It didn’t take long for word to spread that Northgate was looking for a new head football coach, and within weeks of head coach Mike Pipak submitting his letter of resignation, the school board was ready to name his replacement.

T.J. Wiley was hired Monday by the board, just minutes after members voted to accept the resignation of Pipak, who has led a troubled Northgate program for the last few years.

Wiley does not have much experience as a head coach, but there is no denying that football -- and coaching -- is in his blood.

The new head Flame spent the 2009-10 season as head coach at Penn-Trafford, but resigned at the end of the season, citing personal reasons including the oppressive commute from his home in Allison Park to his teaching job in Robinson to the coaching gig in Penn-Trafford.

Prior to that, he had been an assistant coach at Shaler for four seasons after graduating from Thiel College, where he had been a starting quarterback for three years.

Wiley’s football and coaching roots go even deeper, however. His father, John, was a longtime assistant coach at North Hills, and he is the godson of North Hills alum and former Buffalo Bills safety Mark Kelso.