Rob Wildasin helped change the face of Cedar Crest football. He impacted the lives and directions of hundreds of local young men.

But Wildasin never considered the impact it would have on himself, as a coach and a man.

Wildasin resigned from his position as the head coach of the Cedar Crest football program on Friday. He made his decision public with a short statement on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“For me personally, you’re asking how I’m different as person,” said Wildasin, in an exclusive interview with LebTown. “I’m humbled by the positive things I’ve gotten from former players. They’ve really sent me some well thought out, heartfelt messages that we did things the right way and that we had a huge impact on them. That means a lot to me. I’ve changed. I’m super humbled by the experience, but I’m excited to move forward.

“It’s (the resignation) going to allow me to do everything I want to do in my life moving forward,” he continued. “My passion and love for the game is on an obsession level, still. I will never not love the game. It just fits my personality. I’m going to miss it. I’m going to be at games on Friday night next fall. It’s going to be like that for the rest of my life. But I needed some closure.”

During Wildasin’s 10 years at the helm, Cedar Crest compiled a 54-46 overall record, with four District Three Class AAAAAA playoff appearances. Last season, the Falcons went 8-3 and qualified the postseason, earning Wildasin the Lebanon County Coach of the Year award as voted on by his peers.

Read More: Wildasin reaches milestone 50th win as Cedar Crest dominates Penn Manor

But what Wildasin and Cedar Crest accomplished off the field is more difficult to quantify.

“There are different ways to look at it,” said Wildasin. “The years we made the district playoffs were great years. But we had a lot of accomplishments off the field. Before we took over, a lot of Cedar Crest games were over at halftime. We got to a place where, every game, we thought we had a shot. We changed a lot of kids’ lives for the better. I’m very proud of what we, as a staff, did and how we handled it.

Rob Wildasin coaches the Falcons during Cedar Bowl XLVIII. (Jeff Falk)

“I’m lucky. I get to walk away and truly cheer them on for the rest of my life. I have no regrets. We did it the right way. It’s a program that, if I had kid playing in it, I’d be thrilled to have our guys coaching him. We taught players how to be good people. In 10 years, we had no issues.”

In some ways, Wildasin’s decision to walk away from Cedar Crest football was a difficult one, and in other ways it wasn’t. He’s leaving on top, and he said he just felt like the timing was right.

“It was just time, honestly,” said Wildasin, a 44-year-old resident of Annville and an economics teacher at Cedar Crest High School. “I feel the program is in a great spot. There’s nothing more to it. It feels right. I’m happy. I’m always talking to my family, and I was always year-to-year. Sometimes you get to the point where the timing just feels right. I felt like I could step aside now and not hurt the program.

“There are aspects of it that are always going to be difficult,” he added. “When you walk away from kids, you’re always going to feel bad about it. You want them to succeed. There are so many good players there. But that wasn’t going to change next year. It’s always going to be true.”

Cedar Crest head coach and Lebanon County coach of the year Rob Wildasin flanked by his all-star players. (Will Trostel)

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In his mid-30s at the time, Wildasin took over an underachieving Cedar Crest program in 2014 that had previously been headed by two coaches brought in from outside of Lebanon County. A 1998 graduate of Annville-Cleona High School, Wildasin surrounded himself with good coaches, delegated, took care of the administrative stuff and allowed them to do what they did best – coach.

“I remember that we felt like we had to make the program respectable again,” said Wildasin. “I thought I could do it with the right atmosphere, and we just wanted to teach. There was a lot of belief that things were going to change, but our guys didn’t see it at first. I understood the kids I was working with.

“You always want to be yourself,” Wildasin continued. “You have to know your kids. I understood Cedar Crest, or at least I felt like I did. I got great coaches and that was critical to me. They know the game of football, and that was essential to me. Everything from there I would take care of off the field, so they could do all the things they do on the field. It was me using my personality to build from.”

Wildasin said that he really doesn’t have a vested interest in who his successor at Cedar Crest should be and that he is unaware of anyone on his former staff with interest in the position.

“I want my memories to be of all of the fun times,” said Wildasin. “We had a fun group. I encouraged it to some degree. We did some things that were different, and the kids loved it, just being on the practice field, talking to each other and challenging each other. We just enjoyed each other.”

Wildasin is walking away from Cedar Crest and football and coaching, but he’s not totally closing the door behind him.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” said Wildasin, when asked if he would ever coach again. “I am not actively looking. I don’t anticipate it. But I’ll always be a coach. I’m a never-say-never guy. It’s how I operate.

