FORMER Manchester Central and Manchester Memorial hockey coach Wally Tafe Jr. is one proud mentor these days. When the NHIAA season opens this winter, two members of the Tafe coaching tree will be heading Division I programs.

Brian Stone, a Central player under Tafe from 1982-84, confirmed this week he will be the head coach at his alma mater, pending approval by the Board of School Committee.

Randy Manni — who won two state titles as a Memorial player under Tafe, in 1989 and ’91, and served as head coach at Central from 2005-08 — already has been named head coach at Bishop Brady of Concord.

Stone spent the past three seasons behind the bench as an assistant for Memorial. He’ll replace Dan Legro, who left after one season to become head coach at Nashua High North.

Stone said he was informed of his pending appointment by then-Central athletics director Jane Clayton, who has since become an interim assistant principal at Manchester West.

Stone’s hiring recently was approved by the Manchester school board’s athletics committee, the last step before approval by the full school board.

As a player, Stone was a small forward who packed a punch along the boards. But his biggest assets were his speed and skills, and he earned a reputation for playing hard to the final second.

“I love the game, and nothing was ever handed to me,” said Stone. “That’s what I want to see from the players. Just work hard in practice each day to get better and prepare for each game.”

Stone said his brother Stephen, who also played at Central, will be his top assistant. Brian followed in the footsteps of not only Stephen but another older brother, Eric, who was a member of the 1980 state title team led by standouts Phil Hebert and Ken Murray.

A 1988 graduate of New England College, Brian Stone got his start in coaching as an assistant to former Memorial coach Kyle McDonough. When McDonough stepped down, Stone remained an assistant coach under current Crusaders coach Mark Putney.

“Coaching at Memorial was a valuable experience — really taught me a lot,” Stone said. “Now, to be the head man at the school I played for feels fantastic. It’s great to give something back to the city and kids.”

Manni, a Henniker resident who played Division III college hockey at Plattsburgh State, takes over the Brady program from Clint Eddinger, who was there for eight seasons.

Manni — who was a special-education teacher for 12 years, including five at Central, before entering the roofing and home remodeling business — led the Little Green to two playoff appearances in three seasons.

“I got out of coaching to be with my two newborn sons,” he said before adding, “I just missed being on the ice, and I’m fortunate to be coaching at a school which has a long and proud hockey tradition.”

------------

JACK QUIRK, who confirmed earlier this week that his return to the role of boys’ basketball head coach at Memorial is pending the approval of the full school board, said he will not be involved in the process of selecting his successor as Memorial girls’ coach.

“Whoever is the next head coach is going to inherit a very competitive team,” said Quirk, noting that veteran players Allie Hartford, Danielle Fletcher and Makenah Grisson are returning from a team that went 14-4 last season.

“Before I formally applied for the boys’ job, I sat down with the (girls’) captains and told them my leaving the girls’ basketball program had nothing to do with them,” said Quirk, who also serves as Memorial’s athletics director.

“I told them I just wanted to do something different after nine seasons. I’m proud of what we accomplished with the girls’ program. We were 48-24 during the last four regular seasons. We also finished in the top four the last two seasons and came within an overtime period of reaching the finals last year. That’s never been done before at Memorial.”

jhabib@unionleader.com