Western Buckeye League 2021

You are pretty Lucky to have coach Frye.I think he is the best coach in the league overall.
For me it's Frye 1A and Shriner 1B for best coaches in the league. We're lucky to have a bunch of good young coaches in the league right now though.
 
It’s amazing what happens when you let coaches build their program. I think all the schools except for Shawnee, Bath, Elida, and Celina have all had their coaches for over 5 years (Bader is going into his 5th year). It’s amazing to see that stability.
 
For me it's Frye 1A and Shriner 1B for best coaches in the league. We're lucky to have a bunch of good young coaches in the league right now though.
For some reason Moyer has been left out of this conversation. Since he has been at Wapak I dont think their has been a coach with more success during that time. I could be wrong
 
For some reason Moyer has been left out of this conversation. Since he has been at Wapak I dont think their has been a coach with more success during that time. I could be wrong
That's fine but I just have to give Shriner credit with being the smallest school and look at the success he has had there in his tenure. 800+ kids at Wapak compared to barely 550 at OG. Moyer is probably 3 for me with Recker 4.
 
How much longer is the Jerry Cooper show gonna last at Shawnee? Three 4 win seasons definitely wasn't what many had in mind when he got there, zero improvement from them over the last three years.
 
For some reason Moyer has been left out of this conversation. Since he has been at Wapak I dont think their has been a coach with more success during that time. I could be wrong
I'd imagine he is one of the most (if not the most) successful coaches in Wapak football history. Does that make him the best overall coach in the league? I'm not sure, after all Wapak doesn't exactly have a rich history of football championships so being the 'best' in Wapak history isn't necessarily that high of a pedestal. I think Moyer is a fine coach, certainly top tier in the WBL, but I think Coach Frye's accomplishments stand alone.
 
Shriner IS O-G football. Frye rebuilt St. Marys after a lackluster period in the mid/late 90s, left and built the program at Wapak, then came back and rebuilt St. Marys from almost the ground back up.

Recker took an 0-10 program in 2016 and won state 4 years later.

Those are my top 3. Moyer 4 because he at least continued and built upon what Frye started, but give me the actual program builders over the maintainer who chokes in the playoffs. Not a slight at all against Moyer, but the facts are he walked into an established program at the biggest school in the league.
 
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Shriner IS O-G football. Frye rebuilt St. Marys after a lackluster period in the mid/late 90s, left and built the program at Wapak, then came back and rebuilt St. Marys from almost the ground back up.

Recker took an 0-10 program in 2016 and won state 4 years later.

Those are my top 3. Moyer 4 because he at least continued and built upon what Frye started, but give me the actual program builders over the maintainer who chokes in the playoffs. Not a slight at all against Moyer, but the facts are he walked into an established program at the biggest school in the league.


Very Interesting take. How would everyone rank the coaches in the WBL.

1. Fyre
2. Shriner
3. Moyer
4. Recker
5. Harmon
6. Cooper
7. Fackler
8. Kline
9. Bader
10. Ryan Reindal

That would be my list based on history of their coaching stops. What about some top assistants in the league?
 
Very Interesting take. How would everyone rank the coaches in the WBL.

1. Fyre
2. Shriner
3. Moyer
4. Recker
5. Harmon
6. Cooper
7. Fackler
8. Kline
9. Bader
10. Ryan Reindal

That would be my list based on history of their coaching stops. What about some top assistants in the league?
Here's mine.

1. Frey
2. Shriner
3. Moyer
4. Recker
5. Harmon
6. Fackler
7. Cooper
8. Ryan Reindel
9. Kline
10. Bader
 
I'd imagine he is one of the most (if not the most) successful coaches in Wapak football history. Does that make him the best overall coach in the league? I'm not sure, after all Wapak doesn't exactly have a rich history of football championships so being the 'best' in Wapak history isn't necessarily that high of a pedestal. I think Moyer is a fine coach, certainly top tier in the WBL, but I think Coach Frye's accomplishments stand alone.
Yes I understand but St. Marys playoff success in state titles is due to Skip with Frye having a title game apperance. Frye rebuilt Wapak but Moyer took the program even higher winning WBL titles and making some nice playoff runs
 
