Sep 15, 2014 3 min read

Canon-McMillan selected a familiar face to take its athletic director position.

Frank Vulcano, who worked as athletic director at Chartiers Valley and Elizabeth Forward and served as director of the prestigious Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament, was hired at Monday night’s school board meeting.

Vulcano, 51, replaces Guy Montecalvo, who retired effective Aug. 30 but volunteered to help with the transition period.

“I’ve been a part of the Powerade tournament for the past 10 years or so, and I’ve always felt like a part of the staff,” said Vulcano. “Now, I will be part of the staff. I’m excited to have this opportunity.”

Vulcano said he is familiar with C-M’s athletic programs and he wants to nurture the ones that are struggling and continue to support the ones that are successful.

“I want to concentrate on the sports that are not winning, in particular football,” he said. “I want to get them going in the right direction. I’m going to evaluate them and make recommendations to make them better.”

Vulcano said one key is to attract more potential athletes.

“We are the 10th largest school in the WPIAL,” he said. “So there is no reason why we can’t get those programs to where the (successful) ones are now.”

And Montecalvo, who served as a coach and athletic director in his 36 years in education, is willing to help.

“He told me I’m just a phone call away,” said Vulcano. “He’s agreed to sit down and talk with me. We have a real good relationship. I imagine the internal operations of this district are run differently than Chartiers Valley. I want to get into the way Canon-McMillan does things. He can help me with that.”

Vulcano was a multi-sport athlete before graduating from Chartiers-Houston High School in 1981. He attended Pitt before transferring to California University, where he was a three-year starting linebacker and helped the Vulcans to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship in 1985.

He was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 2005.

Vulcano spent 10 years as transportation director, attendance coordinator and coordinator of support services at Trinity High School and also worked in a similar capacity at Chartiers-Houston. He was an assistant football coach on Ted Petersen’s staff at Trinity and also coached track.

Vulcano spent seven years as Elizabeth Forward’s athletic director before taking the position at Chartiers Valley in 2006.

While Vulcano was at Chartiers Valley, the Colts won 29 section titles in various sports and the boys basketball team won the WPIAL Class AAA championship in 2010. Vulcano was named WPIAL Athletic Director of the Year for the 2012-13 school year.

“The experienced I gained at Chartiers Valley was invaluable,” he said. “We had very successful teams and I saw how coaches worked. I want to carry that on to Canon-McMillan.”