New Coach at Northwest?

[Kenraken Ahta]

In a nutshell, until the whole community quits wanting to beat their own chest about how great their boy is, nothing will change! Here is the recipe for failure:
1. A school board with two faces, trying to please everybody, instead of finding AND STICKING TO a standard set practice to follow.
2. Coaches afraid (because they have no backing) to both reward, and to punish equally.
3. Parents who back bite, make excuses for everything their kid does, and doesn't demand their kid do the work necessary to succeed. (In other words, let the coaches coach)
4. Players who are brought up to think missing a practice here and there isn't a big deal.
Now before the bashing starts, I have family in the district, and have coached in the district. I have personally witnessed, and experienced all the above. I want it to change, but just making the revolving door at the coaches expense will not do it. Football is a demanding sport, that requires a team effort to succeed, and Northwest does not have it top to bottom. Good luck in the future!

I agree well said.

I would also consider moving out of the program if I was serious football player.

AMEN to both the above posts! It is only a matter of time that the Ohio Department of Education begins "cutting" as their budget is deep in the "red". Football will be the first to go (and should be) at Northwest. The truly dedicated football players, and there are a few good ones out here, will find their way to a solid program at one of the neighboring schools. It is very sad, but is inevitable, football will leave McDermott for good.

[blockcharge]

1. Budget cuts should not effect football. Unless the law has changed less than 1/2 of 1% percent of unrestricted funds can be spent on all extracurricular activities. So not more than $100,000/year General funds, out of a $20,000,000 budget can be spent on all activities. Football income at any High School, including Northwest, supports a number of other programs. i.e. Baseball, Volleyball etc.

2. What needs to happen first, as far as football is concerned, is to sell the program and keep everyone home. If Northwest keeps all the athletes home along with the athletes who are there they will become instantly competative. The football players need to play 4 years not wait until their Soph. year or later to come out. If playing at the next level is a boys dream, they need to start going to camps as a freshman or earlier and get their name out there. If you are good enough the college coaches, with a little help, will find you

3. Yes, there does need to be stablilty in the Coaching staff, the kids then can learn a system and more importantly get to know the Coaches and what is expected of them. Do you get an x's and o's coach or a Jimmy and Joe's Coach, hopefully a combination of the two or a staff which has both.

4. Yes the Coaches need to have support. You never get 100%, but the closer you get to 100% the easier it is. The Coaches need to help build that support by making it understood that just because a kid doesn't start or is taken out doesn't mean the Coach doesn't
like them and Coach hasn't given up on them.

5. The community and the parents need to support the program not with $'s but with action. If there is a practice make sure your child is there, give another player a ride, if you think there is a problem, talk to Coach don't yell just talk. There is a spot for everyone on a team, it might not be the one you hope for, but all players contribute to a team.

6. To all the players at Northwest, DREAM OF SUCCESS, shoot for the stars, even if you don't reach the stars you still might make it to the moon. But realize a goal without the preparation or doing the work, is not a goal, its a wish.

[blockcharge]

Finally to all the players stay at home and contribute to the building of the program. Something created is better than something bought, To all the parents, community, and administration, don't follow the Coach blindly, they to need to be held accountable, but investigate before you speak or act.

To all: "DON'T GIVE UP. DON'T EVER GIVE UP." Jimmy V.

[Kenraken Ahta]

Jack Lane's "recipe for failure" spoken by a man who seems to have his finger on the pulse of whats what with Northwest Football.


blockcharge's "recipe for success" also, spoken by a man who seems to know "whats what" with a winning football program.

I would love to see this program turn around. There have been some great posts on here concerning a "rally cry" for the Mohawks, unfortunitly they fall on deaf ears. The answers are here in this post, whether anyone wants the answers, we shall see. If the new head coach comes out of the teachers lounge, look for more of the same. If the new head coach is somebody with experience in varsity football coaching with a successful history (Head coach experience would be best), then maybe some things will get better, if he is given the authority to run the program.

2010 marks 50 years of Varsity Football at Northwest High School. Would be a good time to turn things around. Good Luck to the next man at the "Helm", he will without doubt, need it!

I look forward to the anouncement of Northwest's next Head Coach. That in itself, will be an indicator of which direction this program will be heading.

[Winchell]

Jack Lane's "recipe for failure" spoken by a man who seems to have his finger on the pulse of whats what with Northwest Football.


blockcharge's "recipe for success" also, spoken by a man who seems to know "whats what" with a winning football program.

I would love to see this program turn around. There have been some great posts on here concerning a "rally cry" for the Mohawks, unfortunitly they fall on deaf ears. The answers are here in this post, whether anyone wants the answers, we shall see. If the new head coach comes out of the teachers lounge, look for more of the same. If the new head coach is somebody with experience in varsity football coaching with a successful history (Head coach experience would be best), then maybe some things will get better, if he is given the authority to run the program.

