strength of the O.V.C

[coachdad20]

The O.V.C used to be one of the strongest and toughest conferences in this region. Can anyone tell me when and why its went downhill so much?

[tl895]

The O.V.C used to be one of the strongest and toughest conferences in this region



when was that????

[Vision Quest]

It isn't just the OVC that is down, southeastern ohio football is weak all over. Teams like Ironton, Valley, Minford, etc., who are 5-0 are so for a reason, their competition is lacking due to the whole region being weak. They might not stack up well against the competition once they leave the area. Just an observation.

[boilermaker]

I Agree with vision

[youthsportsfan]

The O.V.C used to be one of the strongest and toughest conferences in this region



when was that????

Ha!! Good one. CG has been dominate in the OVC. But once to the playoffs not much has been achieved

Other schools Rock Hill had cpl playoff matches but none I recall more than 1 win even if that. Peake made few but again. Not far. So I'm not sure where strong n tough is coming from.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

without sounding boastful.i don't really think you can mention ironton in the same respect, as we play teams from all over the state anyway, as well as a couple kentucky programs always in their playoffs.after we visit johnson central ky, we host 2 columbus teams back to back in bishop hartley, and bishop watterson.we don't play basically an all county schedule.in fact, we play no one from our county.

[youthsportsfan]

Here's the facts IMO Ironton has done well over the years due to 2 major factors. Great coaching through the years and kids moving in during jr high years to play football. Example this year. Qb from CG 2 running backs from south point. Back up qb and saftey rock hill. And that's just skill positions. Over the years look at the skilled position (6 offense) normally 50-75% of them are not from ironton (during grade school on) so in fairness to other programs it's hard to compete in playoffs when you lose your skilled players. And i almost forgot the FANS the 3rd factor. Great fans no matter what.
I've spoke to great backs with 3-5k rushing yards from other OVC schools that now wish they too would have went to ironton to play. It's hard not to win when you have skilled players flocking to ironton. And you can't blame a kid for wanting to be part of a winning program. CG is the closest thing to this in the OVC. Not sure but I'm guessing. 90% of OVC championships they have won or close to it. But they are light years away from. Competing with ironton year in and year out. Ironton has always competed at any level of playoffs. We will be there again this year.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

YSF,
it's hard not to agree on this. and i understand there are transfers. i brought my 2 into ironton when i lived at kitts hill. once they reached junior high.
for a multitude of reasons
1-the ironton high school parking lot was 8 miles from my house
2-rock hill's lot was 16 miles from my house
3-i adopted a biracial son, and i think there were 2 black kids at rock hill at the time
4-it seemed like rock hill was always embroiled in some serious controversy, always the school board was always in an uproar
5-my children wanted to play football-and frankly i didn't see the coaching at rock hill , as up to par.
6- my kids wanted to play for bob lutz every since they were kids
7-frankly i thought it was just a better fit for my kids, with 1 son being biracial

so i know people transfer for different reasons--------and it happens everywhere, not just ironton. but every school in the county, and furthermore the state.but ironton has been able to manage it well, and be incredibly competitive in sports from football, basketball , volleyball, golf and track.
AND FINALLY----------AND I DON'T WANT TO OFFEND ANY SOCCER PLAYERS, IT IS IN FACT A GREAT SPORT
BUT---------------------HEAR ME NOW.
I THINK MORE THAN ANYTHING CULTURAL, OR TRANSFER WISE. WE HAVE NO SOCCER AT IRONTON HIGH SCHOOL.WITH THA SAID. WE ARE NOT LOSING ATHLETES TO THAT SPORT.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

