D7 R25 2022

No college coach in the country is going to say "he is really good and fits all our metrics but I'm not going to offer him because his school only has 80 boys in it". Their living depends on the kids they bring in, they will turn over every stone and go to hell and back to find those kids.
1000% fact
 
How great is this thread? Better part of a page dedicated to McDonald v. Lowellville!!! HOW GREAT IS THAT?!?!?!
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It was....until last year, although injuries were a major cause. We will see about this year, McDonald should have a solid edge up front but what the skill positions are at is a major question until the games are played.
I still think Lowellville would’ve won last year regardless if McDonald had injuries. Who does McDonald lose from last year besides Gilligan?
 
McDonald is definitely flying under the radar. They are a blue blood in north east Ohio small school football and should bounce back from last year. They played many young players last year. I would not be surprised to see them finish really well in the region and in their league.
 
South Central and Lowellville play week 4 now. Interesting game for the region. Familiar with the Firelands but not as much Lowellville and their conference
 
McDonald is definitely flying under the radar. They are a blue blood in north east Ohio small school football and should bounce back from last year. They played many young players last year. I would not be surprised to see them finish really well in the region and in their league.
McDonald won 3 games last year and their closest loss was by 10 points. Their best player graduated and their wasn't a close second. I dont think they are going to very good. They'll be scrappy but probably a 3-4 win team again.
 
McDonald won 3 games last year and their closest loss was by 10 points. Their best player graduated and their wasn't a close second. I dont think they are going to very good. They'll be scrappy but probably a 3-4 win team again.
Was there a lot of coaches that aged out? Still transitioning? That used to be a good small school conference.
 
Was there a lot of coaches that aged out? Still transitioning? That used to be a good small school conference.
No, McDonald's coach has been there 20+ years. I think its just the athletes aren't what they used to be. I honestly believe Springfield will see some of this now. Brungard was a once in a lifetime player. I dont think they win 3 games but they won't be anywhere near what they were.
 
Across the board in all sports at McDonald the talent level and numbers wasn’t there save a few athletes here and there starting with last years senior class. This years senior class is more of the same, the junior class is a bit better but still down. The sophomore and freshman classes are a lot more talented, but probably still too young this year to be anything but a .500 squad, but I’d be happily wrong if they over achieve
 
This is one of the “there’s only so much we have to talk about in July” topics that seems to be floating around the threads… tons of interesting takes and wholesale lies out there.

Who are some of the premier coaches out there? How long have they been doing it? What makes them so highly thought of?

*Probably keep these IN region before the feds show up and ruin everyone’s fun.

example: I read a post in recent years about Slusser down in West Lafayette about all the things he’s done to build Ridgewood. Not taking into account Mr. Tingle at the time, and think that was a massive part…(we’ll see)

The poster went on to say absolutely nothing about all of the traditional markers you’d think of when it came to coaching and instead said that all those kids flat out love him. He was so charismatic and likable that kids responded to him by doing anything that was asked of them. I thought that was bananas. I liked just about all my coaches. Certainly respected most of them. But for whatever reason, most of my coaches were older, well established and out right terrifying. That’s just the way it was. You just felt like your parents green lit this man to park his boot in your tail. You were fair game/coach knows best and all that.

Now every time I think of younger coaches that appear to be doing quite well, I wonder if this is a brand new dynamic that’s happening everywhere? Some of you with kids in it now or recently should weigh in… and I don’t want to hear that the game has gone soft, because it seems light years ahead of the 40 snaps and 38 rushes I recall. Well except Lucas. ?
 
I still think Lowellville would’ve won last year regardless if McDonald had injuries. Who does McDonald lose from last year besides Gilligan?
It’s tough to even really say, by the time week 1 rolled around McDonald was down 2 key 2-way starters for the year. But that doesn’t matter anyway. The blue devils lose Gilligan and Hawk, the qb. Everyone else was an underclassmen that started.
 
No, McDonald's coach has been there 20+ years. I think its just the athletes aren't what they used to be. I honestly believe Springfield will see some of this now. Brungard was a once in a lifetime player. I dont think they win 3 games but they won't be anywhere near what they were.
One of Springfields returning players at corner and in the backfield as of this year didn’t see the field when he played at Struthers, he backed up players on Saturday mornings. So losing a brungard caliber player to players like that is going to be a big big change in tiger town
 
If they can slow down ballone and the on receiver they can win. Didn’t they lose their best lineman to Niles tho?
Not the best lineman. The lineman that transferred started as a freshman after a few injuries and played decent, certainly would have been a starter this year had he stayed. But the best couple linemen return and there is a few other Freshman that played spotty last year on the line that look to be solid players.
 
Another small school-ism… The community effort required at most “small” schools with no budget (Public OR Private) is one of my favorite things about smaller schools, really.
That, and the novelty of a very small public school district in the backyard of a high-population area to begin with. That resonates with me strongly, because down here in the Columbus metroplex we have Grandview Heights (which was always ~5% larger enrollment than CH) that was only consistently strong for an ~8 year stretch spanning the Bush 43-Obama presidencies — and they never reached the heights that Martin’s program did… or at the longevity.
 
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That, and the novelty of a very small public school district in the backyard of a high-population area to begin with.
They have got to be well funded by the community. Schools that size in that proximity to major metro areas rarely survive state mandated mergers w/o it. In Wayne county, merger discussions are on a rotating schedule. I’ve become a big fan of smaller communities and more schools TBH.
 
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