Bell makes difference at Canon-Mac
People impact everyone they encounter. The degrees just differ.
Rick Bell maintains that opinion. He once overhead two kids in a store discussing what would be written on their tombstones. One of them said that ‘he made a difference’ and Bell thought, ‘well, we all make a difference.’ It can either be positive or negative, he reasoned.
Immediately, Bell embraced his epitaph. “I want to make a positive difference,” he emphasized.
For more than 30 years, the Bethel Park native has influenced his players and pupils, positively. Currently, he serves as a social studies teacher and boys’ basketball coach at Canon-McMillan after a 14-year-old stint at Peters Township. Recently, he posted his 400th career victory, which ironically came against his alma mater. Heading into action this week, he’s at 411 wins and counting.
“When I meet my maker,” Bell began, “I don’t think God will ask how many games I won. He’ll want to know what kind of person you were and how many people you tried to help along the way. I hope my students and players walk away saying that ‘he made a positive difference in their lives.”
Bell sees and hears that when his former charges return and tell him, that they got into education or coaching because of the experience they had with him. He, too, has done the exact same thing to his mentors.
The oops moment
For Bell, it all started 53 years ago. Born on May 10, 1964, Marie and Anthony (Bud) Bell’s fourth son arrived after a 13-year hiatus in their childbearing years. At the time, the family lived in Castle Shannon. Buddy, the oldest, became a one-star general in the Air Force. He is retired and lives in Florida. Denny, who played football at Dormont High School, resides in Upper St. Clair. His daughter, Megan plays volleyball at Robert Morris University. Bob, who played basketball at Keystone Oaks, resides in Burgettstown. Denny and Bob worked in the car business before retiring.
Bell says the boys learned their work ethic from their parents.
“It was nice to have three older brothers who took you under their wing and showed you the way,” Bell said. “I learned so much from my brothers but we all learned a great lesson from our parents. You might be stronger, faster or taller than me but there is no reason in the world why anybody would out-work you. I’ve taken that lesson with me into coaching. We are going to out-work you.”
Despite the death of his father from a heart attack when he was only 7, things worked out for Bell once they settled into Bethel Park and he met the legendary Red Ryan, who became his high school coach. During his two-year stint as a starter, Bell played at the Pitt Fieldhouse and the now-defunct Civic Arena as the Hawks advanced deep into the playoffs, reaching the district and state semifinals.
Bell acknowledges Ryan played a critical role in his career. Except for his patented whistle that grabbed his players attention, Bell learned “all he knows” from Ryan, including how to treat people and to be a ‘gentleman’ at all times, even in the face of defeat.
Without hesitation Bell said, “Coach Ryan had the greatest influence on my live. He is the reason why I am a coach and a teacher at the high school level.”
Roundabout route
Bell took a circuitous route to his career. Recruited at one time by Duquesne University and other Division II and III programs, Bell initially attended the Naval Academy Prep School in the hopes of gaining better offers from Division I programs. “I went there for all the wrong reasons,” he said of the military academy. “You should go there because you want to be an officer and serve your country. So I did what Chuck Noll encouraged his players to do. I got on with my life’s work.”
Knowing realistically he was not good enough to play there because the university was moving into the Big East Conference, Bell attended Pitt and earned a degree in secondary education with an emphasis in social studies. He is now the head of the department at Canon-McMillan, while also teaching psychology courses and leadership classes.
Upon his graduation from Pitt in 1988, he embarked on his coaching career He served as a graduate assistant at Pitt and did a stint at St Francis of Loretto.
“Obviously, I got involved in coaching because I loved the game of basketball,” he said, “but college coaching opened my eyes. It is not as glamorous as you see it on TV. I was not cut out to be a college coach.”
Since Bell was doing his student teaching at Peters Township and he enjoyed that, he settled into the high school world of coach. “The rest,” he said with a laugh, “is history.”
After spending two seasons as an assistant girls’ basketball coach at his alma mater, Bell made the jump to boys’ basketball, joining Rick Stellfox’s staff at Peters Township. When Stellfox left for a better opportunity in the financial planning business, Bell, at 22 became one of the youngest head coaches at the time. In 13 seasons, he guided the Indians to 11 WPIAL and five PIAA playoff appearances. His teams captured six section banners.
Bell recalls his most memorable season when the Indians posted a 26-4 record in 1997. The squad featured Teal Stellfox at point guard; Tim Montgomery, who played soccer at Pitt, at the No. 2 slot; Tony Dominick, who now teaches at the Canon-McMillan Middle School; Pete Smith at small forward; Henry Klinar, who is a fourth-grade travel coach in the Canon-McMillan School District. Ryan Happe and Matt Lockhart served as key reserves.
