Beaty steps down as Chester coach

Tony Beaty knew it was time to make a change.

The Chester High football coach resigned from his position last week. He spent two years at the helm of the Clippers, posting a 6-13 record.

Beaty, a former Arena Football League player who coached at West Catholic and Prep Charter prior to his arrival at Chester, could no longer devote the man hours that were necessary to building a successful program.

Beaty said the main reason for his resignation was the growth of his personal training business, Dream Makers Elite Fitness. Beaty is a certified personal trainer and president of the company, which is located in Clifton Heights.

“It’s so busy now. It just blew up like overnight,’ Beaty said. “My first year, I didn’t have this particular gym, so it was a lot easier. Last year I opened the new gym and it got really challenging during the season to stay in business and to invest my time being a coach, amongst other things. For me, if I can’t do it 100 percent, I just don’t do it.”

Beaty’s intentions were to “change the culture of Chester High football,” he said. But he soon realized that it was becoming increasingly difficult to find time coaching the Clippers, who struggled in 2015 after a promising finish to the 2014 campaign.

“That’s a tough job, too,” Beaty said. “One thing I did find out, I really need to be in that school to control the environment the way it needs to be controlled, to have a structured program all the way through. Not working at the school, and not having a coach at the school, really doesn’t give us the benefit and the luxury that we need to make sure everything is done right. Especially at Chester, you need to have a dynamic program. I didn’t realize that until I got there. It’s a different place. It’s different than any other place I have ever coached.

“I wish them the best and hope that they find a coach who comes from the school district that can be there. You need a coach that can go from school to school, because you can’t coach from afar. It’s really hard. It’s not like when I was at West Catholic or when I was at Prep Charter. You’ve got kids coming from two different schools. … You have a lot of kids from a tough city. There’s so much that goes on outside of football, that you are responsible for, that it just becomes too overwhelming. I will say that we had the full support of the administration and I’m thankful for that.”

Beaty made a splash upon his arrival, making sure to get his face out in the community as often as possible. He spoke at youth football banquets and promised to build a winning culture.

Over time, though, Beaty said he lost his passion for coaching. He delightfully explained that he was retired from coaching high school football. But the biggest factor was the growth of Dream Makers, which has trained 44 athletes on college scholarship. Beaty’s most famous client is Corey Brown, the Cardinal O’Hara All-Delco and Carolina Panthers wide receiver, who is one win away from a Super Bowl ring.

“Going into it, my mindset was to change the culture of the program and to improve the mindset of the kids, the overall atmosphere of the program,” Beaty said. “In 2014, I wasn’t in the same place as I am in 2016, as far as my life is concerned. My company has grown so much, it just became so overwhelming from that standpoint and not so much from the Chester side. If I wasn’t doing this, I could have handled the Chester side.

“If I was working in the Chester School District and I was there every single day, yeah, I could have handled it. If I’m there and it’s a part of my career, it’s much easier for a coach. When you come from the outside and you have to leave your business for four or five hours a day, so many months out of the year, that takes away a lot financially from me.

“I was the lowest-paid coach in Delco with one of the hardest jobs.”

Beaty ensured that he left the school district on positive terms. Chester School District declined to comment on record, noting that Beaty’s resignation was a pending matter.

“It was 100 percent my decision,” Beaty said. “I really did enjoy my time there. It was a great experience for me. I met new people … and I don’t have any regrets about taking the job and I don’t have any regrets about moving forward, either. Life is about changing and things evolve in your life that you don’t forsee happening.

“For me, it’s a good thing that my business is growing. I watched Corey Brown and worked with him during the whole offseason, and now he’s going to the Super Bowl. I’m still coaching, still training. I just had a kid sign with Vanderbilt yesterday from Imhotep (defensive end Andre Mintze). I feel like I’ll be doing more good work here than I could do just by concentrating on Chester.

“That’s what my decision was based on. I could’ve stuck around another year or two … but my time is really not there. And it was also important for me to give Chester enough time to bring in another coaching staff. I wish them luck.”