Who is or was the best HC in your programs history?

I have to give a shout out to Scott Garcia at GlenOak!!!
Show me how many coaches took over a program that was as down as GlenOak football and made his mark as one of the best coaches in the county!!
Let’s just take a look.
Before Garcia, the Eagles from 2000 to 2005 had a record of 33-27, 55% winning record to include the 2000 year. The Eagles went 8-2 and went to the playoffs..
I remember reading the local paper, and one of the sports writers said, “ Who is going to wake up the sleeping giant of Stark County?” he was talking GlenOak football. With that being said, Garcia's Eagles in a 10-year stretch went to work.
His Eagles went to the playoffs 7 out of the 10 years, even went to the regional championship game at PBTS.
In 10 years' time, he had a 65% winning record. Let's not forget, the 7 years to the playoffs where his Eagles held a 76% winning record. The program took a downhill turn, but I believe I have a good idea why. This is Coach Garcia 3rd year back. His program is in place, and we will see it on the football field in 2023 if I am correct on the coach I think he is. Calling a coach great that is already in a winning program that keeps winning is one thing, but calling a coach great that takes over a non winning program and makes it great that’s my idea of a great coach.
Good luck, Coach G!!!
And GO EAGLES!!!
 
Sure. That's all that existed at the time and they were undefeated and rated #1 in the polls before it was stolen the next week. How can you possibly be undefeated and rated #1 one week but not in the top 10 the next week when you were idle?? And it wasn't mythical. Before 1972, the OHSAA used the AP poll to define each year's state champions.
Hmmm.
 
at Greenon, there’s an argument for 2.

from 2004-2008 Tim Hale was the head football coach. went 1-9 his first season but he quickly turned things around. he proceeded to go 7-3 in 2005-2007 winning at least a share of the league title each season. leveled off at 5-5 in 2008. was fired before the 2009 season due to claims of verbal abuse and mistreatment.

the other is the current head coach, Josh Wooten. he inherited a dumpster fire in 2017. program was coming off a 31 (?) game losing streak but the knights quickly broke that. 3-6 in 2017 but had winning seasons from 2018-2021. outright league titles in 2019 and 2020. also led them to the first playoff win in school history during the covid year.

while these stats may not seem impressive, it sure is at Greenon. Enon is a community that couldn’t have cared less about football ever since Greenon HS opened and started playing. i see that starting to change at least a bit.

Hale overall record: 27-23 (.540), 3 shared league titles

Wooten overall record: 33-25 (.569), 2 outright league titles, 1 playoff win
 
Since I adopted Nordonia as my team I would say Boedicker but might infuriate longtime Wapakoneta fans. Jeff Fox is on his tail, though.
 
NWOhio area teams that have played in a state final four (DI & DII)

Toledo Central Catholic - Greg Dempsey (current coach)
Toledo St. Francis - Dick Cromwell
Toledo Whitmer - Joe Palka
Perrysburg - Matt Kregel
Anthony Wayne - Andy Brungard (current coach)
Sylvania Southview - Jim Mayzes
Toledo St. Johns - Fred Beier/Doug Pearson
Findlay - Cliff Hite
Defiance - Jerry Buti
Lima Sr. - Leonard Rush
 
Walsh Jesuit
Bill Ricco- First HC for Walsh: 94-14-1 (15 yrs)
Gerry Rardin- 253-119-2. 1999 State Champions. 17 playoff appearances. (35 yrs)
 
Little Miami- Nate Mahon

Let the program to back to back playoff appearances (when only 8 teams made it) beating Edgewood in 2018. Changed the culture around Panther football. Program had 10 straight losing seasons before he arrived, including only 4 wins in 3 seasons before he took the job.
Barry Schaad

The Panthers winningest head football coach in school history boasts a record of 58-38-4, while also holding a six-year seasonal win streak with a record of 46-14. The Panthers claimed three FAVC titles under Schaad's leadership, and this also included four FAVC Players of the Year and three All-Ohio honorees. But Coach Schaad's positive impact didn't end there, the head ball coach also played an integral role in the addition of stadium lights and a Press Box at the original Panther Stadium that existed next to LMHS in Morrow (Current Salem Elementary).
• Career record of 58-38-4 as Little Miami head football coach.
• Six-year consecutive win streak at 46-14.
• Five-year unbeaten streak at home.
• Won three FAVC football titles (Only coach to ever win an FAVC title, outright).
 