and i know rock hill had some great teams during that time frame, and was familiar with all of them. i coached those kids in grade school. but both of those playoff years, they probably would have advanced further in the playoffs. but they had to go through ironton first.they were very competitive games though. rock hill, had some great kids in that program at the time. but the difference was in fact coaching.
plain and simple bob lutz and mike burcham were nearly untouchable locally.there is a reason he retired as the winningest coach in the state of ohio.there will never be another.or mike burcham , for that matter.and mark vaas, has taken over and proved that ironton football will weather the storms. when bob lutz stepped down in i think 2006. merill triplett took over that year. although the fans in my opinion treated him terrible. i think that 2006 schedule may have been the toughest one to date. and we still had a winning record and went to the playoffs.i mean everybody was tuff that year, burg, olentangy, zanesville, portsmouth, gahs, logan, everybody was at the top of their games. so ironton just does not turn over the reigns to just anybody. since 1972. they have promoted in house. and coach mark vaas is doing an amazing job as well.-----------so at least for now. fighting tiger football is in good hands , and not missing a beat.i take nothing away from any other program. anybody that really knows me, knows that. i like every program, i just love football period. and i plan on watching minford and valley week 10 since ironton is open. ---but for whatever reason at ironton, it works. and i like it.

[86Tiger]

[quote="youthsportsfan"]Here's the facts IMO Ironton has done well over the years due to 2 major factors. Great coaching through the years and kids moving in during jr high years to play football. Example this year. Qb from CG 2 running backs from south point. Back up qb and saftey rock hill. And that's just skill positions. Over the years look at the skilled position (6 offense) normally 50-75% of them are not from ironton (during grade school on) so in fairness to other programs it's hard to compete in playoffs when you lose your skilled players. And i almost forgot the FANS the 3rd factor. Great fans no matter what.
I've spoke to great backs with 3-5k rushing yards from other OVC schools that now wish they too would have went to ironton to play. It's hard not to win when you have skilled players flocking to ironton. And you can't blame a kid for wanting to be part of a winning program. CG is the closest thing to this in the OVC. Not sure but I'm guessing. 90% of OVC championships they have won or close to it. But they are light years away from. Competing with ironton year in and year out. Ironton has always competed at any level of playoffs. We will be there again this year.[/quote]

Correction, Trevor has been at Ironton since 3rd grade. Of course I knew at that age he was an athlete (anyting could have happened though) but I can assure you that football had nothing to do with our move. Not every kid that moves from another district to Ironton does so because of football. Not to mention that fact that I went to Ironton and owned that house that we moved back home to. Yes kids come to Ironton to play ball but why wouldn't they? You also have to take into consideration that a lot of the schools these days are consolidated and in Lawrence county we have not done that yet and I hope we never do. I like the smaller schools. I say if a kid moves to a school to play ball and does so within the rules of the OHSAA, then more power to them. Kids have also left Ironton to play ball elsewhere. I don't mean to get on a soap box, but I get sick of this topic and people making assumptions about kids and their reasons for doing things. I say if it ain't your kid then it doesn't concern you. There I'm done...lol GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!

[farmer]

Leave the talk of Ironton out of it and deal with the OVC schools themselves. Some of the following is not at every school or the majority of players but are factors that keep the OVC from being strong. These are just a few factors that need to be overcome before the OVC will be any good at football.

1. One reason is just the BS politics that has gone on at every OVC school. Those effects are hard to fully measure.

2. Stadiums at Chesapeake, Fairland and River Valley. Which is getting improvements.

3. Some schools thinking a newer stadium is all they have to do to win.

4. Some parents/players think being good Youth Football or JH players/teams means they will be good in High School. So they tend to remember the past more but High School game is a lot harder.

5. Attitude with a lot of that coming from what is mentioned in #4. It should not matter what your last name is or who you know to influence a coach decision on who to play.

6. Poor offseason and weight programs or dedication of those players that are there. Takes a team not just a handful of players. As well as what schools provide to make it happen during the offseason.

7. Poor grades by some

8. Lack of interest or motivation. Takes up to much of their time.

[Westfan]

Ironton has done very well this year. But Vass also inherited the best talent they may have had since their last title game, with most of them being seniors. They will be down in talent for Ironton standards next year. Then you will see if he can coach. Any coach in the area could win with this years team.

[coachdad20]

This is not a coach bashing Mark Vass is a good coach, man, and friend.