“This chapter’s over,” concluded Wildasin. “It was a great ride. It ends super positive.”

2023 Cedar Crest Falcons

Read all our coverage of the Falcons here.

Roster

Head coach: Rob Wildasin

Assistant coaches: Nick Lambros, Brandon Kirsch, Brian Powers, Tom Gerhart, Shawn Rambler, Tom Waranavage, Logan Horn, Jona Padilla, Nevin Pagan, Bob Peebles, Bob Griffiths, Gary Wildasin

Jersey NumberNameGradePosition(s)
0Alex Abreu12RB/DB
1Leo Tirado Jr.12WR/DB
2Owen Chernich12WR/DB
3Asher Ford12WR/DB
4Jack Waranavage11WR/DB
5Cristhian Viveros11WR/DB
6Cameron Tirado10WR/DB
7Kayden Tirado11RB/LB
8Jackson Custer11QB/DB
9Seth Warren11TE/DL
10Fernando Marquez12RB/LB
11Logan Oriel12WR/LB
12Lucas Nolan11WR/DB
13Diego Yanez10WR/LB
14Connor McCracken10TE/DE
15Cameron Hansell10QB/DB
16Malachi Victor11WR/LB
17Kaeleb Fees11WR/DB
18Travis Kemberling10WR/DB
19Dillon Hoffman11WR/DB
20Yadi Rosario10WR/DB
21Caleb Dorshimer12TE/LB
22Kenyon Figueroa12WR/DB
23Josh Tricoche11RB/DB
24Preston Barton12WR/DB
25Noah Miller10RB/LB
26Richie Hernandez12FB/LB
27Landen Weaber10WR/LB
28Landyn Kline10RB/LB
29Liam Setcavage10WR/DB
30Justin Moreno10WR/DB
31Alex Thies11WR/DB
32Samantha Fink10K
33Kai Speaks9WR/LB
34Antonio Tirado9WR/DB
35Eli Beard9RB/DB
36Ethan Bowman11K
37Dominic Roth12RB/LB
38Isaiah Zimmerman9RB/LB
39Tre Wamsher11WR/DB
40Joe Arnt11RB/LB
41Jordan Eisenhauer12WR/DB
42Anthony Lantz11WR/DB
43Garrett Starry9TE/LB
44Skyler Sherman9WR/DB
45Conner Rowe11WR/DB
46Jackson Chernich9TE/DE
47Terrance Wilson9WR/DB
48Calvin Dash9WR/DB
49Gavin Berkheimer9OL/DL
50Aidan Arnold11OL/DE
51Keenon Hopple9OL/DL
52Caden Wolfe9OL/DL
53Nicholas Lambros12OL/DT
54Paxton Thomas10OL/DL
55Cameron Simone12OL/DE
56Christian Weaber12OL/DL
57Tyler Toscano10OL/DL
58Alex Kissinger11OL/DL
59Christian Simpson10OL/DL
60Wyatt Fox10OL/DL
61Jordan Cullen11OL/DL
62Brady Shobe10OL/DT
63Austin Brubaker11OL/DL
64Jayden Storm10OL/DL
65Evan Pierce11OL/DL
66Landen Gross10OL/DE
67Damarius Galarza10OL/DE
68Carter Eisenhauer11OL/DL
69Jimmy Trump10OL/DL
70Tristan Long11OL/DL
71Pal Bhavsar12OL/DL
72Carter Ober10OL/DL
73Ahmed Mohamed11OL/DL
74Isaiah Sepulveda12OL/DL
75Connor Shanaman10OL/DL
76Michael Rivera12OL/DL
77Nathanael Harbaugh11OL/DL
78Bruce Gonzalez10OL/DL
79Alex Contreras11OL/DL
80Ben Custer9TE/DE
81Jayden Marley10WR/DB
82Chase Warren9TE/DE
83Luke Oriel10QB/DB
84Cole Shanaman9OL/DL
85Cole Stevenson11OL/DL
86Nolan Brubaker9TE/LB
87Aiden Schomp12TE/DE
88Grayson Frankenstein11TE/DE
91Bryan Duffy10RB/LB
99Dylan Fuhrman11TE/DE

Jeff Falk is a seasoned journalist based in Lebanon, PA. He's a graduate of Cedar Crest High School, Penn State University, and a lifelong resident of Lebanon, born and raised. Currently, he is a feature writer for Engle Publishing in Lancaster, the editor of LebCoSports.com, sports director at WLBR...