Bless,
While I agree with you on the culture. I am going to have to throw the genetics thing out the window.
The biggest problem with the CCC in its current state and it being one of the weakest conferences in Ohio is a culture and coaching issue. Not genetics.
For the sake of this argument I am going to remove Fort Loramie from the discussion due to the fact they havent been in the CCC that long and wont be in the new WOAC. Also Fort Loramie is going to be the exception to what I am going to say here.
Some of the comments I have read in this forum recently are almost on the level of insane to me. For example "weight lifting is overrated." Uhhhh What? lol In any level of football, being in shape, stronger and faster then the guy ahead of you. Weight lifting doesn't just do this for your team though it builds teamwork and a culture around your program. A few years ago I saw a youtube video where Covington kids were going into the weight room at 5:30 AM. My old high school in Washington had the same thing, we called it "Zero Hour". I formed bonds with my fellow players and it created a culture because the players knew if they weren't there, they weren't playing. We worked for every yard in every game and went to two state championships.
The MAC relying on speed? Well sure they do. They also have a huge amount of success because a lot of the schools up there do not offer soccer. Its football or nothing. I know coaches in the CCC that would KILL to have some of those soccer players. I just looked up both Coldwater and Fort Recovery that you mentioned, neither one offer soccer. Also if we look at John DIrksen for example. He was a 295 pound lineman that got recruited by Notre Dame. but he was a mean lean 295 pounds. So in some respects some of the comments in this forum are correct, Marion Local doesn't have out of shape kids starting but they aren't these small athletic kids either.
I suggest giving that article a read that came out in 2016 if you haven't seen it.
Now to the main part, if you look at each school in the CCC currently and what each school tries to do offensively and defensively and take a step back and actually look at each program its pretty obvious what its biggest issues are and what they aren't:
Covington: This is a top tier school and its a shame that the WOAC is losing them. Ty Cates took an already successful program and has kept it there. Which is no small feat. He maintained and even improved up its culture. Now before TY everyone knew what Covington was doing. The Triple Option. One of the best defenses against this is the 5-4 Oklahoma. Never saw a team run it, nor did I see very many teams really stop it. We can see that in the records and scores year in and year out. Also in 2015 when Ty Cates took over with the boys having to learn a whole new offense and defense, 8-3 season. More on Ty later.
Once again it is a coaching issue. Most coaches in this area are simply not that experienced and if they are they have been around too long and dont know how to coach there kids to stop it.
Miami East: This school is probably the biggest example because of how long they were in the conference and not having changed coaches. I played against this team when I was at Greenon when both were in the CBC in 2004. Max Current is still the head coach there and everyone knows what this guy loves to do. Dive, Dive, Dive, and the Dive some more. Its his bread and butter. yet in the CBC where schools are not that much bigger than the CCC he didn't do well.
04 season: 2-8
05 Season - 0-10
06 Season: 3-7 First year in the CCC didnt do well but to be expected becasue of no experience against these coaches/teams but still an improvement.
07 Season: 8-3. Now think about that for a second. Really think. 2nd year in a conference and he went 8-3. And judging by the scores im looking at here. Most of them were complete routes. And Miami East has continued to be one of the most dominant teams in the CCC by far year in and year out. Max has a culture and maintains a discipline up there in Casstown. He also has one of the best offensive lines day in and day out every year. Also all the way up to this year the worst season he has had is a 6-4. The rest from 2007 to now have either been 7-3, 8-2 etc etc.
Tri Village: This school obviously not everyone knows a lot about football wise and I certainly don't, however just looking at it online seeing some youtube videos you can see that this coach does in fact knows what he is doing. WIth this school already having created a culture and exceling in other sports it is no surprise to see that this school is already with just a few short years of having football is already exceling. This simply comes down to culture, excitement around a new sport, and having found the right coach for the job. The kids there came off a couple 3-7 seasons to turn around now having experience in the game and are KILLING other teams in the sport. Off to an awesome 3-0 start it will be exciting to see how these guys turn out in the years to come.
