Future of Boardman Football

Idk other than not losing to privates with the kids that go to your own middle school… You avoid losing to privates in the regular season. Able to schedule winnable games. Build confidence in your program (winning).Forces privates to schedule out of county games…..
The proof is the fact that Canfield won a state championship and is in the conversation for one almost every year and most importantly they keep kids in the Canfield school system. They also just happen to NOT play local privates! It’s not a complicated formula….
Boardman played one private this year. They went 1-8 the other nine games.

Furthermore, this was the first year Boardman lost to Mooney since 2019, a game in which was decided by one point in OT. (Side note, Boardman beat Ursuline that year by two touchdowns.)

Boardman is 4-2 in their last six against Mooney-- why would they discontinue that? It's not the private's fault Boardman stinks-- it's Boardman's.
 
Just an opinion, but against Canfield, I feel like Boardman made a few plays but couldn't sustain anything. From the outside looking in, it looks like a talent problem, not a coaching problem. Ursuline's QB played for Boardman in middle school I believe. I'm sure he'd be a welcome addition to any Spartan team had he stayed.
 
What Boardman football needs
taylor-kc-2.jpg
 
Idk other than not losing to privates with the kids that go to your own middle school… You avoid losing to privates in the regular season. Able to schedule winnable games. Build confidence in your program (winning).Forces privates to schedule out of county games…..
The proof is the fact that Canfield won a state championship and is in the conversation for one almost every year and most importantly they keep kids in the Canfield school system. They also just happen to NOT play local privates! It’s not a complicated formula….
All I’m saying is, it’s pretty clear that Canfield has taken the approach to never play the Irish and Cardinals unless they have to. Overtime it has obviously paid dividends.

Being this is a Boardman thread, I don't want to hijack it. I think if you asked Canfield players they'd love to play a Mooney or Ursuline year in and year out. I also think the whole South Range thing or Fitch would be welcome, but that comes down to admin not the players obviously. I think a rotation of the Parochial schools, or other locals would be nice. I think throwing Struthers, Hubbard, Niles or a team like that to replace Howland would be great as well. It is nice to face teams like Mansfield, Olmsted Falls and Dover who all 3 have really good programs and give the cards a different look outside the valley. I know for a fact the players seem to be a lot more focused and jacked up to play local teams, Boardman, Poland, Chaney etc... I also believe Canfield kids staying in Canfield and being successful has a lot to do with the current boom. Especially guys like, Broc Lowry, Danny Inglis, Scotty Eaton, Vince Luce, and Angelo Delucia just to name a few. All of those kids could've went and played elsewhere would've started and been key contributors, but they stayed in Canfield and have been very successful and help lay the groundwork for the upcoming kids.
Boardman has a nice 8th grade class, and a few nice pieces in 9th grade, if they can keep the 8th grade class together and mix it with the 9th graders it can be a step in the right direction.
 
I guess we didn't steal anybody until Reardon returned.
That’s pretty accurate kempe wasn’t a great recruiter and he was very picky about the kids he would bring in.

None of this has anything to do with a Boardman being bad at football, though. They treat football as very non-serious, and it shows every single season.
 
It makes perfect sense when you’re being beat by players that went to BMS on other teams. The quick fix is drop the privates and schedule winnable public’s or out of the Mahoning valley privates and then kids may stay….
Kids going to the lrovates has been a thing for a long time tho this isn’t anything new if anything less kids go now
 
That’s pretty accurate kempe wasn’t a great recruiter and he was very picky about the kids he would bring in.

None of this has anything to do with a Boardman being bad at football, though. They treat football as very non-serious, and it shows every single season.
Bet he would take anyone the way he’s been calling that Niles defense the last few years
 
Boardman is barely a .500 program cumulatively since 1971. That is not Mooney and Ursuline’s fault. It’s a culture of mediocrity. It doesn’t matter if they hire Nick Saban. 5-5 and 6-4 is the benchmark for them.
 
Boardman was 153-121 in the years from 1984-2010 which probably coincided with their best talent and (some) of the best coaching or at least individual teams between Bohren, Pallante, and Ogilvie. And they were playing a brutal schedule. It also included a Garry Smith presided destruction of the football program which led to a stretch of 2-28 from 03-05. Which is what makes the current struggles more sad. When Boardman went 3-7 in the 90s or 2000s, it was against a loaded schedule of 5-6 D1 playoff teams. Not so much nowadays.

Irony is Boardman's best run was probably between 1997-2002 when they had stockpiles of talent. Does one of those 3 non Garry Smith coaches win a state title in that period? Garry Smith was notoriously a man carried by his staff. Go rewatch Boardman play Pickerington in the playoffs in 1999, and watch a 10th grade Evan Beard steamroll guys all night and the team being led by its backup quarterback still get outcoached in the second half!

