By Michael Love, TribLive
For years, Terry Bodnar coached a Carnegie Mellon defense that put toughness on display and made life difficult for opposing offenses.
For years, Terry Bodnar coached a Carnegie Mellon defense that put toughness on display and made life difficult for opposing offenses.
These days, the gameplan for the recently retired longtime Tartans defensive coordinator is spending relaxing days with his son, Jon, and his family in Texas and chasing down his grandchildren, Ellie, 4, and Ryan 2.
“Ellie has the toughness of a linebacker,” said Bodnar, a West Deer native and 1972 graduate of Deer Lakes. “Ryan is my nose tackle. He already weighs as much as his sister.”
Bodnar also has had the opportunity to take stock of what he accomplished over a career with one school that spanned the better part of four decades.
The announcement of Bodnar’s retirement from coaching in his 34th and final season as CMU defensive coordinator came in early November, and it gave the program the opportunity to reminisce and honor him over the final three games of the season.
Bodnar’s final game was a tough setback to Brevard in the ECAC Scotty Whitelaw Bowl on Nov. 23. The Tartans (8-3, 7-2 Presidents Athletic Conference) had won three in a row before that including a 24-21 victory over No. 20 and previously undefeated Case Western Reserve in the 34th annual Academic Bowl.
“I told both the (athletic director) and coach (Rich) Lackner over the summer that this was going to be it,” Bodnar said. “Coach Lackner tried to talk me into one more year, but I knew for sure this was going to be my last season. It was a good year.”
After the season, Bodnar hit the road recruiting for several weeks until right before Christmas. He did some extra recruiting in early January and was looking forward to what lay ahead in the new year.
But tragedy struck Jan. 9 when Bodnar’s wife of 43 years, Joan, an ICU nurse at UPMC Passavant before her retirement three years ago, died unexpectedly.
He said the support he and his family received during that tough time was overwhelming.
“I had professors, deans, athletic directors, assistant coaches, other sports coaches, players, so many people show up at the funeral home,” he said. “I heard from former players all over the country.”
Bodnar still taught classes at CMU, and his full retirement originally was to take effect June 30. But he made the decision to retire early and begin the plans to move from his West Deer home to Texas. It was something he and his wife were looking forward to doing to be closer to the grandchildren.
“They had someone covering my (weightlifting) classes, and they told me to take as much time as I needed, but I just wasn’t in the mindset to continue after what happened. I felt it was time,” said Bodnar, who moved to Texas in early March before the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
Bodnar said he has fond memories of coaching at Carnegie Mellon with colleagues who also enjoyed coaching success in the Alle-Kiski Valley, including Jim Marelli (Fox Chapel), Pat Johnston (Fox Chapel), Al Fletcher (Deer Lakes) and Bill Dillen (Freeport).
Fletcher’s son, Albie, a standout player at Deer Lakes and Carnegie Mellon, also coached with Bodnar in the Tartans program.
Bodnar also coached two seasons with son Jon, who joined the staff as an outside linebackers coach for the 2008 and ‘09 seasons and now works as a design engineer for a medical company in suburban Dallas.
Terry Bodnar was a part of the third Deer Lakes graduating class after the merger of East Deer-Frazier and West Deer high schools.
He started at center and linebacker on the Lancers football team and ran hurdles on the track team.
Bodnar began his teaching and coaching career in 1976 after graduating from Marietta, where he was a letterman at center and linebacker. He was hired at Carnegie Mellon in 1984 and settled into his long-term defensive coordinator position in 1986.
“Congrats to Coach B on his incredible career,” said Aaron Lewis, an All-American linebacker at Carnegie Mellon in 2005 and ‘06, at the time of Bodnar’s announcement in November.
“We knew we would always be in a position to make a play and would give the team a chance to win with Coach B on the sidelines.”
During his time at CMU, Bodnar helped put together defenses that contributed to Tartans teams which produced a 222-120-2 record with 12 conference titles and a pair of NCAA Division III playoff berths.
“I’ve had a lot of good groups at Carnegie Mellon, a lot of really good people,” Bodnar said. “I didn’t like to lose. That made me a good fit for Carnegie Mellon because the kids I coached there didn’t like to lose.”
Lackner praised his longtime coaching colleague.
“Quite frankly, we would’ve never have achieved the incredible results during that time without Terry’s expertise,” Lackner said at the time of Bodnar’s retirement announcement.
“His knowledge of defensive strategy and his ability to make adjustments on game day is unparalleled.”
Ben Gibboney, the defensive backs coach with the Tartans since 2015, was hired in February to replace Bodnar.
“I am very happy for him,” Bodnar said. “He’s going to do a great job just like he’s done the last several seasons.”