mustang fan
Active member
I'll be interested in seeing who wants and who eventually gets this job given the way the most recent head coaches have been shown the exit door.
Strongsville's Lou Cirino is Out
- Thread starter VilleBooster
- Start date
you make it sound like he was there for 1 season.
7 seasons of mediocre football and then the HOF incident.
I don't know how much better he could have done on the field, but if you're of the opinion that they should be- he wasn't getting it done
Gecewich isnt feeling out. He just won the state title with a 7senior team, 6 contributed. He is returning 15 starters, with 12 being juniors I believe along with a star QB, who is going to be one of the better QBs.
topperbounce
Defend the Hill
I think his dream job was West G, but money talks. Teacher salaries are way higher in the Strongsville district than West G. When you’re married and starting a family some things take priority, and I’d guess that was the case when he took the job.
They are building all over by Shale Creek and off 303....Should be interesting because i didnt think they wanted to grow.
perry1480
Well-known member
Man… D1 football in Cleveland is tough sledding. Talent is always a flight risk to Ohio City or Lakewood IYKYK.
At West G he seemed protected and well established in the D3 clouds… NDCL doesn’t take much away from the area (thanks in part to Chardon) and the program was moving in a good direction.
we’ll see how Rosati does there again… this year was rough.
wish Cirino the best of luck
Stark Born & Bred
Well-known member
Uh oh… Solon folks say the same thing… enrollment is trending to demographics that don't traditionally play sports.
Stark Born & Bred
Well-known member
Russ Jaques… how did he go from OC at Wisconsin to HC at Strongsville? Never learned the story but was always curious.
Football is dead in Solon. Low numbers in youth programs. Somebody already said it but the population is getting older and the demographics have changed. The community used to eat, breathe and sleep Comet football but thats in the past now. And to make matters even worse the quintessential hometown hero is already on the staff as The OC of a very bad offense. I dont know if the admin even cares about football anymore to be honest. Basketball school now. Good luck to Strongsville on their search, I feel way better about their path back to relevancy
Yeah. Some groups just historically don’t gravitate to football, so a district itself can be high performing and robust in number of students, but have a small pool of football participants compared to other schools of their enrollment size.
JustASpectator
Active member
Agreed. The skill at Strongsville is few and far between. The Mustangs had a string of good luck at the OL position, but that seems to have run out. (Duplain at Michigan State, Miller at Clemson, and Van Rooy at Pitt)
SVillegrad
Well-known member
I always thought Brunswick went west into Valley City but that's only because I went to a party at a Brunswick football player's house back in HS (so 25 years ago) and it was way out there and remembered having to go through Valley City to get there. It was one of those things that stuck in my head "kids from out here go to Brunswick???". He must have open enrolled, which Brunswick has had adjacent district since at least the mid-90s.
Looking at district maps and it is a bit surprising to see that Brunswick isn't that much larger in land area than Strongsville. Brunswick dips into Hinkley Twp. a little bit but it's modtly Brunswick/Brunswick Hills.
Brunswick still has a lot more land to build, though, compared to Strongsville because about 20 percent of the land area in Strongsville is part of the Cleveland Metroparks.
I agree that Buckeye will continue to see some new home builds (the areas that have been mentioned) but I can't imagine development will go too far past Marks Road because that is pretty isolated with no easy highway access.
JustASpectator
Active member
I'll bet part of Valley City, who commutes North for work, sure wouldn't mind the ramp being planned for Boston/71!
SVillegrad
Well-known member
A lot of the Ed's/Ignatius kids never went to Strongsville City Schools, though they have had a few that opted to go to one of them over the years after going to MS in the Strongsville schools.
Actually, their best 8th grader from 2022 ended up at Lutheran West (where I believe he started varsity). Ed's is Ed's and Iggy is still a big time draw so "losing" kids to them has been happening for 30/40 years. Strongsville is a city of nearly 50k so there will always be kids going to area privates. What has hurt them is that it seems more and more kids that would have stayed at Strongsville (or even went from St. Joseph's to Strongsville HS) appear to be headed to non Eds/Iggy privates. Those are the ones a good Strongsville program (D1/GCC) should be able to win over.