1. Frye - St Marys
2. Shriner -OG
3. Cooper - Shawnee
4. Moyer - Wapak
5. Recker -VW
6. Fackler -Kenton
7.Harmon -Elida
8. Kline -Defiance
9. Bader- Celina
10. Reindel- Bath
 
1 Shriner
2 Frye
3 Recker
4 Moyer
5 Cooper
6 Fackler
7 Kline
8 Harmon
9 Reindel
10 Bader

I only put Kline above Harmon because Harmon is so new. Can he build on last year? Kline won at both Edgerton and Bryan, neither one easy places to win. You could argue he's done no worse at Defiance than Buti's last 7 seasons, which makes me question if it's talent or coaching.

Cooper is being dinged for the Shawnee time and could be below Fackler. Always felt Cooper showed up when there's talent and left when it dried, and he's not doing anything at Shawnee to make me think different. We'll see what this year brings.

No one has done more with little than Shriner. There's no reason the historically smallest school in the league who is a basketball school should be a yearly threat in football, but he has them there. The next 3 are all great and probably interchangeable, but IMO no one tops Shriner.
 
Yes I understand but St. Marys playoff success in state titles is due to Skip with Frye having a title game apperance. Frye rebuilt Wapak but Moyer took the program even higher winning WBL titles and making some nice playoff runs
I don't disagree with that. St Marys history is Skip. Frye was only at Wapak for a short stint, so I'm not sure it's fair to compare their collective time solely at Wapak. Just looking at a quick snapshot, in the 4 years before Frye took over at Wapak, they were a combined 19-23 (boosted mostly from their breakthrough 10-2 2006 season). In the 4 years with Frye at the helm, Wapak went 33-10. The first 4 years under Moyer, Wapak went 39-8. The comparison of before Frye to Frye is a remarkable turnaround. It's impressive. The comparison from the Frye era to the beginning of the Moyer era has notable improvement, but nothing jaw dropping. It's not like there's a state (or regional) title in there. It's probably also worth noting that for a lot of Frye's coaching career he had duels with Coach Mauk. Love him or hate him, Mauk is another legend in the WBL and Kenton, while still competitive, is certainly not the same as Mauk's Kenton. Not having to go up against Mauk's Kenton for the WBL title nowadays is a blessing for all WBL teams, Moyer's Wapak Redskins as well.
 
1 Shriner (Always competitive even as a small school in the league)
2 Frye (Wins, no matter what, he wins)
3 Recker (Tight race here, but state championship takes it)
4 Moyer (could easily be 3. Will be interesting to see if he rebounds this fall)
5 Fackler (not exactly Mauk, but consistently average)
6 Harmon (Huge progress in year 1. Looks to have things rolling)
7 Kline (Consistent)
8 Cooper (Seems to have a reputation, but has only won games when he could "recruit". His Tennessee record and Shawnee record....Leave a lot to be desired.)
9 Reindel (Can't blame him for everything
He inherited a program that was run into the ground by the 1 and done before him. Miller didn't do him any favors)
10 Bader (Someone had to be last, I'd say 5-10 are pretty fluid)
 
1 Shriner (Always competitive even as a small school in the league)
2 Frye (Wins, no matter what, he wins)
3 Recker (Tight race here, but state championship takes it)
4 Moyer (could easily be 3. Will be interesting to see if he rebounds this fall)
5 Fackler (not exactly Mauk, but consistently average)
6 Harmon (Huge progress in year 1. Looks to have things rolling)
7 Kline (Consistent)
8 Cooper (Seems to have a reputation, but has only won games when he could "recruit". His Tennessee record and Shawnee record....Leave a lot to be desired.)
9 Reindel (Can't blame him for everything
He inherited a program that was run into the ground by the 1 and done before him. Miller didn't do him any favors)
10 Bader (Someone had to be last, I'd say 5-10 are pretty fluid)
Kline being “consistent” is quite the take. 7-23 in the last three years is consistently bad
 
It seems like a battle between Wapak, St Mary's, Van Wert, and OG. How would you guys compare these four teams going into the season with the group they have returning?
 
Very Interesting take. How would everyone rank the coaches in the WBL.