But Boardman was playing 3-4 private schools a season in those days, Ignatius, Ed's, St Francis, let alone Mooney and Ursuline. The community has changed a lot. Those families which were raising kids in Boardman during that 30 year period are now in places like Canfield. Or sending their own kids to Ursuline (heck I'd do the same to be fair).

It's sad, but if Boardman probably put on a serious coaching search when the job came open in the Spring of 1997 after Pallante went to Fremont Ross rather than hire Jack Hay (who promptly resigned after just a few offseason weeks) and promote Garry Smith from within, they'd probably have played in another state title game. But the community held onto the ideal of pegging academics, athletics, and the arts equally when they really had the football program last, and viewed it no differently than winning a cross country or softball championship (nothing against those sports).
 
The more I hear from people who have been invested in Boardman football the more I have come to believe that the administration and the athletic department are not invested in the football program. That job should attract top notch coaching talent because of their size, facilities, and demographics but it doesn't because those in charge are holding it back. When a school district will not do what it takes to win, you won't win. It's amazing that Poland and Canfield have been able to find a winning formula and Boardman hasn't but then again they seem to be all in when it comes to football and those in a position of authority are not at Boardman.
 
The buck always stops at the principal and administration. If they don't care about football, then you have no shot at winning especially in the loaded d-2 region 5 where they finished last. The admin worries more about the band, drama club, and orchestra than the football team and it shows.
 
Boardman’s problem this year above all else was their defense.

Offense moved the ball pretty good, #1 was a very good WR. Shame to see where things are…

Band is epic though…the Metallica and Star Wars halftime show was awesome!
 
I don’t know I’d say Boardman doesn’t care about football. What do Canfield, Poland or South Range do as a school district that Boardman doesn’t from a financial commitment? Fitch I agree has gone all-in on athletic spending, but I think OE is a pretty big help too.

I’ve actually heard Canfield is the least committed/supportive of their athletics as far as spending. But most families there are well-off and help overcome that for their needs. Also it’s kind of the “it” place to live so the talent pool is strong like Boardman in 80’s-90’s.

Boardman added a full-time S&C coach. Outside of Fitch, do other public schools around here have that?

Boardman’s stadium is as good as anyone.
Boardman Athletics are in a good state overall. In the other “big” sport Boardman had probably been the best local program for 7 or so years up until last season. Still they lost a few top players to Ursuline (their best player this year) who they were beating regularly.

I think for football it’s been poor hires. Antram may have been a decent hire but he was offered $25k more for a created admin position at Chaney - what can you do? Dota seems like a good guy and he’s definitely committed, but it’s clearly not going well.

It’s unfortunate DJ Ogilvie moved to Florida when he did because the program was really trending up with him. He’s the guy I’d figure out how to get him out of United and back to Boardman. Get creative like Chaney/YCS did with some BS admin position to make the $ work.

Whoever the coach (and staff) is they need to focus more on the Jr high kids and recruit/sell them on Boardman. Because others will be in their ears. You can’t assume it’s a formality they will end up at BHS. I agree the blame can’t be on the Privates, it’s on Boardman to outwork those schools to keep kids in district and attract outside talent to move in.

Similar to what a UHS fan posted, I’ll turn it around and my question would be outside of strictly football or religion, why would a kid ever want to go to Ursuline or Mooney over Boardman? Fix the football issue and sell Boardman to the kids and it should be an easy sell when comparing the options. Control the narrative not the other way around.
 
You hit the nail on the head. Why would any junior high athlete chose Boardman over Ursuline? There isn't one reasonable argument to be made. It is rare for a JH athlete in the Austintown school system to go to Ursuline. Because Fitch has a strong, serious program. Boardman's program is completely unserious. And until they get serious, they'll continue to lose kids to Ursuline and Mooney. I know boardman posters love to paint the picture that Ursuline coaches are in Boardman players' living rooms. But the reality is their program offers no reasons for kids to go there-- not because of "recruiting."
I understand why Ursuline has started picking up the Boardman kids. Mooney is 15-27 under Carl Pelini. Not sure why anyone would rush to play for that train wreck of a program.
 
Similar to what a UHS fan posted, I’ll turn it around and my question would be outside of strictly football or religion, why would a kid ever want to go to Ursuline or Mooney over Boardman? Fix the football issue and sell Boardman to the kids and it should be an easy sell when comparing the options. Control the narrative not the other way around.
I can't speak for Mooney, but Ursuline is also the best academic school in the area (Canfield also has an argument). Ursuline sends more kids to Ivy league schools than any school in the area. Their AP test numbers are fantastic.
 
I saw Boardman's new stadium this year...nice...like all new stadiums...did like the character of the old stadium. Boardman always played us strong when they were in the Fed...one odd stat they have played us 14 times now and only beat us once at their old stadium...beat us 3 times at our place.....if the school was closer they would still be in the Fed....to make our travel easier we would play Fitch and Boardman away the same year...so we didn't have to travel that way the next year. They had a great offense this year against us...but we were playing with 4 new DB's...your run defense was bad.
 
Top