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top five in total defense one year in the [Football Championship Subdivision], and so it worked out well." One day, Paterno called him out of the blue. Goganious had kept in touch with his Penn State position coach, Joe Sarra, but Paterno surprised him. "He said he was just checking in with me. Asked what my goals were. Asked about my family. Stuff like that. He wanted to make sure I was doing this for the right reasons. It was totally unexpected but it was encour- aging. In hindsight, I wish I had picked up the phone and called Joe when I left the NFL." Goganious was also being encouraged by Terry Smith, who had become a highly successful coach at his own alma mater, Gateway High School in suburban Pitts- burgh, and was now residing in Gogan- ious's recruiting territory for Hampton. "We would talk about coaching and we would bounce stuff off each other," Goganious said. "I signed one of Terry's kids to play linebacker for me. Delbert Tyler was his name. He played three or four years. The only issue at Hampton was that my wife and I found out we were having a little one two weeks after I took the job and I knew I eventually had to get back to the D.C. area where my wife and child were." Goganious had met his wife, Ingrid, in 2000 on a blind date back home. She was then a Hampton graduate student major- ing in speech therapy and for the past few years has been a speech therapist under contract with the District of Columbia's public school system. Their only child, Lauren, is now 8 years old. About four years after her birth, Goganious found the coaching job he needed to join his wife and daughter in Washington. It was an- other former Penn State teammate – de- fensive lineman Tyoka Jackson – who helped make it happen. Jackson, who still ranks fourth in school history with 24.5 career sacks, called and told him to apply for the head coaching vacancy that had just opened at Jackson's high school, Bishop McNamara, a Catholic school known for its academics and athletics. "I sent my stuff in and had three inter- views for that particular job, which in- cluded being the assistant athletic director." Goganious recalled. "I met with a committee and athletic director and the principal and the president. I got the job and we did well. They hadn't made the playoffs in three years, and in my second year we were in the playoffs. We also got football scholarships for 27 or 28 kids. I even had a young lady who was my extra- point kicker for two years, and was pretty good, who got a scholarship for soccer and track." However, Goganious's teams could not beat the conference powerhouses De- Matha, Gonzaga and Good Counsel. After a 4-6 finish last season, which put his four-year record at 18-22, Goganious was fired in a move that surprised him and many of his supporters. "It was more small things that they saw that we needed some improvement on," Goganious told The Washington Post when the newspaper revealed the news on Dec. 22. "I didn't think so. We agreed to disagree. They just wanted to go in a dif- ferent direction." Several fans reacted on the Post website, with one writing, "I don't believe they gave the man enough time to turn the program completely around," and another stating, "Good coach and even better person. He did what he could with a bad administration…" Three memorable games Goganious's patience, persistence and willingness to adjust to his circumstances are characteristics that marked his years at Penn State, too. Former Nittany Lion assistant Jim Caldwell, now the head coach of the Detroit Lions, recruited him out of the talent-rich Chesapeake-Rich- mond area. The area also produced Dar- ren Perry, a member of Goganious's

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