Barry Schaad

The Panthers winningest head football coach in school history boasts a record of 58-38-4, while also holding a six-year seasonal win streak with a record of 46-14. The Panthers claimed three FAVC titles under Schaad's leadership, and this also included four FAVC Players of the Year and three All-Ohio honorees. But Coach Schaad's positive impact didn't end there, the head ball coach also played an integral role in the addition of stadium lights and a Press Box at the original Panther Stadium that existed next to LMHS in Morrow (Current Salem Elementary).
• Career record of 58-38-4 as Little Miami head football coach.
• Six-year consecutive win streak at 46-14.
• Five-year unbeaten streak at home.
• Won three FAVC football titles (Only coach to ever win an FAVC title, outright).
Coach Martin won the FAVC title outright in 1992. Otherwise, excellent post. That has to be considered the golden era of Panther football.
 
For Toledo Central Catholic it is definitely the current coach, Greg Dempsey.

Greg is an alum in the class of '88. When he played and into the 90's, Central (as we call ourselves--not TCC) always had a respectable program. We were never great, nor were we ever terrible. Had some teams occasionally state ranked.

Central always had trouble with Toledo St. Francis. We never beat them in my 4 years.

Dempsey took over around 2000 or so. Early on he won the Hall of Fame Game, the Toledo City League championship game. That was a sign that things were going to be different.

He still had trouble with St. Francis until the magic year of 2005. Central then wasnt Central now. He had good players, including one who would play at Ohio St and in the NFL. But overall the team was not a group of superstars. It was just a good collection of kids that he took and won the D2 championship with.

That was the start of his run of major success. He won the D2 title again in 2012 and then beat Joe Burrow for the D3 title in 2014. He lost to Hoban in the D3 title in 2015 and then beat them for the D2 title in 2022. In the years he didnt win the title, he never lost more than 2 regular season games and many times went 10-0 during the regular season.

He has brought Central to football prominence in Toledo.
To expand on Coach Dempsey a bit:

  • His career record is 238-48 (83% winning %)
  • He has had 1 losing season in his career: 2003 when CCHS went 3-7
  • His teams made the state Final 4 in 6 out of 8 years between 2012 and 2019.
    • In the two years they didn't reach the Final 4, CCHS lost in the Regional Championship
    • During this stretch CCHS won 2 State Titles (2012 and 2014) and were State Runners Up once (2015).
  • Dempsey lost his first 6 games versus Central's arch-rival: St. Francis, including two losses in 2001 and 2002. Since 2003, Central has beaten St. Francis 21 straight times, including twice in 2019 and 2020.
  • The average number of losses per year from 2018 through 2022 is 1.
  • He has had 7 undefeated regular seasons.
  • Central has missed the state playoffs just twice in his tenure: 2000 when it finish 8-3 and won the City League Championship game and in 2003 when it had its only losing season under Dempsey.
  • Other than the state championship in 2005, between 2001 and 2011, Central lost in the first round 5 times and the second round 4 times.
  • Since 2012, Central has advanced to at least the 3rd round every single year.
  • Central's record since 2018 is 59-5 with 4 of those 5 losses coming deep into the playoffs and the other by the score of 23-20 in game 1 of 2022 to eventual D1 Champ St. Edwards.
  • Dempsey has coached many players who went on to become D1 college players and some that went onto the NFL:
    • James Hudson OL Cleveland Browns
    • Eric Herman OL NY Giants
    • DeShone Kizer QB Cleveland Browns
    • Dane Sanzenbacher WR Chicago Bears
    • Ryne Robinson WR Carolina Panthers
    • Michael Warren RB Cincinnati Bearcats
    • Keith Towbridge TE Louisville Cardinals
    • plus many others that I have missed.
 
Medina current coach Larry Laird has to be considered the best in Medina history. Medina had only one other coach take the Bees to the playoffs.
Medina won only three league titles in its history, (1938, 1952 and 1978) Laird has been to the playoffs with Medina 5 times. Once in his one year at Medina in 2010 and four times in a row since 2019. In one season alone Medina beat both St. Ignatius and St. Ed's. These are things that Medina fans could not comprehend prior to his tenure.
 
Bellefontaine has two

1. Chuck Asher. Coach Asher was before my time as a player but he laid the foundation for modern BHS football. Career record of 45-14-1. Didn’t benefit from expanded playoffs and his best team went 9-1 with its only loss to Cincinnati CAPE in 1984.

2. Greg Peitsmeyer. My coach and one of the best motivators I’ve ever known. 106-53 and made the playoffs I believe 6 times. His 99 team beat DeSales and Bath before losing to Watterson in a close game in the Regional Final.
 
Jim Rattay
Elyria Catholic
8 seasons. 79-7-3 record
2 state championships, 1 runner-up
Left EC for Euclid and coached Robert Smith for 2 years. For health reasons moved to Arizona and won 5 more state championships.
 
Your website says that after Massillon played their last game, they planned to call up their friends to "rig" the poll some more to overtake Springfield. They wanted to "fight fire with fire." Then, there was discussion about whether it might be too late and any last minute attempt to rig the poll could be "futile." Those are the written words from your own archivists. Read your own website. And use a dictionary this time...
Game!
 
Top