[sider]

The Ovc has been down lately mainly due to their recently inferority to the top teams in the Soc and tough scheduling. Looking back at Rock Hill has been down lately, but they have given themselves no break on scheduling. The last 5 years or so they have played Burg, West, Minford, and Valley non-conference. 3 out of those 4 teams have made the playoffs every year since 2008. Their "easy" games have been Oak Hill (who has been as good as any team in the Soc 2 the last 4 years if not better) and Wellston who is typically a tough out. If you look back to 2003-07 (when they had winning/playoff teams) they were playing an out of state school and Vinton County as opposed to the Soc teams. One could argue that if they would have played Vinton and a Ky/Wv team they could of had 2, 5, 4, 5, and 2 wins from 2008-12 in comparison to 0,3,2,3, and 0. Neither of the records are great, but a string of mediocre seasons will keep your job. Winning 18 games compared to 8 in the past 4 1/2 years is much better for the program and community.

[Peake]

Chesapeake dominated the OVC from 96ish to 2004.

7 OVC titles in 9 years.
7 Playoff Appearances
one Regional Final and one Regional-Semi Final (both losses came to Amanda who won the state title).

Last year Chesapeake lost to the #1 seed by a fg as time expired.

The OVC is not great, nor has it been from top to bottom, but it has been solid. I wouldn't say CG dominated the OVC the past 20ish years either. Over the course of its history, well yes.

[Bleeding Red]

The Ovc has been down lately mainly due to their recently inferority to the top teams in the Soc and tough scheduling. Looking back at Rock Hill has been down lately, but they have given themselves no break on scheduling. The last 5 years or so they have played Burg, West, Minford, and Valley non-conference. 3 out of those 4 teams have made the playoffs every year since 2008. Their "easy" games have been Oak Hill (who has been as good as any team in the Soc 2 the last 4 years if not better) and Wellston who is typically a tough out. If you look back to 2003-07 (when they had winning/playoff teams) they were playing an out of state school and Vinton County as opposed to the Soc teams. One could argue that if they would have played Vinton and a Ky/Wv team they could of had 2, 5, 4, 5, and 2 wins from 2008-12 in comparison to 0,3,2,3, and 0. Neither of the records are great, but a string of mediocre seasons will keep your job. Winning 18 games compared to 8 in the past 4 1/2 years is much better for the program and community.

I agree with your post about the OVC scheduling over their head in non conference games. Heck this year Hartley and Ready were added to the Coal Grove and Fairland schedule. That didnt help their image on competitiveness.

I think the OVC has 2 options:

1.) Schedule easier non conference teams. That way when you go 8-2 or 9-1 you sneak into the playoffs and they get exploited week 11 (like Grove has done the past few years in the playoffs).

2.) Schedule hard like they are now and you dont sniff the playoffs period. But if you want to actually win a game or two in the playoffs you have to have a couple tough opponents in the regular season.

Option #1 is probably better for the short term because making the playoffs is still a big deal!

But I think the reason they are not over the hump is because the OVC doesnt have the coaching, discipline or Pee Wee/Jr high programs that West, Valley, Burg and Minford does. They cant recruit like Hartley and Ready. Not alot will change in the immediate future until they change everything from the ground up. One can debate that Grove has the same coaching as the 80's and 90's when they had a pretty good program, but that is in itself another completely different discussion.

[farmer]

Scheduling has some to do with it but right now it wouldn't matter if some of the schools would schedule creampuffs. Since some of them are the cream puffs.

I gave a list above to some of the reasons why. Until schools, parents and players get serious about football things will not change. Strength of the OVC is not the dedication to work in the offseason to get better. There are some players but not as a team. It takes a team to win games. Without the outside enfluences that effect the game that go on now. Chesapeake is upgrading their stadium complex but the way it was done has not been favorable with many taxpayers. Hard for Chesapeake to do well this year playing all road games.

[playa_44]

Get a program going in the off season! Then schedule Ky schools!lol

[RJ7171C71R]

I think CG does better than most OVC schools except for the Peake,because they have a great off season weight lifting program and have won the State in Weight lifting.CG has upped their schedule this year with Valley,Burg and Bishop Ready and that probably hurt them for the playoffs this year,but at least there trying to improve their schedule.

[dreamweaver]

Last year it seemed even the SOC schools were way down. OVC has multiple reasons for never being solid. D4 and D5 are cyclical anyway depending on how many "athletes" each has. With Lutz gone, maybe some of these schools can build their own programs and even beat Ironton..down the road anyway.