2010 marks 50 years of Varsity Football at Northwest High School. Would be a good time to turn things around. Good Luck to the next man at the "Helm", he will without doubt, need it!

I look forward to the anouncement of Northwest's next Head Coach. That in itself, will be an indicator of which direction this program will be heading.

Coaches have been brought in from other places from which they have had success. Coaches have left the program and had success elsewhere. I don't think that either one of those is going to determine the success or failure of the program. Someone is needed who will do things right and be supported....period. Whether from the "teacher's lounge" or not, getting quality help is the key.

[Ex-Huddler]

Support! That is the key word for this program. Bringing in coaches from the outside has been tried, without success. There have been coaches from the inside with just as much, if not more, success. However, no coach, inside or out, could win without the support of the board and parents. The board needs to tell the complaining parents to leave the coach alone. Let the coaches coach! Too many parents bash the coaches because their kid doesn't get to play, or carry the ball enough, or for whatever reason. The board does not need to let these parents ruin the program. They need to put them in their place.
Next, give the new coach time to get his program in place. Enough of the 2 year teniors they have been going through the last decade.
Next, let the new coach pick his own staff. Even though the past staff had some good coaches on it, I heard there was a lot of complaining about the head coach. No coach can win if a few of his coaches run him down to the boys and the public.
I would love to see the boys of Northwest win on the grid iron. Whoever they choose to coach this team, I wish them the best of luck. There are some great kids that deserve the best chance to win.

Kenraken Ahta, you seem to be close to this program and know whats best for it. Have you coached there before? Are you a parent? Do you have any ties to the team? If so, regain your positive attitude you used to post with. The negative stuff about this program never going to win will not help at all. This is what I mean about parents getting in the way of the coaches. Come on Northwest community, only post if you are going to be positive and think this team can be turned around.

[Jake Lane]

I'm going to try and be brief. I was at a NW biddy ball game years ago, where a coach took a time out to have a boy's parents "come and get him!" The boy was acting up, and the coach had enough of it. That boy grew up to be a leader on the football team, playing with injuries that most wouldn't even dress up with. That coach knows, and has a great relationship with that family since then. What about the coach? He was hired to coach Jr. high ball a few years later, had to push out an "assistant" who had an agenda (grandson on the team) was left on an island with abusive parents, with no administrative help. After a long season of the struggle, he was willing to stay to "right the ship."
However the administration went the spine-less way, and told him their policy of signing what ended up being a resignation sheet for the end of season, and he was done. The next year the team didn't win any more games than the year before. He now coaches at Clay, and has educated the parents and kids there to produce a very successful Jr. high program. I don't get to watch much of his games, but he is a much happier person since leaving Northwest. Now you know why I am ashamed of my school at times when just a little backing would go a long way, if done the right way.

[sider]

As far as any recipe for success I thought they had a decent system in place the past few years...lets be honest no coach thats been previously successful would want to touch the job, espicially after what happened to Larry Hall, and because it would cripple your career record (its sounds vain, but thats something coaches care about)...This year, they had a very good staff with two former head coaches who were successful, and a guy who probably wouldn't of been head coach anywhere else, so he didn't have a lot to lose...and in those two years they improved in wins, and they started competing against teams that they previously didn't before such as: East and Piketon, they were making some strides...if you cant stick with someone, you won't have success

They need a young coach that is lightning rod, someone thats very personable, good with players, and with the parents and even school board, and a staff that will support his decisions and would be so committed to give those kids rides to and from weight lifting

Even though all of us on here seem to have the answer, and I'm sure others do as well, its not rocket science, it doesn't matter if the school board doesn't care, and they don't seem to

[Jake Lane]

I talked to a coach at another school who told me the position is a "supplemental position", which means that the school may have to post the position every year, because a teacher isn't the coach. So he may not be out after all.

[bengalfan76]

Scott Thompson is a teacher at Northwest HS.

[Ex-Huddler]

I'm going to try and be brief. I was at a NW biddy ball game years ago, where a coach took a time out to have a boy's parents "come and get him!" The boy was acting up, and the coach had enough of it. That boy grew up to be a leader on the football team, playing with injuries that most wouldn't even dress up with. That coach knows, and has a great relationship with that family since then. What about the coach? He was hired to coach Jr. high ball a few years later, had to push out an "assistant" who had an agenda (grandson on the team) was left on an island with abusive parents, with no administrative help. After a long season of the struggle, he was willing to stay to "right the ship."
However the administration went the spine-less way, and told him their policy of signing what ended up being a resignation sheet for the end of season, and he was done. The next year the team didn't win any more games than the year before. He now coaches at Clay, and has educated the parents and kids there to produce a very successful Jr. high program. I don't get to watch much of his games, but he is a much happier person since leaving Northwest. Now you know why I am ashamed of my school at times when just a little backing would go a long way, if done the right way.

