity left a secure job as Bloomington South's football coach and athletic director to coach tight ends for DiNardo. Mangiero left his job as head coach at nationally ranked Poly Prep (Brooklyn N.Y.) High School to become IU's director of football operations.\nThe Hoosiers' staff also includes eight veteran college assistants. But the decision to hire two men with little collegiate experience might be the biggest gamble DiNardo has made during his two months as IU's coach. \n"It's been done before," DiNardo said. "Dino is in an administrative capacity. You find that a lot of high school coaches have to do those kinds of things. Plus, he's been on the other side of recruiting and brings a lot of experience. \n"Mo is a just a fabulous football coach. A lot of times high school coaches aren't interested in making the move. That's why it perhaps hasn't been done that much."\nFor both coaches, the decision to leave secure and rewarding jobs is a gamble. But it's a gamble defined by a compelling challenge. \nFrom Bloomington South to IU\nA day after DiNardo was hired in January, he discussed the local football scene with Moriarity.\nThe discussion opened DiNardo's plan to strengthen relations with Indiana high school coaches and players. Moriarity called DiNardo back a few hours later. After the conversation, Moriatity said it "hit him in the face" that he might like to coach at the next level.\nLess than three weeks later, Moriarity landed a job on DiNardo's staff.\n"I feel like I accomplished everything at the high school level that I can accomplish," said Moriarity, who led Bloomington South to state titles in 1993 and 1998. "Now, I'm going to the next level to see if I can accomplish anything there."\nWhat happened to Huber after his four seasons at IU demonstrates the insecure profession Moriarity is entering.\nWhen Corso was fired after the 1982 season, Huber joined Corso's staff at Northern Illinois in 1984. Huber coached at Northern Illinois from 1984-87 before returning to the high school level to coached at Warsaw (Ind.) for the next seven seasons. Since 1995, Huber has worked at Ball State.\nThe year-round commitment it took to compete at the college level challenged Huber during the early stages of his collegiate coaching career.\n"College football is divided into seasons," Huber said. "In the fall teams play, winter is recruiting, in the spring there's spring ball and by summer it's time to get ready for the fall. High school is like that, but on a smaller scale."\nLike Huber, Moriarity will have to get used to recruiting which has become a year-round task for college assistants.\n"To be honest, recruiting is one of the things I look forward to doing," Moriarity said.\nMoriarity is a former president of the Indiana High School Football Coaches Association and he has traveled to clinics throughout the state. Having someone with as much local knowledge on the staff should be help IU's in-state recruiting efforts.\n"From outside looking in, this is an excellent way for IU to get into the high schools," Huber said. "No one in high school is as well respected as Mo."\nFrom the East Coast To Midwest\nIU seems like a natural fit for Moriarity. \nHe played prep football at Martinsville High School. He was educated in the state. And he built his reputation coaching a few miles from Memorial Stadium. \nMangiero, though, is an East Coast man.\nHe grew up on Staten Island. He was an All-American defensive lineman at Rutgers University in New Jersey. After playing for three NFL teams during a seven-year professional career, Mangiero's high school coaching career started at St. Joseph's High School on Staten Island. Since 1994, Mangiero, 43, had coached Poly Prep, a private school in Brooklyn, to a 61-5-1record.\nTwo of Mangiero's three sons -- Christopher and Jimmy -- are still members of Poly Prep's football team, so leaving the Brooklyn school wasn't an easy decision.\n"I was very successful at Poly Prep, and I really enjoyed coaching there," Mangiero said. "But I wanted to step up to another level and check out how good I really am."\nFor a high school coach at a private school in New York, Mangiero accomplished about as much as he possibly could. His team lost just one game the past six seasons. In 2001, Poly Prep posted an 8-0 record and finished No. 10 in USA Today's final prep football rankings. The team also produced five Division I players, including IU recruits Jahkeen Gilmore and John Pannozzo.\nMangiero's first exposure to IU came in January when he visited Bloomington with Gilmore and Pannozzo. \nThe trip also reunited Mangiero with an old friend. When DiNardo was the head coach at Vanderbilt and LSU, Mangiero would visit his practices regularly. \n"Gerry saw how enthusiastic I was about the Indiana campus and when this came available he called me up," Mangiero said. "So I took a couple of days to think about it and I called back to accept."\nUnlike Moriarity, Mangiero won't do any hands-on coaching. Instead he will perform behind the scenes tasks such as scheduling, traveling, recruiting and player housing.\n"I wasn't sure I wanted to stay in coaching," Mangiero said. "I wanted to get into the administrative side. As a high school coach you get to do everything. I really enjoy the administrative part of it"