Clairton High School football coach Wayne Wade is the Steelers High School Coach of the Year and the team's nominee for the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year.
Wade, who is in his 12th season as the school's coach, guided his team to the 2025 Class A PIAA State Championship this year, defeating Bishop Guilfoyle, 35-3, in a game dominated by the defense.
This is the first state championship that Wade has led Clairton to, while the school has won five in their history.
"Coach Wade has been one of the best coaches in Western Pennsylvania over his tenure at Clairton, but this year, it all seemed to come together for them," said Mike Marchinsky, the Steelers senior manager of Alumni Relations and Youth Football. "I go back to last fall when Commissioner Roger Goodell and Curtis Martin stopped by to visit with them, they soaked that entire experience in as a team.
"And then we had a chance to see how good they could be this summer at our Nike/Steelers 11-On that they won. They just had some great team speed and chemistry from that event in June. We were also lucky enough to have them and Imani for our Steelers Showcase Game of the Week, when they kicked off their season in their newly renovated Tyler Boyd Stadium.
"They followed up that tough Week 0 loss with ten straight shutout wins, which is very difficult to do at any level, and that obviously shows how talented and well-coached they are. To see Coach Wade get another WPIAL Championship and his first PIAA Championship as head coach at his alma mater, you could see it meant a lot to him for his program."
Clairton won the WPIAL Class 1A Championship game at Acrisure Stadium, defeated Laurel, 8-6, for the school's 15th WPIAL Championship.
"It started back in February for us," said Wade about winning the WPIAL Championship. "We lost down here last year, we took two months off, and we came back and really grinded. The kids have done such an excellent job this year. This may be one of the hardest working teams I've ever coached."
Giant Eagle and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will provide a $1,500 contribution to the Clairton football program, and the Steelers and the NFL Foundation will contribute $2,000 to the Clairton football program.
The NFL will recognize two overall winners, one representing the AFC and one the NFC for the Don Shula Award, named after the late Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame Coach Don Shula.
The NFL Foundation and Nike will present the two winners a $15,000 award to their high school football programs and a $10,000 cash award. The other 30 club nominees will all receive a $1,000 cash award. They will also attend Super Bowl LX in San Francisco as special guests of the NFL.
