Staff photo / Greg Macafee Former Cardinal Mooney football coach Carl Pelini coaches the Cardinals during a preseason scrimmage at Niles' Bo Rein Stadium this past summer.

YOUNGSTOWN – Cardinal Mooney High School has opted not to renew the contract for Athletic Director and head football coach Carl Pelini, school officials announced today.

Pelini, a Mooney graduate, returned to his alma mater as coach three years ago.

The school is beginning a search for a new athletic director and coach, and will consider internal and external candidates, according to a media release.

In a prepared statement, Nicholas Beyer, president and principal of Cardinal Mooney High School, called the upcoming years “transformational” for the high school and said he looks forward to adding new leadership in athletics to help realize the vision to elevate academics and student life.

Beyer thanked Pelini for his “hard work and dedication to Cardinal Mooney High School.”

For more on this story, read Friday’s online and print editions.