Aliquippa has a winning reputation when it comes to football. But in the classroom, that wasn't always the case.
"We probably had like maybe 10-13 students ineligible or on study table," says senior Quentin Goode of the yearly struggles the program has had from an academic standpoint.
When Mike Warfield took over as head coach in 2018, the Aliquippa grad knew he had to change the culture.
"That was my main focus," he says. "I wasn't considered about wins and losses. How can I get my kids to focus on the next step in life?"
And to do that, he needed a right-hand woman, Tiffany Akins.
"We hired a coach, and academic coach, last year," Warfield says. "Our first female coach, just to focus on our kids academically."
Players like Goode have noticed a difference.
"Ever since (Warfield) got here, he's been on us day and night about it," he says. "Get your grades right, get your schoolwork right, do what we do in school, and we're going to be alright."
And they're seeing big-time results. Senior defensive back Brandon Banks just committed to Yale, one of 20 Division I football offers.
"My parents, they were always installing grades, grades, grades, and then football," he says. "The grades come first. With grades, you can do anything. Having that student-athlete name means a lot to me."
Aliquippa has sent about a dozen people to the NFL, but much fewer to an Ivy League school.
Banks becomes the third Aliquippa student to attend an Ivy League school, and the first since the 1980's.
"I think Brandon is an example that if you do the right things, if you follow your goals, if you stay focused through it, keep your head down, don't get distracted, and just continuously work every day, that this is possible," Warfield says. "It's just a great example of what we're trying to do here."
The message resonates inside the locker room, as the Quips look to change minds on the outside.
Football is a very big thing at Aliquippa, but it's not everything.
"We're just trying to change the narrative that the Quips are just athletes," Banks says. "Coach (Warfield) and the other coaches, they really install grades and academics so that we can change the narrative."
