Greater Cleveland Conference 2024

Predict GCC Winner

  • Brunswick

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Cleveland Heights

    Votes: 16 47.1%
  • Euclid

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mentor

    Votes: 16 47.1%
  • Medina

    Votes: 1 2.9%
  • Shaker Heights

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Strongsville

    Votes: 1 2.9%

  • Total voters
    34
  • Poll closed .

cardzfan1234

Well-known member
Last year's standings:

1. Cleveland Heights 7-0 (9-1 overall)
2. Mentor 6-1 (7-3 overall)
3. Medina 5-2 (7-3 overall)
4. Shaker 4-3 (7-3 overall)
5. Brunswick 3-4 (3-7 overall)
6. Strongsville 2-5 (3-7 overall)
7. Solon 0-6* (1-8 overall)
8. Euclid 0-6 (1-8 overall)

*Solon/Euclid game was cancelled. Solon is no longer in the GCC

Would anyone be surprised if the standings went a similar direction? In my opinion, the difference between #2 and #3 is quite high. Cleveland Heights and Mentor, either order, bring back much more talented players than Medina. Scotty Fox and Marquiese "Do It Alllll" Davis are the two most likely players to compete for the GCC Player of the Year. Davis rightfully earned the honor last year. Fox can earn the recognition with a big season that includes a conference title.

The Tigers have the most talent on paper in the conference. Their line on both sides of the ball is huge and skilled. Davis is a one-man wrecking crew with his ability to break for a score at any time. Talent in the secondary. The passing game is the question mark for me.

Mentor returns most of their impact players on offense, including five that have Division I offers. Fox and a talented receiving core should give Mentor the best passing offense by far in the league. Defensively, they don't have the size or talent of Heights. But they bring back a few good starters in the front seven. Their kicking game should be the best in the league.

Medina graduated some of the most talented players in the GCC. After five seasons of elite QB play with Allar and Stoddard, the replacement is a key part of their success. I think the Bees are closer to finishing 4th than 2nd. Shaker has the most high profile recruit (DB/WR Trey McNutt) in the league by far. He is the #1 rated safety prospect in the country. But the Raiders bring back First Team All-District RB Cornell Beard as well. They continue to climb in the league.

What to make of Strongsville and Brunswick? I don't know. I think they will stay in the clear bottom half of the league. They both have new coaches.

The Panthers won three total games over the past three seasons. Call me crazy, but I think Euclid can get three wins this season alone, which would be a big accomplishment from where they have been. A new coach that I think will eventually bring Euclid back to middle of the pack in the GCC by 2025. I think they can get a win over Strongsville or Brunswick this season.
 
 
Do you still run that other website where you blog about the teams that play Mentor? I always enjoyed reading your predictions.
Thanks, but not likely this year. I haven't been doing it in recent years. I didn't get the interest from the Mentor football community on my posts like I thought I would.
 
I think the GCC will be between Cleveland Heights and Mentor. Both will be heavy favorites to win, but can they make it count in the postseason?

Medina's a bit of an unknown with a new QB, but if he can play how he did at John Marshall, the Bees will be alright.

Shaker Heights has the talent, and one of the best athletes in the country in Trey McNutt, but they need to be able to beat the Mentors and the Cleveland Heightses on a consistent basis.

Strongsville will be better than last year, but are about a year or two away IMO.
 
I like Cleveland Heights again this year. They just got D1 Miami University commit and EDGE rusher Jamiel Hamm from Ginn Academy. Hamm with a good secondary and Davis on the other side of the ball should yield another GCC Championship.
 
It's definitely Mentor and Cleveland Heights out in front. I don't think either team will lose a league game outside of the H2H.

I like Mentor a little more because of what I put in the R1 thread ... I think if Heights comes back with a wishbone again, it takes a couple really good outside WRs basically out of the game. Plus, Mentor, Medina and Brunswick all showed last year that even with Davis and all those monster lineman, teams can slow the CH wishbone.

If Heights opens things up, they could struggle a bit early but if they gel by playoffs then they have as good a chance as anybody to win the region.

I think the 3-6 spots could all be pretty even. Right now, Shaker returns a lot more than Medina and neither Shaker or Medina are breaking in new coaches so no arguments from me about anybody having them back in the 3-4 spots in the preseason.

Strongsville (I'll give a more detailed take on them at some point) and Brunswick both return a ton (15-plus starters each I believe) but both have the uncertainty of having new coaches. I think both will be better and be a lot closer to Shaker/Medina than they are to Euclid.

