Sometimes a football coach needs a “good cop” to help with the task at hand.
Robert “Bobby” Langan, was well-suited for that role.
A lifelong West Pittston resident who passed away Jan. 3, Langan was a standout athlete at Wyoming Area in the school’s early years and later put his athletic knowledge to use as a teacher and coach at his alma mater and Lake-Lehman.
“He was nurturing,” said Paul Marranca, the winningest coach in Wyoming Area history who had Langan on his staff as an assistant coach. “I was probably the bad cop and he was the good cop.”
When the opportunity presented itself, Marranca encouraged Langan to pursue the chance to be a head coach at Lake-Lehman, a role he held from 1999 through 2003.
“He was a great coach,” Marranca said. “He got along well with kids.
“He was sound fundamentally.”
Langan also coached other sports.
First, he produced a memorable playing career.
When the Wyoming Area Football Alumni Association created its Ring of Pride in 1998 to honor the program’s history, Langan was one of the six original inductees.
Langan, a 1971 graduate, was a Wyoming Valley Conference Most Valuable Player at tailback. His play at Wyoming Area earned Langan Pennsylvania Big 33 recognition and led to a playing career at Bucknell University.
At Bucknell, Langan was a three-year starter. He led the team in rushing in his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, he was named Most Valuable Player of the team by the Bucknell Bison Club and the Lewisburg Touchdown Club.
“He was an outstanding back and talent,” said Marranca, who preceded Langan at Wyoming Area.
Langan returned home after Bucknell. He was an assistant football coach and teacher at Wyoming Area from 1975 to 1985. He moved to Lake-Lehman in 1985 and was assistant coach through the 1998 season before becoming a head coach and eventually going head-to-head with Marranca.
