COVER STORY
Busy offseason put area coaches on the move By JARROD ULREY THISWEEKSPORTS.COM
New coaches
Since being named Olentangy Orange High School football coach Jan. 6, Zebb Schroeder has experienced the type of transition that nearly every coach new to a program endures. In addition to getting a new coaching staff on the same page, Schroeder’s tasks throughout the early months of his tenure included installing new offensive and defensive schemes and presenting a vision to players and their families that he hopes will result in years of success. Being able to match names with faces remains one of his most enjoyable challenges. “It’s maybe the most time-consuming part of it, but the most rewarding thing is getting to know everybody,” Schroeder said. “You’re working with people who are active with the boosters, and whenever I have free time, I’m just trying to build relationships with future Pioneers and getting to know the young parents who have kids in (Olentangy Youth Athletic Association) football. It’s been fun. I’m still working on remembering all of the names.” Schroeder is far from alone regarding what he has gone through this offseason. Of the 62 teams that will compete in the City League, CCL, LCL and OCC this fall, nearly one-fourth — 15 — have new coaches.
Below is a list of schools in the ThisWeek coverage area that have new football coaches, along with where that coach worked a year ago: Africentric – Sean Zink (Dublin Jerome assistant) Beechcroft – Trevor White (Brookhaven) Briggs – Larry Willoughby (did not coach) Canal Winchester – Phil Mauro (BloomCarroll) Delaware – Mike Golden (Upper Arlington) Franklin Heights – Tennyson Varney (Hamilton Township assistant) Gahanna – Bruce Ward (Beechcroft) Grove City – Mike Lanza (did not coach) Harvest Prep – Milan Smith (Columbus South assistant) Lakewood – Craig Conley (Marysville assistant) Newark – Mike Kopachy (Canfield assistant) Olentangy Orange – Zebb Schroeder (Delaware) Ready – Brian Cross (Olentangy Orange) Thomas Worthington – Rodney Hopkins (Worthington Kilbourne assistant) Upper Arlington – Joel Cutler (Ready) Westland – Kyle Goebbel (Olentangy Orange assistant)
Bruce Ward was one of several coaches on the move in the offseason as he left Beechcroft to replace John Snoad at Gahanna. RYAN M.L. YOUNG/THISWEEKSPORTS
To put that in perspective, there were eight coaching changes among teams in those four conferences combined before the 2012 season and just six a year ago. Considering seven of the new coaches led another program in the Central District a year ago, the area’s coaching carousel seemingly was moving continuously during this offseason. The biggest reason for the changes seems simple to Westerville Central coach John Magistro: Winning.
“It was crazy,” said Magistro, who is 32-21 and has led the Warhawks to their first two playoff berths during his five seasons. “Some coaches win and it’s still not enough. Did you win your league and did you win in the playoffs? It’s become demanding. You could be running a really good program but don’t have the numbers. It’s what can you do for me now. There were a few coaches on the hot seat, and they’re pretty good football coaches. This has become one of the best football areas in the state.”
A whirlwind of changes
What would become a busy offseason of coaching movement began during the final week of last year’s regular season. Mike Golden told his Upper Arlington players two days before their regular-season finale that he was stepping down. He went 65-33 in nine seasons.
Then within hours after his team lost its final game to finish 3-7, John Snoad was told he wouldn’t be returning as Gahanna’s coach after a sixyear tenure in which he went 32-30 with one playoff appearance. Those changes, combined with Brian Cross’ tenure ending at Orange in late November after he went 3330 with two playoff appearances in six seasons, seemed to set off a chain reaction that continued into the late winter. Bruce Ward would leave Beechcroft after five seasons to take over at Gahanna, Schroeder stepped down after three seasons at Delaware to become Orange’s new coach and Joel Cutler left Ready after two seasons to take over at UA. In the cases of Ward, Schroeder and Cutler, each had a connection to his new school: Ward is a Gahanna resident, Schroeder formerly assisted at both Olentangy and Olentangy Liberty, and Cutler was a former UA assistant. “I’m teaching here at UA and had taught probably half of these guys at the elementary level,” Cutler said. “They’ve got a great tradition (at UA).” Although Golden and Cross both have been coaching since the 1970s, each decided his time as a coach wasn’t finished. Golden had planned to have Upper Arlington be his final stop until a
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