SVillegrad
Well-known member
I'm foggy on that because we moved to Strongsville right around when he was hired and I wasn't in HS yet but remember there being a buzz about hiring a "college" coach. But I think he was at BG right before. I'm thinking he probably lost the job at BG to a coaching changed and moved his family to Strongsville (he grew up in Parma) and the Strongsville job opened around the same time so he went for it.
SVillegrad
Well-known member
Since demographics (partially because of me) has been a discussion. Here is numbers from the Ohio Department of education's enrollment data (from the October headcounts). This year's data isn't listed so I'm using October 2022 and comparing it to October 2018. I think this will show that Strongsville's demographics are not as bad as people are making it and there is evidence in what I posted about Strongsville potentially surpassing both Medina and Brunswick once again in total enrollment (it's back within 500 or both when about 10 years ago, it was more around 1,500 to 2,000 behind them).
Strongsville total enrollment:
2018 - 5,478
2022 - 5,665
Difference - +187 (+3.41%)
Brunswick total enrollment:
2018 - 6,991
2022: 6,183
Difference: -808 (-11.56%)
Medina total enrollment:
2018: 6,794
2022: 6,194
Difference: -630 (-9.27%)
===========
Strongsville Asian enrollment (non-football demo, but I wonder how Arabic students are counted, which Strongsville ... along with North Olmsted and Westlake have probably the highest percentage in Greater Cleveland ... and all three of those schools generally have quite a few Arabic players)
2018: 335
2022: 466
Difference: 131 (+39.10%)
Brunswick Asian enrollment:
2018: 78
2022: 94
Difference: 16 (+20.51%)
Medina Asian enrollment:
2018: 85
2022: 84
Difference: -1 (-1.18%)
======
Strongsville black enrollment (football demo)
2018: 150
2022: 224
Difference: +74 (+49.33%)
Brunswick black enrollment:
2018: 95
2022: 125
Difference: +30 (+31.58%)
Medina black enrollment:
2018: 228
2022: 180
Difference: -48 (-21.05%)
======
Strongsville Hispanic enrollment (not generally a football demo but being on the westside it's probably mainly Puerto Rican in Strongsville and Brunswick (Medina may be more Mexican/Central American) which is "Americanized" as any Hispanic group):
2018: 259
2022: 372
Difference: +113 (+43.63%)
Brunswick Hispanic enrollment:
2018: 236
2022: 273
Difference: +37 (+15.68%)
Medina Hispanic enrollment:
2018: 193
2022: 295
Difference: +102 (+52.85%)
======
Strongsville multi-racial percent (likely white and another race):
2018: 213
2022: 200
Difference: -13 (-6.10%)
Brunswick multi-racial percent:
2018: 225
2022: 236
Difference: +11 (+4.89%)
Medina multi-racial percent:
2018: 247
2022: 311
Difference: +64 (+25.91% ... my guess is a lot of black/white students were counted as black and moved to multi-racial in the past five years)
========
Strongsville white enrollment (football demo and the largest group by far at all these schools)
2018: 4,513
2022: 4,373
Difference: -140 (-3.10%)
Brunswick white enrollment:
2018: 6,349
2022: 5,447
Difference: -902 (-14.21%)
Medina white enrollment:
2018: 6,035
2022: 5,290
Difference: -745 (-12.34%)
Overall, Strongsville's enrollment has been boosted by non-white growth (though % wise black has been the fastest there). But it is also seeing its white student population staying way more stable than either Medina or Brunswick, which (due to the cycle those districts are in) are dropping quickly and neither Brunswick or Medina are seeing non-white growth fast enough to keep up pace (which Strongsville is experiencing).
It's a football program that has struggled for most of the past 15 years, but it's hard to look at the total number of students still in the district and the enrollment trends and say it's a "dead program." There is way more potential now than there was at any time since Jacques was let go.
