As many old adages like to assert, family comes first.
For Jeff Lang, that philosophy was at the forefront of his thinking when he made the decision to resign as head football coach at Gov. Mifflin on Wednesday in order to help maintain his wife’s family business at Whippoorwill Campground in Lehighton.
“The famous football quote is ‘God, family, football, in that order,’ right?” Lang said. “And it just came to be a situation that family circumstances popped up that need me to step away from the game because of time commitments.
“Basically, it comes down to my wife (Holly) is an only child and her father passed away about a year and a half ago. We got a couple hundred acres and about 60 acres of that is (made up) of 80 campground sites.
“So I’m basically moving on to land management and property management. I got to spend too much time trying to take care of everything and am going to go help the family business.”
In addition to stepping away from football, Lang also plans to retire as a science teacher in the Gov. Mifflin School District — a position he has held since 1992 — at the end of the school year. He said does not have any immediate plans to return to either any time soon, with his focus solely on the family business.
“Obviously, family takes a big hit when you’re a coach,” Lang said. “My wife, she’s a saint, and the kids, there’s things I want to do with them as well. I’ll most likely be retiring from education as well at the end of the year. So it’s not like I’m stepping away from just football, it will be from everything here so I can focus on stuff up there.”
Lang has been coaching for 33 years, seven as head coach of the Mustangs.
Lang compiled a 50-26 record and led Mifflin to its first District 3 championship, in Class 5A in 2020, and to Berks Section I titles in 2016 (as interim head coach), 2019, 2020 and 2021.
He was named the Class 5A Coach of the Year by easternpafootball.com following the 2020 season.
Prior to being a head coach, Lang was Mifflin’s offensive line coach under Mick Vecchio, who coached the Mustangs for 26 years. Starting in 1992, Lang developed a fondness for working with the lineman that carried on even as he grew into larger roles.
“In the end, even as a head coach, I’ll always be an offensive line coach,” said Lang, who has been inducted into the Berks Football Hall of Fame as an assistant. “It’s something I’ve cherished in life because I just love working with those guys. It’s gritty, it’s dirty, you got the long days of summer and you’re in the trenches hitting each other all practice. We created a lot of fun times and memories with those guys and I was always able to get them to totally buy into me and we loved each other.”
Lang thanked Vecchio, a five-time Berks Coach of the Year, for the special bond the two shared throughout his coaching career. Lang served as interim coach in 2016 when Vecchio took a leave of absence due to health considerations, then took over in 2018 after Vecchio resigned.
“Getting my start with Coach Vecchio, I owe everything I know about football to him,” Lang said. “When he brought me in here back in 1992, it was his second year as a head coach and it was him and I for many decades there.
“Everything I know about football I learned from him: the hard work and work ethic it takes and how to work with kids and get them to respect you, work with you and believe in the program. So I owe him a tremendous thank you.”
Last season, Lang led Gov. Mifflin to a 3-3 record in Section 2 and 5-6 record overall. The Mustangs lost to Pleasant Valley 28-19 in the Eastern Conference Class 5A/6A final.
After helping guide the Mustangs to many successful seasons, the relationships Lang developed with his players and colleagues will always hold a special place in his heart, he said.
“I have so many great relationships with so many guys from the past and I still keep in touch with them,” Lang said. “A lot of players I’ve coached have become teachers and coaches as well because they see what we do, so that really feels good. And the assistant coaches as well, a lot of them have stayed on for a long time and been here with us. So I’ve created some great relationships with guys that I’ll never forget. We’ll always stay in touch.”
Gov. Mifflin football coach Jeff Lang gets doused by his players in the final minute of the Mustangs’ win over Berks Catholic in 2020.
Source: Berkshire mont