DUNMORE -- When the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers take the field Sunday for the Super Bowl, a man from our area will be on the sidelines.
A local high school football standout from 40 years ago is now the defensive coordinator for San Francisco.
Victor Fangio played for the Dunmore Bucks in the 1970's. His family still calls Dunmore home, and while he's coaching in his first Super Bowl, the man who coached him all those years ago will be there cheering him on. We caught up with Fangio's high school coach on Thursday.
The 49ers will play for a sixth Super Bowl title, but it will be a first for their defensive coordinator Victor Fangio. A new high for his career that started at Dunmore High School, and is still memorialized in a trophy case outside the school gym.
"To have someone go into the National Football League is quite an honor. Then to have them play in the Super Bowl, it's the epitome of what it's going to be. So, really, we're thrilled, and we can't wait to get there," said Jack Henzes, Dunmore football coach.
Henzes coached Fangio almost 40 years ago and later hired him as an assistant coach. We caught up with Henzes just hours before he left for the Super Bowl himself. He has tickets, that he got coincidentally, before he knew his former quarterback would be on the sidelines.
Henzes said Fangio has never once forgotten where he got his start, and even now provides some NFL knowledge to the Bucks defense.
"No question about it, he's much more intelligent than I am! He's on the phone with us during the season. I talk to him on the phone about once every two weeks, things that they do we try to incorporate into our defense," said Henzes.
Henzes doesn't claim to have taught the 49ers defensive coordinator all he knows. Henzes just pointed Fangio in the right direction, and his old coach is thrilled it's lead both of them to the Super Bowl.
"Hope I can get on the sidelines, I got to put a little pressure on Victor for that! Do some sideline passes! We'll see what happens, but we're just thrilled that he's in it, wishing him the best of luck and hoping everything works out the best for them," said Henzes.
Coach Henzes said though he's rooting for the 49ers, he'll be wearing Dunmore Bucks' colors on Sunday.