“We had a great team and a great rotation,” Bell noted of the team that lost only to Butler, Aliquippa, which played in the state finals, Blackhawk and Chartiers Valley.
“We had lost in overtime to Blackhawk in the WPIAL semifinals and then made a run in the state tournament,” said Bell of what he remembered as the start of one of the best weeks of his life. The Indians beat Peabody on a Tuesday. His daughter, Angela, 20, was born on a Thursday and Peters Township lost in double overtime on Friday to the Colts.
“It was an awesome week and I think the farthest a team from Peters Township advanced but for my daughter to be born during that run was pretty special.”
Special family
Family is special to Bell. He married his wife, Mary, on Aug. 5 in 1989. In addition to Angela, who is a junior at Duquesne aspiring to be an educator like her father, the couple has one son. R.J. is named for his dad, Richard, and Bell’s father-in-law, James Palmer, who was the beloved principal at Seton-La Salle High School. R.J. is an 18-year-old freshman on the Geneva basketball team.
“My wife deserves a medal for putting up with me,” Bell said with a laugh. Then he drew serious about the closeness of the clan. “This is going to sound syrupy but my wife is my best friend and our kids, like a lot of parents, I’m a big believer that when you have children it’s not abut the legacy you leave as a teacher or a coach but the type of kids you raised. We get compliments about the people our kids are, not the students or athletes they were. Of course you want them to be those but you want most for them to be good kids. My wife has a great line,” he continued. “To the best of our knowledge and up to this point, they have made good decisions. In this day and age, there are so many choices out there. We’ve been blest. Our kids are healthy and happy.”
Health has prevented some of Bell’s teams at Canon-McMillan to excel until this winter. The Big Macs are on their way to winning their first section banner since 1973. They are 9-1 in the division and 18-1 overall. That record exceeds the victories won by the 1973 team, which finished 16-6 overall after falling to Keystone Oaks, 61-53, in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.
Since his 2008 team reached the Elite Eight in the WPIAL tournament and qualified for the state playoffs, the Big Macs have suffered several setbacks. They lost an assistant coach, Brian Anselmino, in a car accident. Chad Hagan experienced a cardiac problem during another season. And, Luke Blanock was diagnosed with cancer and died.
Bell, who arrived at Canon-McMillan during the 2001-02 school year, said that his first seven years were a mess. Manuel Pihakis forewarned Bell. The school board member told Bell when he was hired that ‘this is the worst boys’ basketball job in Pennsylvania.’ In the early years it seemed that way. “We’d take three steps forward then four or five back,” Bell said.
“But that’s in my DNA,” he continued. “I thrive on challenge.”
Biggest challenge
The season Luke Blanock was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma and thereafter proved the biggest challenges for Bell. After enduring 32 months battling the disease, Blanock of Cecil died at age 19 on Aug. 9, 2016. Blanock excelled at baseball as well as basketball.
“Luke was taking the world by storm,” Bell said of when he fell ill. “Obviously it was a blow to his family,” he added of his parents, Kurt and Janice, “as well as our team and program.”
Blanock’s life and battle changed Bell…for the better. On his left wrist, he wears a blue ‘Luke Strong’ bracelet. He vows to be buried with it. He never takes it off.
“Why?” he asked himself and then replied in the same breath, “Because I don’t want to lose perspective. When I have a bad day, I look at the bracelet and stop feeling sorry for myself. When you go through something like Luke did, it puts things in the proper perspective for you. If Luke can do what he did, then I can get through whatever is bothering me.”
Today, on the basketball court, Bell has few worries. His team is ranked No. 1. He is enthused that his milestone win came against his alma mater. “It was neat. Means a lot to get it against a school I went to and that made it extra special because I’ll always remember that.
“Quite honestly, we were just glad to get the win,” Bell said. He felt the same way in last week’s rematch when the Big Macs overcame a 16-point deficit with six minutes to play to edge the Hawks, 58-57. “It keeps us on track for where we want to be.”
At 53, Bell doesn’t want to start over. He says he doesn’t have the energy to revive another high school basketball program. He’s proud of his track record and the players that he is producing.
“I may be the captain of this ship but I have had a lot of great coaches, parents and players,” Bell said. “The thing that makes me most proud is that we have been able to do something special at two different schools. But I am really excited about this year’s team. It’s such a good story but it’s such a special group. They are so close. Tight-knit,” he emphasized. “No one cares who scores or gets the recognition. They just want to win. In this day and age that’s pretty cool. But not surprising,” Bell added. “Because while they are pretty good players, they are even better people.”
For Bell, that’s making all the difference. Positively.