Penn State Wilkes-Barre golf coach serves campus, community for 35 years and counting
Story courtesy of Penn State Wilkes-Barre
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Coach Ed Keil’s name is well known to Penn State Wilkes-Barre students, alumni and community members.
Keil’s legacy at Penn State Wilkes-Barre began even before he was a coach. He started his time at the campus as a student, earning an associate degree in 1988, the same year he began his coaching career. He has gone on to become one of the school’s most successful coaches and is the longest-tenured coach in school history.
“Under Coach Keil’s leadership, numerous student-athletes have developed their golf skills while learning valuable lessons on and off the golf course,” Athletics Director Scott Miner said. “His accomplishments know no bounds, and we are proud to have him at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.”
Keil has completed 35 seasons as golf coach at the campus. During his time as coach, he has ushered his teams to seven conference titles and second, third and fifth places in the USCAA National Championship tournament. He was named the 2018 USCAA National Coach of the Year and has been a member of the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America for more than 30 years. Before Wilkes-Barre competed in the Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC), founded in 2006, Keil also coached teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference (EPCC) and the Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association (PCAA).
Keil expressed his thanks to Miner along with previous athletic directors Jack Monick and Brian Stanchak, whom he said were all very supportive of the golf program at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.
“I love to coach golf, and I like working with the players and seeing them improve,” Keil said. “It’s very rewarding seeing young adults come into the program and watching them mature during their years here and then go on to have successful careers.”
Under his wing, more than 130 individual Wilkes-Barre golfers have become All-State or All-Conference players. His golfers have achieved many academic milestones, with a collective 167 being named Academic All-Conference and 14 Academic All-Americans. Three state titles have been given to individual students as well. Penn State Wilkes-Barre has won five prestigious President Cup titles under Keil and was the first-ever winner of the PSUAC spring golf tournament.
“After graduating, Coach Keil’s athletes have gone into various professions, including golf professionals, golf course superintendents, police officers, teachers, doctors and everything in between,” Miner said.
Competing in both the PSUAC and the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), Keil was selected as a Penn State Wilkes-Barre Athletics Wall of Fame inductee in 2015. He was also a three-time winner of the EPCC Coach of the Year award and completed a four-year undefeated streak from 2007-2010. During those four years, he coached five golfers who were chosen for the Wall of Fame (Matt Boozer, Mike Wills, Mike Haley, Phil Navola and Jim Miliasukas). Between 2015 and 2019, Keil notched 11 tournament wins, led by six-time medalist Jonathan Wilson and one-time medalist Jeff Carter.
In his free time, Keil has conducted summer youth golf camps and ladies’ golf clinics through the Penn State Wilkes-Barre Department of Continuing Education for many years. Beyond his coaching career, he is a U.S. Air Force veteran and lives in Hanover Township with his wife, Gina.