The Youngstown City School District (YCSD) announced Thursday that, pending board approval, Seth Antram will be the first head football coach of Youngstown High School, which is set to open next fall after the consolidation of East and Chaney at the end of the academic year.

Antram has been the Chaney head coach since before the 2022 season, when he left the same position at Boardman to lead the Cowboys. In four seasons at Chaney, he went 22-18, made two playoff appearances and had the first 10-win season for the program in 30 years.

Before his one-year stint at Boardman, Antram, who is the dean of students at Chaney, was the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator as the program returned from a period of inactivity.

“I’ve been in the district for 10 years, in the building either as a teacher, as a dean and coaching here for six or seven years total, back here for four years as the head coach and was here as an assistant for three seasons before that,” Antram said. “I just wanted to stick this thing out with the kids and the players we have. And I think it could be a really good situation. We have some great athletes and great kids coming from both schools. It was really intriguing.”

In addition to Antram’s appointment, the district announced that P.J. Fecko, the former Cardinal Mooney head football coach and current YCSD athletic director, will be the Defenders’ “general manager” and “serve as a direct, pivotal partner to the coaching staff and athletics team.”

Fecko, who won four state championships and made three more state title games in 20 years at Mooney, said his new role will certainly be more “hands-on” than that of a typical athletic director, and it will allow him to lend his vast coaching experience not only to the football program on a day-to-day basis, but other sports as well.

“We’re in a very unique situation where we are literally starting a football program from scratch,” Fecko said. “People say that when they get hired because maybe it’s been dormant as far as wins and losses and things like that in the past, but we are literally starting a new school and a new football program. This is a monumental task. … It’s going to take a lot of effort from a lot of different people, and I happen to be one of those people that is going to help. I obviously [have] years of experience as a head coach and seeing all the different pitfalls and things that you need to try to avoid and things that need to be done so we build this program and lay the foundation in the best possible way we can for all of the young athletes in Youngstown City schools.”

Antram admitted to not knowing all the details of Fecko’s position and how it would affect him, but he expressed positivity in having a former coach “to bounce ideas off of” and believes that Fecko’s new role could create a “faster line of communication” and help get things done “the right way.”

Fecko said that although the district appointed Antram the Youngstown coach, it did not specifically do so because of his experience at Chaney. Rather, he said, the hiring committee reviewed applications from and interviewed candidates both from inside and outside the district to “come out with the best person for this new situation.”

The process in which the 2026 Defenders coaching staff will be hired will be similar to the one that resulted in Antram’s hiring, according to Fecko.

“We are going to find the best possible candidates to fill those roles on the staff,” Fecko said. “It could be within the district. It could be from outside the district. We are not going to limit ourselves to one school or the other, as far as limiting in that sense. It’s going to be an open application, and we’re going to find the best qualified folks we can find to help our young people succeed.”

Antram said that one of the biggest challenges he expects to face as the head coach of the new high school’s football team is managing what he hopes will be a much larger roster than he has been used to at Chaney. That challenge, though, could also prove to be a “blessing in disguise,” he said.

“There’s no preconceived notions. Everybody has a clean slate. All expectations are going to start from this point moving forward, and there’s a lot of good to that,” Antram said. “Like I said, that’s a challenge, but there’s a lot of positives in there. Everybody has a clean slate. We can establish expectations and grow this thing together. And I think the kids are ready for that responsibility, and I think they’re looking forward to it.”

The Defenders are expected to unite for offseason workouts after the holiday break and the conclusion of the OHSAA-mandated no-contact period, according to Antram, who, along with Fecko, expressed optimism and hope when talking about the message to the Youngstown team once united.

“I’m gonna let them know of all the potential that is out there for this merger and this consolidation. … We’ve been Chaney-East, but we’ve been Youngstown this whole time,” Antram said.

“These are exciting times,” Fecko said. “I mean, we are a part of history. We are embarking on the inaugural school year of a brand-new school in the City of Youngstown, and it’s exciting. It’s the first time in our city’s history that we have gotten to one, single high school. … And it’s not only exciting, but it’s a privilege to be a part of. And every athlete, every student, every employee should feel very proud and feel the privilege of being a part of something like this in its inaugural year.”