Northwest Mohawks As An "Independent"?

[Kenraken Ahta]

What would be the possibility of Northwest dropping out of the SOC to play football as a "Independent"? This would give the program a chance to schedule schools that they could compete with and give the kids a chance to gain some confidence with victories over schools that they are more evenly match up with. For more than 30 years this program has hovered around last place in the SOC, why not try something different?What is the worst thing that can happen? Thoughts?

[Kenraken Ahta]

What is the worst thing that can happen?

0-10 against 10 Division 6 schools.

If that were to be the case, then one of two things (if not both) are wrong. Either the scheduling was not researched very well, or there just was no interested talent to put on the field. If this would be the case, then maybe it would be time to just play soccer in the fall. I do believe playing as an Independent would be the answer to build this program.

[bengalfan76]

Do you realize that it would be extremely impossible for NW to find 10 nonleague games at that level they would need to turn the program around. What they need is to be placed into the SOC I

[bengalfan76]

for about 3 years they couldn't even get 10 games playing in a league

[Orange and Brown]

If you want to be a viable program you need a league

[awesomepossum]

Independent would do nothing for Northwest, I don't even see the point in bringing up the idea.

[OVClocal]

just find the worst out of conference teams you can find and take your beatings in onference, if your 2-0 going into your first conference game you may have some confidence no matter how bad the team was that you beat

[OZZIEOHIO]

If they really want to turn it around, get them in the locker room now, and start working. There one of the biggest schools in the county. They should be able to compete with any of the schools in the SOC.

[clevelandbrowns#1]

They need TALENT-Those not playing a sesoned sport, like basketball right now-need to be lifting-PARENTS need to shut up and allow the COACHES to coach, period. I'm tired of listening about it being coaching-Mantell,Gullion,Smith,Brown,Frantz,Tipton,Hall,Spears-none of these coaches won @ NORTHWEST, but those who have coached @ other schools WON!!! Huh, sounds like TALENT problems to me!!!

[coop]

It is not so much "talent". I think the main problem out there is getting the kids and community to buy in to the program. NW had plenty of talented players when I was on the field against them.

I hope they can turn it around!

[TrojanXplosion]

I hope they turn it around to.

[Kenraken Ahta]

It is not so much "talent". I think the main problem out there is getting the kids and community to buy in to the program. NW had plenty of talented players when I was on the field against them.

I hope they can turn it around!

You've hit the nail on the head Coop! Problem being, the "talent" is in the bleachers and not on the field. Why? It's called "payday"! It is no secret that to play football is hard work. Even in the off-season. If you constantly bust your butt and there is no success, then the talent goes from the locker room to the bleachers or another school (case in point: the Pendleton kid a few years ago to West). There are talented football players that have success at the junior high level, then move on to the freshman and varsity levels, where the success stops. Out of the 20 or so freshmen that play football their Freshman year, many are not playing by their Senior year. Let's face it, Northwest is no match for Minford, Waverly, West, Wheelersburg, or Valley. SOC-I? At this point the program is at such a "low", moving them to the SOC-I would only hurt them, as they would still struggle to win in the smaller school conference. Become an independent, spend some time looking for games that you can compete in and start winning. This will get the talent out of the bleachers and back on the field. You can still schedule one or two SOC-II schools, maybe two or three SOC-I schools and then look around southern Ohio and northern Kentucky and fill the remainder of your schedule with some teams that you can compete with. There is no excuse for having an eight or nine game season. It may take some time and effort to find these games, but they are out there. So, say what you want to about the idea of becoming an independent, at least someone is looking for answers instead of excuses! GO MOHAWKS!!

By the way, coaching football is a year round job, if you are honestly looking to be successful. The next season starts when the past season ends............that's a fact! GO MOHAWKS!!

[all-time athlete]

i say 95% of the mohawks problems are mental, they have plenty of talent trust me, they will have 2 lineman this year if they get it all together can easily manhandle whoever they go against in tyson brown and paul carver and one of the best d-ends in the county just graduated in ronnie strickland...and through the years there have been talented kids who were just in a system where it feels like you just can't win no matter what you do...maybe being an independent would help i don't know, but i sure hope so!!!!!

[kahn]

Here is a thought. I don't know about Northwest in paticular, but there are plenty of chances for tiny schools from this region to pick up wins over crappy higher division schools.

There are D1 and DII schools in Cincinnati that haven't won four games over the last three years, Cincinnati Western Hills comes to mind.

Also last year Fairfield was 0-10 in DI. In DII Walnut Hills was 0-10. Some of these schools suffer year after year and would love a chance to get some wins against smaller schools, they don't even think about the playoffs.

I say have some little Scioto school invite them down and send them home with a lesson learned about how we play down here.

[NWMohawks]

It is the ADs job to get games, and finally we have ten games in 2008. Gullion I don't think ever coached at the high school level, but when he coached the 7th and 8th grade teams he never lost more than 1 a year.

[MTSWNGRVSG]

I think Morris Gullian was the head coach at Northwest at one time.

[bengalfan76]

nope
Morris never coached the varsity. He was the JH coach for a couple of years.
Morris has been the HC at Piketon, Minford, and Piketon again.
He has been an assistant at East and JH coach at Northwest.
I'm not sure where he was at before Piketon the first time.

[hilltopkid]

kahn--I see the point you are making but, I seriously doubt NW would send Fairfield or Walnu Hills home packing . Yes, they are 0-10, but look who they play. NW needs to get some of those WV schools on their schedule along w/ some small,Ohio schools. It's way too soon to talk playoff points and scheduling for that reason.Right now, they need to schedule some teams they can and should beat, regardess of size. Get a winnin attitude first, then build from there.
IMO, they need to go back to square one and treat it like it's the first time program. Schedule some sure wins and build from ther.

[Mad-Dogg]

:lol:

You asked a straight question and I gave you a straight answer.

Going 0-10 against 10 Division 6 schools is the worst thing that could happen to any school.

i agree with that

[OSUBULLDOGG]

I believe that Northwest and Rockhill are the two largest rual school districs in the state when it comes to area. You would think that you would have a considerable amount of students to choose from, however with the area being so spread out and the amount of time that needs to be allowed in the weightroom, practice and other offseason events, this can put a damper on things. Parents working until 5:30 or later, younger kids not having a ride to and from it is tuff. To get the program turned around it is going to take commitment from the administration, students, parents and community. It has been done at other schools in the past. What we dont want to see are people throwing their hands up and making the program feel like a complete waist of time.
"Success is measured by how high you bounce when you hit bottom"
General George Patton

Good luck Mohawks