Strongsville total enrollment:
2018 - 5,478
2022 - 5,665
Difference - +187 (+3.41%)
Brunswick total enrollment:
2018 - 6,991
2022: 6,183
Difference: -808 (-11.56%)
Medina total enrollment:
2018: 6,794
2022: 6,194
Difference: -630 (-9.27%)
===========
Strongsville Asian enrollment (non-football demo, but I wonder how Arabic students are counted, which Strongsville ... along with North Olmsted and Westlake have probably the highest percentage in Greater Cleveland ... and all three of those schools generally have quite a few Arabic players)
2018: 335
2022: 466
Difference: 131 (+39.10%)
Brunswick Asian enrollment:
2018: 78
2022: 94
Difference: 16 (+20.51%)
Medina Asian enrollment:
2018: 85
2022: 84
Difference: -1 (-1.18%)
======
Strongsville black enrollment (football demo)
2018: 150
2022: 224
Difference: +74 (+49.33%)
Brunswick black enrollment:
2018: 95
2022: 125
Difference: +30 (+31.58%)
Medina black enrollment:
2018: 228
2022: 180
Difference: -48 (-21.05%)
======
Strongsville Hispanic enrollment (not generally a football demo but being on the westside it's probably mainly Puerto Rican in Strongsville and Brunswick (Medina may be more Mexican/Central American) which is "Americanized" as any Hispanic group):
2018: 259
2022: 372
Difference: +113 (+43.63%)
Brunswick Hispanic enrollment:
2018: 236
2022: 273
Difference: +37 (+15.68%)
Medina Hispanic enrollment:
2018: 193
2022: 295
Difference: +102 (+52.85%)
======
Strongsville multi-racial percent (likely white and another race):
2018: 213
2022: 200
Difference: -13 (-6.10%)
Brunswick multi-racial percent:
2018: 225
2022: 236
Difference: +11 (+4.89%)
Medina multi-racial percent:
2018: 247
2022: 311
Difference: +64 (+25.91% ... my guess is a lot of black/white students were counted as black and moved to multi-racial in the past five years)
========
Strongsville white enrollment (football demo and the largest group by far at all these schools)
2018: 4,513
2022: 4,373
Difference: -140 (-3.10%)
Brunswick white enrollment:
2018: 6,349
2022: 5,447
Difference: -902 (-14.21%)
Medina white enrollment:
2018: 6,035
2022: 5,290
Difference: -745 (-12.34%)
Overall, Strongsville's enrollment has been boosted by non-white growth (though % wise black has been the fastest there). But it is also seeing its white student population staying way more stable than either Medina or Brunswick, which (due to the cycle those districts are in) are dropping quickly and neither Brunswick or Medina are seeing non-white growth fast enough to keep up pace (which Strongsville is experiencing).
It's a football program that has struggled for most of the past 15 years, but it's hard to look at the total number of students still in the district and the enrollment trends and say it's a "dead program." There is way more potential now than there was at any time since Jacques was let go.
GencoEd
Yappi Legend
Can you show how many Italian-Americans are enrolled at each?
SVillegrad
Well-known member
There has been talks about an interchange there since I lived in Strongsville. If it didn't happen in the 90s, can't see how they can possibly add one there now unless they knock down like 500 houses and widen Boston Road to four lanes. Doesn't it make more sense to keep those homes (most are from the 90s) instead of bulldozing them over just so you can add 500 more even further away?
SVillegrad
Well-known member
Lol, was probably 10-15 percent at both Strongsville and Brunswick when I was in school. But can't help you there until the ODE posts that info.
It's Greater Cleveland so the "vich" "ski" and names that ended in a/e/i/o more than held there own.
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mustang fan
Active member
Regarding the discussion as to enrollment numbers...I personally don't think that matters much.