Maybe Euclid is improved but will need to see it before I think they can knock off even the bad GCC teams (I don't think there will be a bad GCC team outside of Euclid btw). They also have a new coach and while they have a handful of good athletes, their depth was bad and they only had about 40 players dressing varsity last year. Their enrollment is still declining at an alarming rate so it's not just as easy as "getting more kids to come out." Euclid is D2 now and is more likely to continue to drop than getting back to D1. I'm surprised Creel left Lorain, where he was doing a nice job of turning them around and Lorain is still a mid-sized D1 that has pretty stable enrollment. ... and is coming into the GCC.
 
@SVillegrad I agree with your Euclid sentiment and It is a shame because they have a beautiful facility. I occasionally work in that area. The crime has continued to increase and I think people are tired of it and sending their kids to different schools. I would definitely like to see Euclid football be more competitive but the city has a bigger issues to deal with in their increase in crime, its unacceptable.

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VASJ doesn't seem to have the same issue in football despite being down the street from Euclid High School; however, it is a private school with a strong culture which is why I don't think they are seeing the same impact in participation. Hopefully the new coach can get Euclid back to a winning culture and it trickles down to the community.
 
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It's definitely Mentor and Cleveland Heights out in front. I don't think either team will lose a league game outside of the H2H.

I like Mentor a little more because of what I put in the R1 thread ... I think if Heights comes back with a wishbone again, it takes a couple really good outside WRs basically out of the game. Plus, Mentor, Medina and Brunswick all showed last year that even with Davis and all those monster lineman, teams can slow the CH wishbone.

If Heights opens things up, they could struggle a bit early but if they gel by playoffs then they have as good a chance as anybody to win the region.

I think the 3-6 spots could all be pretty even. Right now, Shaker returns a lot more than Medina and neither Shaker or Medina are breaking in new coaches so no arguments from me about anybody having them back in the 3-4 spots in the preseason.

Strongsville (I'll give a more detailed take on them at some point) and Brunswick both return a ton (15-plus starters each I believe) but both have the uncertainty of having new coaches. I think both will be better and be a lot closer to Shaker/Medina than they are to Euclid.

Maybe Euclid is improved but will need to see it before I think they can knock off even the bad GCC teams (I don't think there will be a bad GCC team outside of Euclid btw). They also have a new coach and while they have a handful of good athletes, their depth was bad and they only had about 40 players dressing varsity last year. Their enrollment is still declining at an alarming rate so it's not just as easy as "getting more kids to come out." Euclid is D2 now and is more likely to continue to drop than getting back to D1. I'm surprised Creel left Lorain, where he was doing a nice job of turning them around and Lorain is still a mid-sized D1 that has pretty stable enrollment. ... and is coming into the GCC.
Creel is an east side guy. He is recruiting against a lot of schools at Euclid, but he’s comfortable selling his brand in that area where he knows everyone and feels his most effective and comfortable. He’ll get Euclid going again pretty soon.
 
Creel is an east side guy. He is recruiting against a lot of schools at Euclid, but he’s comfortable selling his brand in that area where he knows everyone and feels his most effective and comfortable. He’ll get Euclid going again pretty soon.
I agree. I don't see him having the success that Rotsky did, but I think he will get a lot closer to that than they are currently. When Rotsky leaves VASJ in 2-3 years (as his track record would suggest), that will help Euclid some too.
 
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VASJ doesn't seem to have the same issue in football despite being down the street from Euclid High School; however, it is a private school with a strong culture which is why I don't think they are seeing the same impact in participation. Hopefully the new coach can get Euclid back to a winning culture and it trickles down to the community.

That is just Rotsky. Euclid had no participation issues when Rotsky was there aggressively recruiting the east side of the city and the inner ring burbs. VASJ had very low numbers and struggled to compete. He leaves and now the problems have flipped. Crime, social issues, etc didn’t hurt Euclid when Rotsky was the coach (or at least not in an obvious way on the football field), Glenville is excelling, etc. Euclid just hasn’t had stability or a Coach that is a good fit since Rotsky left.
 
I think the GCC will be between Cleveland Heights and Mentor. Both will be heavy favorites to win, but can they make it count in the postseason?

Medina's a bit of an unknown with a new QB, but if he can play how he did at John Marshall, the Bees will be alright.

Shaker Heights has the talent, and one of the best athletes in the country in Trey McNutt, but they need to be able to beat the Mentors and the Cleveland Heightses on a consistent basis.

