"Mike" Burcin was the football coach at Slatington High School for several years.
1951 Slatington High School yearbook photo of the football coaches
Mike Burcin was born in Tamaqua, PA, the son of Michael Burcin (1897-1922) and Lottie nee Derr (1902-1962). A brakeman for the Reading Railroad, his father died in a railway accident in 1922.
Burcin starred at Tamaqua High School as a basketball guard and a football center, graduating in June 1938.
At Moravian College in Bethlehem, he was the starting center on the football team. He graduated in May 1942.
In April 1942, he married Diana Mae Oakes (1919-2013) in Tamaqua.
In World War II, Mike Burcin served as a master sergeant in the army signal corps He served overseas from April 1944 to October 1945.
After the war, he began teaching and coaching. His first coaching position was at Lititz H.S. in Lancaster County where he coached the JV squad for the 1946 season. He taught French and Social Studies at Lititz. (The high school as about twice the size of Slatington H.S.)
In May 1948, he was selected as the new Slatington H.S. head football coach. He also taught US history and Problems of Democracy.
He remained as head coach at Slatington for four years with better results achieved over time.
1948 - 0-9
1949 - 5-3-1
1950 - 6-3
1951 - 4-5
Overall 15-20-1
In July 1952, after four years at Slatington, Burcin resigned to accept a teaching position and coach freshman football at Somerville H.S. in Somerville, NJ. (Mauch-Chunk Times News, 18 July 1952; The Courier News, 22 July 1952) For several years he continued there as an assistant football coach and head social studies teacher.
Then in 1961, he resigned to become vice principal of the new Franklin Township High School which is in Somerset, NJ just west of New Brunswick, NJ. I believe that in 1966 he moved to a different school, but after that date I have not been able to determine where he was living or teaching.
Mike Burcin died in 1998 in Lancaster, PA. He was survived by his wife and child.