Jake, if this is the same coach that came from a neighboring school district, you better get all of the facts correct. In talking with a friend of mine who had a son on the team he coached, he said many of the kids and parents were upset when he would wear West Football shirts to practice. He would also brag on West Football to Northwest kids. They felt as he was recruiting for West. He also said that the West coach ran this certain coach out of his program, therefore making him free to come to Northwest. If this makes you ashamed of your school, then you are also a problem. Northwest needs dedicated people in their program. If a coach is not supportive of all Northwest kids and programs, then they should not be welcome!

[Jake Lane]

As far as Mr. Thompson being a teacher, then I guess the job IS open. Sorry to hear that! Ex-Huddler, it is the same guy I'm sure, but I don't ever remember him "recruiting" at all. Maybe he is better off where he is, but I know he was really wanting to do whatever he could to help prepare the Jr. high boys in the fundamentals before they moved up to high school. I too have talked with/to parents he coached (Ellis, Knittel, Brown, Miller, to name a few) and they all thought he did a good job with the boys. Actually the main complaint was he was more interested in teaching the fundamentals than winning games. Funny, isn't that what they are supposed to do at that level?

[Retired Tiger]

Well, it all seems to be coming out like I feared it would two years ago. I wanted my boy to play for Scott Thompson, and was ready to make the move, but was scared to death of the board of education and administration of Northwest high school. It seems I was right! Scott Thompson never had a chance to do what he had said he wanted to do ! There was always someone in the POWER GROUP did not want it to go that way. Coach Thompson is a Northwest boy, and wanted nothing but the best for his kids and Northwest High School. I have been reading earlier posts with great interest and gaining incite all the time. It seems to me that JACK LANE and BLOCKCHARGE have the problem well defined. I have been told that Coach Thompson was told he would not be renewed even before Thanksgiving break.. Seems that the administration, and particularly, the Board of Education had their minds made up early, and someone was leading the charge. Why? Probably because they already had someone in mind. Time will tell by who applies, and ultimately gets the job.. I will watch that too with interest. It is just too bad for Scot Thompson. It appears he tried to do what was right, and best for his kids. He just wasn't given the time he needed , and the support from the Board of Education, Administration, parents and community members. Once again the sqeaky wheel got the grease! Good luck Coach Thompson.!!

[Jake Lane]

I don't want to keep kicking this dead horse, but I remember coach Compton using the example of the West team of '02 being kids he had coached in pee wee ball his first year at Clay. He made that comment at the meet the Panther night. Meaning they were no different, and that if the boys worked hard, they could reach the same level. If that is recruiting, then I want that for my grandkids. And I do, because next year he will be coaching one of them at Clay. I also remember that Sammons at West had some lame years before that state final year, and wish NW would've allowed Thompson the same courtesy. Could they reach that goal? Who is to say no?

[bengalfan76]

^^^^^
Does Clay have football?
Am I missing something.

Scott got screwed He was doing a great job.

[Jake Lane]

No bengalfan, but the coach that Ex-huddler and I were talking about coached football and basketball at West, then basketball at NW. He was using the success that West had to try to push the boys from NW, and now Clay to work harder.
I agree that coach Thompson was making strides, but it didn't surprise me that he wasn't given a real chance to make a real football program there. Good luck to the Mohawks, and to coach Thompson.

[hbk2016]

Anyone willing to take this job is nuts.

[osu 77]

If I was a serious football player I would attend another school before it was to late. There are some good kids on the NW team that many of the school's in the SOCII would love to have on their team.

[bengalfan76]

Sad state of affairs at Northwest

[Tucker]

In a nutshell, until the whole community quits wanting to beat their own chest about how great their boy is, nothing will change! Here is the recipe for failure:
1. A school board with two faces, trying to please everybody, instead of finding AND STICKING TO a standard set practice to follow.
2. Coaches afraid (because they have no backing) to both reward, and to punish equally.
3. Parents who back bite, make excuses for everything their kid does, and doesn't demand their kid do the work necessary to succeed. (In other words, let the coaches coach)
4. Players who are brought up to think missing a practice here and there isn't a big deal.
Now before the bashing starts, I have family in the district, and have coached in the district. I have personally witnessed, and experienced all the above. I want it to change, but just making the revolving door at the coaches expense will not do it. Football is a demanding sport, that requires a team effort to succeed, and Northwest does not have it top to bottom. Good luck in the future!

This could also be applied to basketball as well at a lot of schools