Like father, like son.

In 1970, Mt. Lebanon High School football coach Art Walker was selected to lead the West All-Stars in the Big 33 Classic in Hershey, Pa.

Now comes Walker's son, Artie, the head coach at North Allegheny High School. He will be an assistant for the Pennsylvania team that will take on the Ohio All-Stars in the Big 33 Classic at 7 p.m. June 14 at Hersheypark Stadium.

These days a coach can't be the Pennsylvania squad's head coach in the Big 33 Classic without first serving as an assistant. After this year, Walker will be eligible to be Pennsylvania's head coach, although that probably will not happen for a while.

"I think it's an honor just to be named to the [Pennsylvania] staff," the younger Walker said. "I can understand why they [Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association] want you to serve as an assistant first so you can be apart of the process before being in charge."

He is no stranger to all-star football games.

Walker was the West's head coach in the PSFCA's East-West game in Altoona in 2005. He did that after serving as an assistant on the West team.

The East defeated the West, 27-7, in 2005. When his father coached the West team in the Big 33 in 1970 the East won, 15-0.

Jim Morgans of Parkland High School in Allentown is Pennsylvania's head coach this year. That follows the policy of alternating head coaches between the western and eastern sides of the state. South Park High School's Tom Loughran was the Pennsylvania head coach last year.

Also on the Pennsylvania coaching staff for this year's classic are Downingtown's Mike Milano, Pottsgrove's Rick Pennypacker, Gettysburg's Sam Leedy and Altoona's Phil Riccio.

Assistants help select the players for the Pennsylvania team. Since he is the only member of the staff from Western Pennsylvania, Walker says he has the responsibility to push area players.

The Pennsylvania coaches were to meet this past weekend to select players for the squad.

"We've got a number of outstanding players on this side of the state, so I think we'll be well represented," Walker said. "But there is only room for so many players ... you can't pick everybody you'd like."

Walker's coaching resume is impressive and one of the reasons he was selected to the Pennsylvania staff. He was 61-23 in seven seasons at Central Catholic, winning WPIAL and PIAA Class AAAA titles in the process.

In three years at North Allegheny, he has compiled a 25-9 record. The Tigers were 11-1 in 2007 and lost to Gateway, 28-27, in the WPIAL Class AAAA semifinals.

Going into this weekend, Walker wasn't sure what his duties would be on the Pennsylvania staff. He knows he will be working with the offense and could end up calling the plays.

If Jeannette quarterback Terrelle Pryor is on the Pennsylvania squad -- rosters were not released as of Friday -- it could be an interesting week for Walker.

"I know that Jim Morgans wants to work with the offensive line in addition to being the head coach," he said. "That means it's between me and one of the other guys as to who will be the [offensive] coordinator. If it turns out to be me, I could have some fun calling plays for Terrelle."

Walker said his being named to the Pennsylvania staff isn't so much a reflection on his coaching ability as it is a recognition of the outstanding program he has at North Allegheny.

"You are selected for something like this because of your program's success, and nobody does it alone, especially at the Quad-A level," he said. "By accepting the position I'm doing it on the behalf of all of my coaches. We have a quality program here [at North Allegheny] because of the dedicated assistants I have."

The fact the Big 33 Classic has been moved to June -- the game used to be played in late July before college teams went to training camp -- means Walker will miss a week of preseason conditioning with his North Allegheny players. That might bother some coaches, but not him.

"I've got great assistants like defensive coordinator Doug Brinkley and Mike Buchert, who works with the offensive line, and Todd Fuller, who works with the linebackers, and John Haddad, who is with the defensive line, and Bob Ceh, who is with the defensive ends," he said. "Some of those guys have been head coaches themselves and I know they'll do a good job taking care of things while I'm gone for a week."