What do you believe it will take for more SEO teams to be more relevant?

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Let's hear it.
Is it getting the numbers up throughout the program?
Is it scheduling?
Is it coaching?
Is it the kids/players themselves that have to make a change?
Fire away,

[fbnut]

recruit like ironton

[danicalifornia]

The ability to combine talent from the area obviously would help, but there needs to be a whole community buy-in for an extended period of time. Discipline and a foundation starting at a young age and then a whole lot of luck too.

[efarns]

People talk about The MAC. My Southeastern Ohio alma mater got close to that level for a few years, and their conference disbanded and reformed without them to avoid the competition. So, I would say, programs have to actually want to get that good, and not everybody wants to.

[Zahns Corner]

Let's hear it.
Is it getting the numbers up throughout the program?
Is it scheduling?
Is it coaching?
Is it the kids/players themselves that have to make a change?
Fire away,

It requires a community wide culture of excellence. Having one or more of the prerequisite parts: athletes, coaching, school and community support, may bring random success. But championships and long term success requires a community that demands excellence.

[Ohio1979]

Relevant? Nothing would make SEO more relevant than Ironton bringing home the title and being the Best team in D5. Having one team better than the rest of the state would be the spark this area needs.

I think that SEO needs to have consistent contenders in multiple divisions. What hurts this area is that Region 19 has both Ironton and Wheelersburg in it, the only two teams really capable of winning a regional championship. A perfect world has multiple teams from the area playing for a regional title

D7: Eastern ( on the right track)
D6: Portsmouth West? Would love to see them stay consistently in this division and turn into a regular in the regional title game
D5: Ironton
D4: Wheelersburg?

If we are sending three teams to the regional championship on a yearly basis, maybe there is a year or two where multiple teams play in the Semi Finals and find their way into the state title game.

Wishful thinking for sure, but this would be my answer to the question lol.

[Bleeding Red]

recruit like ironton

Agreed. The Burg recruiting process isnt cutting it anymore

Sorry fbnut, I couldnt resist

[go court house]

Have to get more media coverage. Most of our schools sit outside the major media markets of Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati. In the 90s and early 2000s Washington played in the Buckeye Athletic Conference which was more in the central district. Had coverage from most Columbus media outlets.

[FIDO]

Just win baby!!!

[avalanche]

Jobs. Big picture, SEO population keeps getting smaller and smaller. Portsmouth was D3 at one point.

As long as the population continues to shrink, so will the product.

[greygoose]

Depends what on what you’re considering relevant and what makes a team relevant. If it’s getting to a state semifinal then you simply won’t have that many teams with that capability. There’s quite a few teams that are in the same region in D5. Relevance needs to be based more on consistency for that program. Only 7 teams win it all, winning 2-3 playoff games year in and year out I would call that successful and hope to push deeper gotta get there to be relevant. For SEO it’s just an uphill battle for calling for more teams.

[northeast2019]

As mentioned in an earlier post, all the stakeholders of a school learning community are vastly important to the success of any program (athletic or academic). Three are mentioned below that IMO have the greatest impact (Administration/AD; Parents & Coaches).

For example, if Waterford CB numbers were correctly documented (as we hope they will be for 2025) they would have been assigned to Division VII; region 27. The probability of them winning that region and advancing to a final four or even a state title game would have been a resonable outcome. So there lies one metric to a programs success-Administrative Support (or lack there of).

Parents-Ask Ironton’s coaching staff and they will tell you that 95%+ of their players attend weightlifting, even winter and spring athletes. Players that don’t drive, parents will car pool them to weightlifting. This will win you regional titles and possibly state titles (or 14 state titles since 2000 like Marion Local). Programs (or parents) that do not have a dedicated strength and conditioning program, well they might win their league every other year. But some communities are not looking for state titles so this will not be a required prerequisite. Most parents do not care if a program is truly winning, they just want to watch their child play, subsequently defaulting to a losing culture.

Coaching-Programs must have coaches that take ownership and hold themselves accountable for the culture and outcomes of their success and most importantly their failures. Coaching matters. If you lose always take ownership in the loss and find ways coach your players better.