1. Fyre
2. Shriner
3. Moyer
4. Recker
5. Harmon
6. Cooper
7. Fackler
8. Kline
9. Bader
10. Ryan Reindal

That would be my list based on history of their coaching stops. What about some top assistants in the league?
There are some talented assistants in the league...
Woods the Elida DC, Truesdale at Wapak, Harting the OC at VW, Yale (I think that's his name) at St. Marys, Heebsh the DC at OG are all very talented assistants.
 
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There are some talented assistants in the league...
Woods the Elida DC, Truesdale at Wapak, Harting the OC at VW, Yale (I think that's his name) at St. Marys, Heebsh the DC at OG are all very talented assistants.

Kenton's Billy Lawrence as well. He is the offensive coordinator and has kept Kenton's offense at the top of the league since taking over!
 
Frye left SM when he saw the talent well was drying up. There was also a growing movement against him in the community that opposed his coaching style. Heard he lost support of administration, or got sick of not getting as much as he thought he should get. So he took a year off, looked around the area and saw a sleeping giant at Wapak. He was hired there to whip them into shape and win games. And he did.

He did a great job making Wapak better but there was a ton of talent there when he took over. He was exactly what they needed, but still made some enemies and created a lot of drama. That's true of a lot of great football coaches at every level, so I'm not knocking him for that.

Meanwhile SM turned into an absolutely awful football program. It was so bad, that SM would have signed a contract giving all their first born children's souls to Coach Frye to turn the program around. They pretty much did from what I heard, and Frye lived up to his end of the bargain.

In my opinion, the true measure of a coach is how good are they in their down years. OG is always a tough out, and seems to get the most out of their kids when they don't have much talent. So I'm going with Schriner, Frye and now Recker due to the state title. In 5-10 years if Recker sustains excellence at VW, he may move ahead. But in his first few years he had a lot of talent and should have been better IMO but he's certainly knocking on the door.
 
We're a long ways away, but what do we think of week 1 games? It's the only week WBL play out of league teams so it's always an interesting measuring stick. Per Arbiter, the games are:

Bath vs. Bowling Green
Celina @ Versailles
Defiance vs. Napoleon
Elida vs. Spencerville
Kenton @ Coldwater
Ottawa-Glandorf @ Eastwood
Shawnee vs. Lima Central Catholic
St. Marys Memorial @ London
Van Wert @ Bryan
Wapakoneta vs. Marion Local

You got your traditional matchups (Defiance, Kenton, Celina, O-G, Van Wert), but then some fresh ones. This is... a really tough week one slate. Van Wert is probably the only one looking at this list that seems by far the most likely to win. I think we could easily see the majority of the WBL 0-1 going into league play.

The games I'm most looking forward to: SM vs London, Wapak vs ML, and Elida vs. Spencerville since it's a local one. I think Bath-BG, Shawnee-LCC, and Celina-Versailles could probably get ugly.
 
I think it's time the WBL goes to the MAC model and have 8 conference games. There is a strong possibility the WBL could range from 2-8 to 4-6 in their opening week games. Which then creates a tough time for league teams to make the playoffs.
 
I'm not opposed to an 8-game schedule, especially if realignment stuff ever hit the WBL and they were forced to be more strategic. But otherwise I'm not sure changing the scheduling model based on a poor projection for the 2021 out of league games is the right move. I'm not sold that the WBL 9-game schedule hurts them, especially since playoffs are expanding. Here's how the WBL has done with out of league games in the past several years:

2019 - 5-5
2018 - 7-3
2017 - 4-6 (SM was 3-seed in their region, Elida 8-seed, Celina and Wapak missed at #10 and #12, respectively)
2016 - 5-5
2015 - 7-3
2014 - 4-6 (Wapak was the 1-seed, Kenton 4-seed, O-G missed at #9)
2013 - 5-5

By and large, the WBL has done well. Even in the worst years in recent history, the better WBL teams got into the playoffs and received first round home games and the teams that missed out would qualify in a 12-team region playoff system.
 
