Penn Hills hired Ron Graham as its football coach Tuesday night, which means the school now has two head coaches.

Ousted coach Neil Gordon has been told by school officials he is the coach until his contract runs out June 30. So, Gordon was still supervising players at weight-lifting sessions yesterday and said he will continue to act as coach, despite the school board announcing Graham's hiring. He described the whole ordeal as "preposterous" and got a little emotional when discussing it.

The Penn Hills school board opened Gordon's job in January, despite his 156-74-2 record in 21 years as coach, and despite the fact that Penn Hills is expected to have one of the best teams in the WPIAL next year. When the job was opened, school board president Erin Vecchio said the school wanted to go in a "different direction" and also said the board was listening to parents who wanted a change. She also said some community members wanted to win more.

"[The Penn Hills school board] got away with this, and it's just starting to settle in with me," Gordon said. "The fact that come August, I might not be at football camp ... if I talk about it for a couple more minutes, I might cry."

Patricia Gennari, superintendent of Penn Hills schools, confirmed Gordon is still Penn Hills' coach because of the contract.

Graham was an assistant under Gordon for 10 years and has been defensive coordinator the past six. Graham's son, Ron Jr., was a former Penn Hills star linebacker in the mid 1990s.

"The bottom line is it's my job," Gordon said. "I have no problem with Ron Graham. He's never been an enemy. But people keep telling me, 'Graham has your job now.' "

Gordon reapplied for the job and was given a February date to interview with a selection committee. But Gordon declined the interview because he said he wanted to clear up another matter first. Weeks after Gordon's job was opened, school officials said at a public meeting they found in the school's athletic office a box of unopened letters from colleges that Gordon never gave to some Penn Hills athletes. Gordon also used to be the school's athletic director before retiring in June.

Gordon met with Gennari and a few other Penn Hills officials about the letters. Gennari said she couldn't discuss the meeting, but Gordon said, "They first told me they had 59 letters. Then, when my lawyer and I asked to see them, they said they only had nine left."

Gennari said Gordon couldn't be given an interview for the coach's position after he declined the first one.