Top 5 Coaches in Southern Ohio

[Larry Bird]

1. Norm Persin I hate his style but he makes it work.
2. Tom Barrick He wins 15 or so games and at convo almost every year.
3. Dave Young I love his style and always winning at districts and regionals.
4. Jeff Lisath Great recruiter of Pike County. Lol.
5. Jeff Caldwell Gets the most out of his teams.

This is my list. There are many others that u can put on here as well.

[KVDW]

Also Norm Persin.
I lived through the years at Chesapeake. Great Man, Great Coach! Had tons of reginal finals. Has a court named after him. He helps make kids better all over the word. Working Nike Camps, Jordan Camps, Lebron Camps and im sure even more. So if people like that want him on bored to instruct their camps that even says more about this man. That is why i believe he is #1 out of the top 5 best coaches in Southern Ohio!

and..... you must remember.....he never won a single one of those regional finals while at Chesapeake.
that's why he wouldn't be on my list of great coaches.

gym named after you ? national coach of the year? etc. ? we all know those are political honors from the word go.

number of games won and especially BIG games won is what gets it for me and......

0 for 20 in regional title games just don't get you TOP recognition......

stumbling on to a great bunch of kids (some from the home town and some not) once in a lifetime and winning the state is more of a serendipitous thing than a great coach. imo

[G.W.A.]

Talented Kids win the games. Coaches just lose them sometimes. In Dave Young's defense, sometimes the officials help you to lose. I hope gallia academy never wins another game after what they did to OZ.

[eagles73Taylor]

4. Jeff Lisath Great recruiter of Pike County. Lol.

What? Coach Lisath took over during the 04'-05' season, and I cant name you one kid that has moved into Piketon to play! lol This season, a foreign exchange student is playing. Seriously, I cant name you 1 kid who has moved in to Piketon to play, can you? To say recruiter is a very touchy nerve with me! I think you might be mistaken with that team north of us, they have had a couple of players move in! J/K!

[Larry Bird]

Im pretty sure 1 player on the state tourney team lived 30 seconds from Beaver corp. limit. He went to Piketon since grade school tough. Thats why I had the LOL. Lisath is a terrific coach. Just a poke to the streaks for the years past. Didnt mean to hit a nerve. My apologies.

[eagles73Taylor]

Your right, Smith was open enrolled in the 5th grade to Piketon and the years before that the other 4 from Eastern came over because of the strike.

I just thought it was funny to say recruiter about Piketon. Who wants to move to Piketon! lol

[Peake]

KVDW,

Except you forget to mention that he won the state championship. He is THE ONLY COACH in SEO with a ring.


Being named National Coach of the Year while also coaching the McDonalds All-American team is not to shabby

Where would you rank Osbourne from Gallia? Guy went to like two regionals yet won 500+ and is a hall of fame coach.

I guess by your logic his son in law is a better coach because he won a state title, yet Norm is nearing 600 wins and is already a HOF.

Your logic is very flawed.

[southernohio13]

In southeast ohio i think our great coaches are almost a thing of the past. In about 20 years from now we will look back and finally realize the coaches we had in our area. We live in an isolated area that bickers about several coaches thats had success. Jim Osborne, Rick Van Metre, Gary Shaeffer, Gary Kellough, Larry Jordan, Norm Persin, Dave Young are some of the greatest coaches ever to coach in our area yet I've seen people type or say bad things about every single one of them. There comes a time when we need to really think about some of the things we type or say about these coaches. These coaches have won a trillion games but most importantly have influenced many lives in our community yet we have Bozo behind the computer that think they can type a negative comment about one or all of these coaches at one time or another. Bottom line is this:: I think our community/area needs to take a few tips of the old generation. Back in those days the internet was not even heard of and many people supported our coaches including the admistration and parents. Now a days, we do not.... So the longevity will not happen in this part of the state because we have too many know it alls.. Excuse my southern accent.

Good luck to Mr. Osborne. I wish you were still at Gallia. Rick Van Metre will always be the face of McClain bball. Gary Shaffer and Larry Jordan has won nearly 550 games . Remarkable. Gary Kellough will reach 400 plus this year along with his state title same as Stormin Norman Persin. Dave Young is still thinking about that shot that shouldnt have counted several years ago at the state tourney but is a great coach.

take care my friends.

[theair77]

1.Kyle Uhrig
2. Forbes Hammond
3.Justin Kellough
4.Brian Alley
5.Mike Strausbaugh

[theair77]

Larry Jordan best coach in southern ohio history

[Heavy D]

I think there are many coaches who deserve accolades in our area. But what interests me most are the coaching techniques used by some of the greats. Therefore, I have compiled a list of the top 5. This list is not exhaustive, but simply a thumbnail of some techniques and antics used by our heroes.

5. The faint

4. The scowl

3. The scream

2. The stomp

1. The stomp/scream combo

Many of the greats you all have listed use such behaviors to gain the favor of officials as well as to get the attention of their players. We all love to witness the spectacles provided by these behaviors.