[OVC]

I think the drive to want to get better for one. When Marion Local started their dominance in the early 00’s, the MAC didn’t kick them out, everyone figured out a way to get better. Coldwater became another standard bearer, and since then, how many years has the MAC sent 3 teams to the state championship games? Several (I am not sure if they all won, but that would be cool). Year in year out, the teams figured out a way to get better. I wish Ironton was still competing in the OVC, and I hope Rock Hill gets them back on the schedule.

Also, I think the culture has a lot to do with it as well, and that starts at home. Kids being humbled and hungry are more successful than those who are cocky and flashy.

[greygoose]

I think the drive to want to get better for one. When Marion Local started their dominance in the early 00’s, the MAC didn’t kick them out, everyone figured out a way to get better. Coldwater became another standard bearer, and since then, how many years has the MAC sent 3 teams to the state championship games? Several (I am not sure if they all won, but that would be cool). Year in year out, the teams figured out a way to get better. I wish Ironton was still competing in the OVC, and I hope Rock Hill gets them back on the schedule.

Also, I think the culture has a lot to do with it as well, and that starts at home. Kids being humbled and hungry are more successful than those who are cocky and flashy.

Rock Hill putting Ironton back on the schedule?? What’d Rock hill do to you?? lol

[gobucs20]

Lots of these northern ohio schools have great wrestling programs which really helps players playing football especially o and d line players. But the bottom line is population and having more kids to chose from.

[CuckooNest]

As a few others have said, population increases.

The pool continues to shrink you’ll see less and less trips to state, in football especially, from this area.

Portsmouth is a few census cycles from being a village instead of a city.

Also, we seem to have a strange obsession with pee wee championships down here. Like who gives a rip that you had dozens of families pay hundreds of dollars to win a 4th grade state championship?

[Ohio1979]

I think the drive to want to get better for one. When Marion Local started their dominance in the early 00’s, the MAC didn’t kick them out, everyone figured out a way to get better. Coldwater became another standard bearer, and since then, how many years has the MAC sent 3 teams to the state championship games? Several (I am not sure if they all won, but that would be cool). Year in year out, the teams figured out a way to get better. I wish Ironton was still competing in the OVC, and I hope Rock Hill gets them back on the schedule.

Also, I think the culture has a lot to do with it as well, and that starts at home. Kids being humbled and hungry are more successful than those who are cocky and flashy.

Honestly, getting out of the OVC was the best thing to happen to Ironton. Playing the schedule we did helped us far more than beating up on Chesapeake Southpoint and Rock Hill, where our kids could sleepwalk into wins.

[enigmaax]

Re-boundary SEO to be part of West Virginia and participate in their playoffs (when they have them).

[RollCoal]

A good start would be to get rid of “ Daddy ball” youth leagues. Take those first few years to develop and hone the basics. Example blocking, tackling, basic plays.
By middle school, expand upon the varsity’s playbook, develop a kicking game.
Keeping a coach around and letting them develop a program. If after 3-5 years if things don’t improve or they regress, then look elsewhere.

Probably the biggest thing,
Parents allowing the coach to coach, holding their kids accountable for mistakes, maintaining their grades, making sure they show up to practice/conditioning and giving their best effort. The community as a whole coming to games and cheering the kids on, supporting their efforts, taking pride in their community.

There are probably several other things that could be considered. But I think these are a good start.

[RollCoal]

I think the drive to want to get better for one. When Marion Local started their dominance in the early 00’s, the MAC didn’t kick them out, everyone figured out a way to get better. Coldwater became another standard bearer, and since then, how many years has the MAC sent 3 teams to the state championship games? Several (I am not sure if they all won, but that would be cool). Year in year out, the teams figured out a way to get better. I wish Ironton was still competing in the OVC, and I hope Rock Hill gets them back on the schedule.

Also, I think the culture has a lot to do with it as well, and that starts at home. Kids being humbled and hungry are more successful than those who are cocky and flashy.

Honestly, getting out of the OVC was the best thing to happen to Ironton. Playing the schedule we did helped us far more than beating up on Chesapeake Southpoint and Rock Hill, where our kids could sleepwalk into wins.

It has helped Ironton considerably. A few years ago, joining the OVC helped them during their troubled times.
They actually have wanted to improve and not stay back in the olden days of three yards and a cloud of dust lol.