From my view, it is just a different time for Mustang sports teams. I recall in the late 90's and into the early 2000's it seemed like just about all the Mustang sports teams were very competitive...In the fall the football team competed for conference championships and were a playoff team quite frequently. Both cross country teams had moments when they both competed simultaneously in the state meet. Both the boys and girls soccer teams traditionally made deep tourney runs each winning at least one state title. Girls volleyball was competitive. Boys basketball was likewise and the wrestling teams were quite good as well. Baseball team was decent and won a state title one year I believe. Now, without examining each sport activity over the past 15 years or so, it appears to me that only the girls soccer program has remained top flight throughout.
Sad to say, I just don't think there are enough athletically talented kids to make for really competitive sports teams currently...And if the student/athlete is really talented enough I can't blame them for looking to go to one of the privates to fill their athletic desires.
It looks like (football wise anyway) that Brunswick and Solon have fallen the same way...Really good games involving those teams "back in the day". Sad to see it being the way it is today.
From my view, it is just a different time for Mustang sports teams. I recall in the late 90's and into the early 2000's it seemed like just about all the Mustang sports teams were very competitive...In the fall the football team competed for conference championships and were a playoff team quite frequently. Both cross country teams had moments when they both competed simultaneously in the state meet. Both the boys and girls soccer teams traditionally made deep tourney runs each winning at least one state title. Girls volleyball was competitive. Boys basketball was likewise and the wrestling teams were quite good as well. Baseball team was decent and won a state title one year I believe. Now, without examining each sport activity over the past 15 years or so, it appears to me that only the girls soccer program has remained top flight throughout.
Sad to say, I just don't think there are enough athletically talented kids to make for really competitive sports teams currently...And if the student/athlete is really talented enough I can't blame them for looking to go to one of the privates to fill their athletic desires.
It looks like (football wise anyway) that Brunswick and Solon have fallen the same way...Really good games involving those teams "back in the day". Sad to see it being the way it is today.
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SVillegrad
Well-known member
Come on. Strongsville is still very competitive in all those sports outside of football.
Strongsville (and Brunswick) also aren't the bullies of the Pioneer Conference anymore. The GCC (NOC) is way more competitive across the board than the PC ever was.
HSJunkie1908
New member
Strongsville Freshman Team went 9-1 this year. My sons team week #3 didn’t fair to well against them. From what I can see, the Mustangs were pretty loaded. I have seen this before in our district. Hire outside and players will walk or hire within and keep this group together and make a run in 2024.
SVillegrad
Well-known member
If nothing else, I think Cirino deserves credit for rebuilding the younger programs. They were a joke in football when he took over. But has been as good as any in the GCC at the MS/freshmen over the past couple of seasons.
Strongsville still was a junior dominated team this year at varsity (most played Varsity as sophomores too so weren't exactly brand new).
I can see why he may feel slighted because he didn't get one more year to see if the 2025 kids (with some talent in the wings) could do something. Right or wrong, and I personally don't think the situation at the HOF was due to lack of leadership, but it combined with another losing season made it an easier decision to move on. And if they have immediate success under a new coach, a lot of that will be for sure because of what Cirino rebuilt at the younger levels in his 7 years.
VilleBooster
Member
Well Said!!! I am so sick of this district and its holier-than-thou approach. Our board is made up of some maniacs who meddle in everything. Our superintendent has tried to get out for a different job at multiple districts (most recently Hudson and Westerville). Meanwhile he has run out some good coaches and other administrators like the guy that won the national principal of the year, who apparently wasn't good enough for strongsville. Not to mention, We just had a teacher give a lesson on some racially insensitive anti-muslim stuff, bomb threats, and our renewal levy failed.... But yea, the supt and board have nothing better to worry about than the football coach??? A guy that has given everything and more to this program?? Yea, the kids stole some stuff from the gift shop at the HOF. That is stupid kid stuff that could have happened to any coach. I don't fault Coach lou for how he handled it at all. he got the stuff back and it was returned.
Strongsville was strong when they were the big dogs in the Pioneer league and early NOC . When they got thrown in GCL, it all began to change and now Strongsville and Brunswick are shells of what they used to be. The coach just relieved may have done some nice things at lower levels but varsity program did not improve and he had 7 seasons.