[Tucker]

There are many in this area that have done well.Without using names I would in my opinion consider a top 5 coach as one that takes the kids he has in the school he is coaching at meaning not having move ins or recruits and mold that talent into a disciplined,fundamentally sound basketball team that shows character on and off the floor.I know its about wins and loses and how far you advance into the tournament in the eyes of some,but you are building and molding individuals to become productive citizens and adults along with a productive and competitive basketball team.A coach of this caliber will always be a top 5 coach no matter the talent level or amount of wins he produces every year.

[KVDW]

KVDW,

Except you forget to mention that he won the state championship.

Your logic is very flawed.
.

no i didn't......

"stumbling on to a great bunch of kids (some from the home town and some not) once in a lifetime and winning the state is more of a serendipitous thing than a great coach. imo"

apparently you just forgot to read ...or....

your comprehension is very flawed. .

[Peake]

Sorry was reading on my phone.

Still, if you don't consider him to be at minimum in the top 5, you shouldn't even comment.

I played for the man and he was a hell of a coach. Nearing 600 career wins, multiple state coach of the year awards, multiple district coach of the year, national coach of the year, mcdonals all american game coach, 10+ regionals, nike 5-star board, lebron james camp, michael jordan camp director and coach, just to mention a few.

You have no clue what you are talking about and should take the advice of a previous poster about respecting the coaches we have in this district.

[KVDW]

Sorry was reading on my phone.

Still, if you don't consider him to be at minimum in the top 5, you shouldn't even comment.

I played for the man and he was a hell of a coach. Nearing 600 career wins, multiple state coach of the year awards, multiple district coach of the year, national coach of the year, mcdonals all american game coach, 10+ regionals, nike 5-star board, lebron james camp, michael jordan camp director and coach, just to mention a few.

You have no clue what you are talking about and should take the advice of a previous poster about respecting the coaches we have in this district.

just because my opinion of him as a coach isn't quite as high as yours, that makes me disrespectful ??

i, at no time, said he shouldn't be in the top five. I merely said he isn't a "great" coach in my eyes and told you why. again, as pointed out on here several times, he was at "tons of regionals" while at Chesapeake and, imo, a great... even "good" ....coach would have won at least ONE out of a "ton" wouldn't ya think?

with all the "coach this" and "coach that" and "award this" and "award that" ..... sounds more like a good politician to me.

and just because someone doesn't have him in their top 5, they shouldn't even COMMENT ??? :122246 WOW !!

i noticed some didn't have coach barrick in their top 5 and i'm pretty sure coach barrick put coach persin out of the tourneys ever time they ever met. should those folks not comment either??

and if you "played for the man", you apparently never beat coach barrick in the tourneys either.

ps.....i may not have "a clue" but i do have an opinion.

[Peake]

Fact of the matter is he did get out of the region, and he won a state title, unlike anyone on any list, and again I don't consider Chilli SEO.

You can try and downplay it all you want because I can tell you right now that he has had 5 teams more talented then that Oak Hill team that won the state. So try and down play it so it serves your agenda all you want.

Point and case is he has a state championship, none of the other coaches on this list do.

You can't keep pointing to his lack of success in the regionals and then down play the fact that he did in fact get out and win a state title.

I guess his close to 600 wins were purely just political

I guess Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, and Michael Jordan trust some SEO basketball coach to basically run their camps and game because of politics.

This is why your opinion is flawed. Back it up, where is your proof or evidence to support your point of view.

My problem is the fact you came on here to insult someone without adding anything constructive. That is my problem with your opinion and cowards who hide behind a computer and insult other people because they are jealous.

[Peake]

and I played against the Burg once, they were #1 in the state with Andrew Burlson, they beat us by 3 in the district finals after we beat Belpre who went to state the year before with everyone back. No shame in losing to the #1 team in the state by 3 imo.

You bring up Barrick, well I can count 3 D1 players he has coached in a very short span, while coach Persin has coached two and both were in the early 90's.

[noreply66]

One guy that I knew and he was never a head coach but help at about every level of school basketball was Jim Myers from Logan.
Logan's new Gym is named after him.

[G.W.A.]

How has Jim Derrow of Wellston not been mentioned? Look what he did in the 90's. He's not only a class coach, but also a class act. He's been at the same school for nearly 30 years. That's dedication!

Propbaly cause he's been busted for improper things, that alone is worth not mentioning him in this conversation.

[all-time athlete]

I think there are many coaches who deserve accolades in our area. But what interests me most are the coaching techniques used by some of the greats. Therefore, I have compiled a list of the top 5. This list is not exhaustive, but simply a thumbnail of some techniques and antics used by our heroes.

5. The faint

4. The scowl

3. The scream

2. The stomp

1. The stomp/scream combo

Many of the greats you all have listed use such behaviors to gain the favor of officials as well as to get the attention of their players. We all love to witness the spectacles provided by these behaviors.

Rick Scarberry of Northwest has perfected the stomp/scream.....during the games he has the attention of his players, the other teams players, the officials, the other coach, the fans in the stands and probably a few local residents within a few miles of the school