Twin Valley South: In my time here in Preble County, I can only remember one season where they did well. and as is those years in small schools where you have the athletes that you can truly run whatever you want and be successful. I was at the game and I think everyone between Lewisburg and West Alex was when they two undefeated teams in the CCC TCN and TVS came together. It was a packed house. With Bill at the helm still though the outcome was predetermined. Bill Derringer was one of the best coaches TCN has ever had and after TVS doing exceptionally well throughout the conference the game ended with a 42-15 score in favor of TCN. but also if you look at who was coaching them in the 2014 season,
Well look no further than Covingtons Ty Cates. 2014 Southwest District Division 6 coach of the year. Bill knew what he needed to do to shut them down and he did it. Since then and even in that game and I have watched most of them every year. I still have yet to determine what their offensive and defensive philosophy is. This year when watching them they were running this weird spread/ace package where either the playbook or play calling didnt flow well. Timing was also way off. And this is how I have seen most of South's teams. TCN has had some of the worst coaches I have ever seen in the last 3 years, running a 3-5 defense has your base in a run focused conference yet South still hasnt been able to pull out a win against TCN. It would be awesome to see West Alex show the same support for every team like they did in 2014.
Tri County North: This school is probably the biggest evidence I can have about culture and coaching. This school went from one of the most dominant in the conference every year with Bill Derringer to one of the bottom with the last two coaches having last 2 years and 1 year. The discipline and culture with the kids at the school the last 3 years has been atrocious. TCN had one of the best defensive lines in the league 3 years ago and the sheer lack of discipline lost them games. (Even one player got ejected against Bradford because he wouldn't shut his mouth. 13 player squad at Bradford had more discipline and class. Come on now.) There record in 2018 was 6-4. That doesn't look bad from the outside but in all reality they should have won the conference except for sheer lack of discpline, fitness, and coaching gameplan every game was just bad. They had all the talent in the world. Brookville that season, 22-0 in the half, Brookville came out in the 2nd half and won 26-22. Insane. Ansonia that year got utterly screwed by the refs on HORRIBLE Calls. Most of Arcanums starters were hurt by the time North played them. They barely got by NT when it should have been a shutout. The three teams with good coaches came in and completely shut them out. North with one of the best D-lines if not the best lost to the Dive focused ME 42-0. HOW, well by running a base 3-5 and not switching till it was too late.
Ansonia, Arcanum, Bethel: These three teams I am going to talk about all in the same way because 1. I dont know a lot about them but two from what I could see year to year they all have one thing in common. They have all been 1 trick ponies. Ansonia the last several years had a good reciever and a good QB. That was there default setting. They would send the reciever on one of three patterns. a Post, Corner, or Fly route and score. Thats what they had. Arcanum usually tried to ground and pound with no real aerial attack at all, and Bethel has relied on spread with the speed backs they have had the last couple years. That sums them up. I feel has though they have been building and building but really just havent been able to breach a ceiling.
National Trail: These guys have been somewhat interesting in recent years due to the head coach coming and going. Whenever he is there they do reasonably well and compete when he isn't they fall apart. I don't even remember the guys name currently for some reason its slipping. But once again it shows the example of Coaching being key. he plays to there strengths. He isnt stubborn and knows what he needs to do with his players. Trail in recent years has had an excellent passing attack because he knows what they are working with. Last season for example they competed in every game except for Covington. It was 1-2 touchdown games. What those scores tell me is certain penalties or kids not executing is all it came down too.
Overall My point of making this post is because I feel like some of these discussions turn into a muddied mess of trying to explain why the CCC teams have done poorly either in conference our post season for a very long time. In all reality is that its the coaching and the kind of football that is played in the CCC. Every game it is even questionable whether teams have coached special teams. I was absolutely shocked about how piss poor special teams are in this conference. I have never seen so many missed field goals in my life.
This post is not to put anyone down, but more of a reality check on what this conference is and what it isnt. The MAC which everyone here loves commenting about isnt good because any other reason other than the culture and the coaches they have hired. You don't win every year without those two things. WIth the revolving door of coaches and the quality the CCC has hired I dont see that changing anytime soon.