Strongsville will be better than last year, but are about a year or two away IMO.
Brunswick definitely has some work to do, but I think they will be much better this year. The new coach has brought a spark to the sleeping giant, and I wouldn't be surprised if they get back towards the top half of the conference and region in a few years. For 2024, they still lack talent due to low energy in the community from years past. I could see them winning a game or two they shouldn't though, due to the culture that is being built.
 
It's definitely Mentor and Cleveland Heights out in front. I don't think either team will lose a league game outside of the H2H.

I like Mentor a little more because of what I put in the R1 thread ... I think if Heights comes back with a wishbone again, it takes a couple really good outside WRs basically out of the game. Plus, Mentor, Medina and Brunswick all showed last year that even with Davis and all those monster lineman, teams can slow the CH wishbone.

If Heights opens things up, they could struggle a bit early but if they gel by playoffs then they have as good a chance as anybody to win the region.

I think the 3-6 spots could all be pretty even. Right now, Shaker returns a lot more than Medina and neither Shaker or Medina are breaking in new coaches so no arguments from me about anybody having them back in the 3-4 spots in the preseason.

Strongsville (I'll give a more detailed take on them at some point) and Brunswick both return a ton (15-plus starters each I believe) but both have the uncertainty of having new coaches. I think both will be better and be a lot closer to Shaker/Medina than they are to Euclid.

Maybe Euclid is improved but will need to see it before I think they can knock off even the bad GCC teams (I don't think there will be a bad GCC team outside of Euclid btw). They also have a new coach and while they have a handful of good athletes, their depth was bad and they only had about 40 players dressing varsity last year. Their enrollment is still declining at an alarming rate so it's not just as easy as "getting more kids to come out." Euclid is D2 now and is more likely to continue to drop than getting back to D1. I'm surprised Creel left Lorain, where he was doing a nice job of turning them around and Lorain is still a mid-sized D1 that has pretty stable enrollment. ... and is coming into the GCC.
The Battle of Boston Road should be interesting this year. I feel like both teams will improve this year, and hopefully in the future. I hate everything about Strongsville, but would love to see both communities and programs reach the level they were in their glory days. Hopefully that happens, and the coaching staffs at both programs understand the importance of week 10.
 
The Battle of Boston Road should be interesting this year. I feel like both teams will improve this year, and hopefully in the future. I hate everything about Strongsville, but would love to see both communities and programs reach the level they were in their glory days. Hopefully that happens, and the coaching staffs at both programs understand the importance of week 10.
That would be great if Brunswick and a Strongsville could get back to form. Been hoping for it for awhile

The more teams who are competitive, the better for the GCC. Doesn't do anybody any good to get a blowout win. With Heights and Shaker improving , the league is on the right track
 
@SVillegrad I agree with your Euclid sentiment and It is a shame because they have a beautiful facility. I occasionally work in that area. The crime has continued to increase and I think people are tired of it and sending their kids to different schools. I would definitely like to see Euclid football be more competitive but the city has a bigger issues to deal with in their increase in crime, its unacceptable.

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VASJ doesn't seem to have the same issue in football despite being down the street from Euclid High School; however, it is a private school with a strong culture which is why I don't think they are seeing the same impact in participation. Hopefully the new coach can get Euclid back to a winning culture and it trickles down to the community.
I hope that Euclid uses a different approach than VASJ. Transfers should not be how you build a program.
 
I hope that Euclid uses a different approach than VASJ. Transfers should not be how you build a program.

Sometimes when your trying to build a different culture it is necessary. Not in every situation but sometimes it can be good if your bringing in top tier, discipline athletes. I went to an open enrollment school that was actually closer to me then the school district I lived in and it was a great experience. We won a district championship in basketball and we had a strong winning culture that was already there but that became stronger with the transferred athletes. So In most cases, I advocate for open enrollment because I had such a good experience.
 
Creel is an east side guy. He is recruiting against a lot of schools at Euclid, but he’s comfortable selling his brand in that area where he knows everyone and feels his most effective and comfortable. He’ll get Euclid going again pretty soon.
Creel was a real good hire. His brand is discipline and accountability which is desperately needed at Euclid. He has looked out for a lot of people in the community and is widely respected. Think they will be in the 4-6 win range sooner than later.
 
Cleveland Heights looked very dominating in their scrimmages against Brush, Twinsburgh and elyria Catholic. At Euclid. Should be a better scrimmage next Thursday Aug 15th at Canton McKinley
 
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