A young Matt Furjanic walked into the Robert Morris basketball offices one morning and found a fire extinguisher on his chair.
It was a gift from former Colonials coach Gus Krop, who wanted Furjanic to know his job was safe after an upset win at Penn State a night earlier.
“He said I was fireproof — for one year,” Furjanic said, laughing. “It was my second year on the job and we were struggling. We went 9-18, but we had a good finish. Looking back, the Penn State game probably saved my job.”
That second season at Robert Morris proved to be a turning point in a coaching career that has spanned four decades, six teams, 606 wins, three NCAA tournament appearances and endless stories. (Furjanic’s yarn about former Woodland Hills star and soon-to-be NFL Hall of Famer Jason Taylor is a classic).
In September, Furjanic will officially retire as the coach of Polk State College in Winter Haven, Fla., after posting a 319-214 record in 17 seasons. He was named the Suncoast Conference Coach of the Year six times.
His next venture is finding a job as an assistant.
“I still want to teach, I still want to be involved,” said Furjanic, who opted into Florida’s Deferred Retirement Option Program in 2012, thereby agreeing to retire within five years of making the deal. “I don’t need to be a head coach anymore; I’ve been one for 35 of my 40 years in this business. I have no ego. And I would welcome having less stress on me. They say you’re supposed to feel old at 66, but that’s not the case with me. I want to keep doing this.”
In 1979, Furjanic, then 28, replaced his former boss, Tom Weinrich, at Robert Morris. With no college coaching experience, he was tasked with overseeing a program that was one season removed from jumping from junior college to Division I.
Daunting? Yes. But for anyone who knew this Rankin-born/Rankin-bred coach, there was no panic in Furjanic. His blueprint of building around WPIAL talent was a winner.
In his third and fourth seasons, Furjanic led Robert Morris to its first NCAA tournament appearances.
And despite a rough introduction to the Big Dance — the Colonials lost by 32 to defending national champion Indiana — a program-defining moment occurred after the game.
This is when legendary Hoosiers coach Bob Knight spoke to the Colonials in the losing locker room.
“He said to our players, ‘From where your program came from, you guys have made a remarkable run,” said Furjanic, whose coaching stops have included Rankin High School, Robert Morris, Marist, Woodland Hills High, Pitt-Greensburg and Polk State. “He then said, ‘But you can’t just be excited about making it to the tournament. The goal is to win when you get there.”
A year later, the Colonials defeated Georgia Southern in an NCAA first-round game. Then, they nearly pulled off an upset against Purdue, losing by two at the buzzer.
Furjanic said the secret to the success of the 1982 and 1983 teams was the recruitment of Tom Parks of Belle Vernon High School. He correctly believed that if he could lure a talent like Parks, who was being recruited by Pitt and Duquesne, others from the region would follow. This caused Furjanic to pull out all the stops.
“I literally lived in Belle Vernon for a year,” Furjanic said. “I can tell you Tom Parks’ address right now. I had an inside track because Belle Vernon’s coach, Don Asmonga, was my aunt’s brother. So when coaches like Mike Rice of Duquesne and Tim Grgurich of Pitt would visit Tommy, Don would tell me. I used to stalk him. I’d park around the corner from his house. And when Mike Rice would drop Tommy off, I’d be at the door saying, ‘Hey Tommy, let’s get a sandwich.’”
Furjanic went on to land future stars such as Chipper Harris of Valley and Forest Grant of Beaver Falls. This made him a commodity on the coaching market. He eventually left Robert Morris after five seasons to take the job at Marist, where he led the 1985-86 team to the NCAA tournament. His two-year stint there was followed by jobs at Woodland Hills, Pitt-Greensburg and Polk State.
He also took a five-year hiatus from 1986-91 to focus on his family.
“I remember Gus Krop saying to me, ‘Don’t be like me where you worry about everyone else’s kids and one day your kids will be grown up,’” said Furjanic, a husband and father of two. “I was lucky after taking that break, because I was able to live in Rankin while I worked at Woodland Hills and Pitt-Greensburg.”
Furjanic has been inducted into five Halls of Fame. He also has sent 72 Polk State players to four-year schools, including 27 to Division I. His overall record is 606-411.
“Matt knows how to communicate with people, that’s why he’s so good at what he does,” said Parks, who resides in Plantation, Fla. “More importantly, he’s just a great guy.”
One of Furjanic’s more interesting moments occurred while at Woodland Hills. Convinced that Taylor’s future was in basketball, he pushed hard for the two-sport star to eschew a football scholarship.
Taylor, of course, went on to become a standout defensive end and the 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
“When he signed to play football at Akron, I said, ‘Jason, I hope you’re not making a mistake by not playing basketball,’” Furjanic said. “That shows you how smart I was.”
In a delicious twist, Furjanic will be a VIP guest when Taylor gets inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August.
“It’s going to be touching,” Furjanic said. “I’m really proud of all the players that I’ve coached. And when I see them achieve great things, I know it has all been worthwhile.”
First Published: June 30, 2017, 11:00 a.m.
