I can only speak for myself , but I don't share the opinion that small town = rube . Not at all . My perspective is somewhat formed by some of the folks from a handful of more rural places that I know and have met over the years I have been in Dublin . People from Mechanisburg , New Bremen , Minster , and Ottawa Glandorf and Plain City . They moved to Dublin/Columbus for jobs. I know two families who moved back to their roots and more who have stayed . Not rubes at all . Very smart , educated and successful people with families that are doing very well both academically { great HS students and many Going to top University's } and athletically.
Now these community's are a bit more conservative in general and more homogenous than this area is , sensibilities are a bit different may be . But they hold the same basic values and the hopes we have for our families. I know the MAC community's are very successful in many realms , including financially . The High schools are high performing with kids who work hard and family's that value education.
Coaching here is a bit different than in some of these community's BUT the thing that any coach who may come from a smaller more rural community , the one thing that will be the same is the support he or she will get from the school , the community and the parents . I have talked with a couple coaches who came here from other places including some very similar to Dublin in size and demo's and from a smaller school and they BOTH were impressed with the support they got . One was blown away at the parental support, the community support, infrastructure , facilities and the AD support. Programs here are top notch as they are in many Columbus outerbelt suburbs. Schools are high performing , sports programs have grown and gotten better in reference to competing at the state level over the years .
I have a good idea at this point who is interviewing and who has a shot and I see some impressive resumes and a couple really good coaches . That being said after doing a deeper dive , I have a feeling that my original feeling will be right . Crager likely gets the job as it will be concluded that he knows the program , has grown in the program , and will be a better choice especially in the short term . That's not to say I would disappointed as a fan if one of the two guys whose work I am really impressed with gets the nod. I would be disappointed for Crager for sure.
As a famous Hall of fame coach once said " There are many ways to skin a cat, but the cat must be skinned . There are a handful of guys who I think would do a really nice job being the head guy at Coffman . In terms of the so called dearth of viable candidates , I would offer that may be because it's never an optimum starting point replacing a 20 year program builder with the consistency that Coach Crabtree had , and the fact that this appears to be a couple years of rebuilding in reference to where the program has bene for a long time . Again good luck to any remaining interviews if any and the guys who have put themselves out there for consideration . A couple really solid good men to choose from . Good luck Gentleman and to the committee who are making the decision.