We're a long ways away, but what do we think of week 1 games? It's the only week WBL play out of league teams so it's always an interesting measuring stick. Per Arbiter, the games are:

Bath vs. Bowling Green
Celina @ Versailles
Defiance vs. Napoleon
Elida vs. Spencerville
Kenton @ Coldwater
Ottawa-Glandorf @ Eastwood
Shawnee vs. Lima Central Catholic
St. Marys Memorial @ London
Van Wert @ Bryan
Wapakoneta vs. Marion Local

You got your traditional matchups (Defiance, Kenton, Celina, O-G, Van Wert), but then some fresh ones. This is... a really tough week one slate. Van Wert is probably the only one looking at this list that seems by far the most likely to win. I think we could easily see the majority of the WBL 0-1 going into league play.

The games I'm most looking forward to: SM vs London, Wapak vs ML, and Elida vs. Spencerville since it's a local one. I think Bath-BG, Shawnee-LCC, and Celina-Versailles could probably get ugly.

Bath-BG gets ugly in the WBL's favor if anything. BG lost a ton and is going to be horrible.

Still hard to find more than 4-5 wins there. We gotta start scheduling better, or just flat getting better and winning as a league.
 
I think it's time the WBL goes to the MAC model and have 8 conference games. There is a strong possibility the WBL could range from 2-8 to 4-6 in their opening week games. Which then creates a tough time for league teams to make the playoffs.
Remember 12 teams get in next year so not as important as past.
 
Bath vs. Bowling Green
Celina @ Versailles
Defiance vs. Napoleon
Elida vs. Spencerville
Kenton @ Coldwater
Ottawa-Glandorf @ Eastwood
Shawnee vs. Lima Central Catholic
St. Marys Memorial @ London
Van Wert @ Bryan
Wapakoneta vs. Marion Local
Bath vs. Bowling Green - Idk why Bath and Allen East aren't playing. BG running clock

Celina @ Versailles - Tigerball running clock. Since the playoffs are expanding to 12, I see no reason for Coldwater and Celina not to play.

Defiance vs. Napoleon - Typical rivalry game thats usually close. Dont know enough on either to comment

Elida vs. Spencerville - Intriguing. I'll go with Elida by a score

Kenton @ Coldwater- Cavs by 3 scores. I really enjoyed having a year off of this matchup.

Ottawa-Glandorf @ Eastwood - This is a great game. Could go either way.

Shawnee vs. Lima Central Catholic - Cooper cant out recruit Palte apparently

St. Marys Memorial @ London - Another intriguing matchup. London will not go quietly

Van Wert @ Bryan - Defending state champs take out Bryan by 4 scores.

Wapakoneta vs. Marion Local - Maybe the matchup of the week that week
 
Bath vs. Bowling Green - Idk why Bath and Allen East aren't playing. BG running clock

Celina @ Versailles - Tigerball running clock. Since the playoffs are expanding to 12, I see no reason for Coldwater and Celina not to play.

Defiance vs. Napoleon - Typical rivalry game thats usually close. Dont know enough on either to comment

Elida vs. Spencerville - Intriguing. I'll go with Elida by a score

Kenton @ Coldwater- Cavs by 3 scores. I really enjoyed having a year off of this matchup.

Ottawa-Glandorf @ Eastwood - This is a great game. Could go either way.

Shawnee vs. Lima Central Catholic - Cooper cant out recruit Palte apparently

St. Marys Memorial @ London - Another intriguing matchup. London will not go quietly

Van Wert @ Bryan - Defending state champs take out Bryan by 4 scores.

Wapakoneta vs. Marion Local - Maybe the matchup of the week that week
Also wondered why Allen East and Bath don’t play too. Bath being D5 and AE being D6 the game makes too much sense.
 
Bath-BG gets ugly in the WBL's favor if anything. BG lost a ton and is going to be horrible.
I'm pretty sure Bath is losing a lot too. That's why this past season was a bit disappointing for them - they were a veteran team. While competitive in their games, they still went 2-6. I think I'd take the 7-2 team from last year that lost a lot. A Bath win would be a nice surprise though. ?
 
I'm pretty sure Bath is losing a lot too. That's why this past season was a bit disappointing for them - they were a veteran team. While competitive in their games, they still went 2-6. I think I'd take the 7-2 team from last year that lost a lot. A Bath win would be a nice surprise though. ?
I think every year for Bath has been "their year" for about the last 10 years.
 
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