A longtime defensive coordinator in the area, Scott Venick enters his first season as the secondary coach at California (PA) in 2022.
Venick spent the past 16 years at the defensive coordinator at Waynesburg, a nearby NCAA Division III program. The Yellow Jackets registered nine-consecutive winning seasons from 2006-14 and qualified for post-season play five times during that span. Waynesburg earned a share of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) title in 2012 while reaching double-digit wins for the first time since capturing the 1966 NAIA National Championship.
While with the Yellow Jackets, Venick mentored 40 All-PAC selections with defensive linemen Mike Czerwin (2007) and Brandon Fedorka (2013) both receiving Player of the Year honors as seniors. Czerwien led all NCAA divisions with 23.0 sacks and 34.5 TFL in 2007 while receiving All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Associated Press (AP) and D3football.com. Additionally, he had the distinction of breaking the NCAA all division record with 53.5 career sacks, which is still the most in NCAA Division III history and second-most across all divisions. Fedorka paced the PAC with 11.5 sacks and 21.5 TFL in 2013 while helping the Yellow Jackets make a third-straight appearance in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Bowl.
Venick, who also served as assistant head coach at Waynesburg from 2016-2021, aided in the development of four-time All-PAC First-Team honoree Bryan Gary. He received all-league laurels while a linebacker in 2010 before transitioning to defensive back for the remainder of his career. The Yellow Jackets also featured a pair of CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2014 with linebacker John Sikora earning the accolade for the second-straight year. Sikora has spent the past four years on the coaching staff at Stanford.
Prior to his time at Waynesburg, Venick served as the secondary coach for two seasons at nearby Washington & Jefferson, also a NCAA Division III program and member of the PAC. The Presidents made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Playoffs and set the school record with 12 wins in 2004 while advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Playoffs. W&J was among the national leaders with 27 interceptions in 2004, as the defense was anchored by two-time AFCA All-American Frank Pilato.
Venick, who played at Salem (W.Va.) under Rich Rodriguez, spent time as a coach at the scholastic level in the area before transitioning to college. He was an assistant coach at both Jefferson-Morgan and Riggold, where he later served two years as head coach.
A native of Greene County, Venick earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Waynesburg in 1993. He and his wife Julie reside in Rices Landing, Pennsylvania, with their three daughters, Emily, Kaylin and Riley. Twins Emily and Kaylin are sophomores on the Slippery Rock women’s basketball team.
