Bartholomew Resigns as Chillicothe Head Coach

[CavalierAlum05]

Sounds like that fella needs fired.

Hoping Chillicothe gets back to competitive football. Plenty of athletes to get out on the gridiron.

[sibibis45]

This AD will have very little to do with hiring this coach. He will be in the meetings but will not have any pull.

[GrumpyPundit]

All that starts at home, from what you’ve described , this job will be next to impossible .

It starts at home but the fact of the matter is a lot of kids aren’t getting it at home. Not impossible at all it takes a community. This world has gotten away from helping take care of each other. It takes a village, a kid just needs to see you care.

I have heard this as well and it definitely seems that Chillicothe has slowed the process down and really seemed to go back to the plan around what they want out of the head coach and how much they are willing to pay to the right candidate. I think Chillicothe has several hands involved in the search which has helped change this search as well. Having the funding and opportunities to attract the right guy will be key too. This is a great job.

The year that I spent at Chillicothe with Coach Davidson was really insightful as a kid who played at Unioto then went on to college I always admired the opportunities available at Chillicothe coaching in the program further showed the available opportunities for the kids. The facilities and resources available at CHS are tough to compete with in Southern Ohio. The school has so many great people involved with it as teachers, coaches, administrators and mentors within the community there is no reason that Chillicothe football shouldn’t be a contender every year and playoffs should be expected.

Getting the right coach at Chillicothe now is key. They have to go back and identify what works and what doesn’t work at Chillicothe. Getting the kids excited to be a part of the program and buying into the culture really is step one. Reminding kids the support program they will have and the opportunities will be key. They have always had strong numbers at the youth level and capitalizing at the high school level now must be sustainable. Getting the culture installed early. Getting the new scheme taught throughout all levels and preparing the kids to enter the high school program will be huge for the next guy. Lastly building upon the proud past and history of the program will be key. CHS has had a lot of great players come through that still support the program use them as resources this job is pretty special and should be a highly sought after job. The financial resources are available to pay for the coach you want leading here.
IMO Chillicothe is one of the top 3-5 jobs in Southern Ohio but it also a tough job where the rewards can be huge. Chillicothe will always have talent and a large student body to build from.

Is Chillicothe different from other public schools? “What they are willing to pay a coach” would be what’s in the negotiated agreement between the district and the teachers union. It’s probably 30% of the base salary or something. At least that’s how it works in most schools. The only wiggle room would be years of experience granted, what/if a teaching job existed, a job for the spouse, maybe a weight room supplemental.

[wrestlefan]

BIll Dennis- like him or not- was the last coach at Chillicothe to really have the program rocking. yes he had a downfall
he had so many good things going
still in the occ playing d1 football programs weekly and a legit out of conference schedule (we beat steubenville at steubenville one year)
weekly radio show at the bowling alley
college coaches in often
summer weight room stipends for assistant coaches
a plethora of community members involved with the program
teaching jobs for assistants.

the problems at Chillicothe extend beyond the football field... heck, a principal got punched in the face last week. the problems are deep rooted and coaches can get blamed all they want but until they get control in the schools the wins aren't going to come

[cavsfuhball]

BIll Dennis- like him or not- was the last coach at Chillicothe to really have the program rocking. yes he had a downfall
he had so many good things going
still in the occ playing d1 football programs weekly and a legit out of conference schedule (we beat steubenville at steubenville one year)
weekly radio show at the bowling alley
college coaches in often
summer weight room stipends for assistant coaches
a plethora of community members involved with the program
teaching jobs for assistants.

the problems at Chillicothe extend beyond the football field... heck, a principal got punched in the face last week. the problems are deep rooted and coaches can get blamed all they want but until they get control in the schools the wins aren't going to come

A principal at the high school got punched in the face? Sheesh...

[danicalifornia]

The new coach was a done deal around Week 7 (maybe 8)

All of the interviews were just for show

[Ohio1234]

Carper will be Chillicothes new head coach bring the energy and let’s get this thing rolling. Good luck Coach

[Kenny Bixx]

Carper will be Chillicothes new head coach bring the energy and let’s get this thing rolling. Good luck Coach

Wow after baling on VC to a supposedly better deal he bails out on them immediately after the first season? He must’ve figured out that he wasn’t good enough to win up there. I’d say if he don’t turn Chilli around he might not be able to get another gig. Better have a beer and a prayer and get to work. No time to waste because if Ron and Bart couldn’t get it done there it ain’t no easy job.

[Super trooper]

I would say it’s more likely that he didn’t enjoy driving from vinton county to zanesville everyday

[Kenny Bixx]

I would say it’s more likely that he didn’t enjoy driving from vinton county to zanesville everyday

You probably right. He probably didn’t know how far it was when he took the job. Them Zanesville boys probably told him it was only a few miles away. If it wasn’t so far I bet he would’ve turned it around and won some games. I went up to watch a game but never got out of the first beer joint I went into.

[Rolltanks]

I’m not sure if I’m in the minority or not but I feel like this won’t be a good hire. Didn’t seem like the chilly fans I talked too liked Ron at all with his split veer and carper is a wing t guy

[greygoose]

I’m not sure if I’m in the minority or not but I feel like this won’t be a good hire. Didn’t seem like the chilly fans I talked too liked Ron at all with his split veer and carper is a wing t guy

Has that always been his approach though?? For a team like VC when he was there that was best for their offense, did you continue that trend at Zanesville? Chillicothe has some young talent in that system right now and I don't think the wing T would be the way to go.

[Ben Buckles]

Best to be quiet and thought of as a fool, than post and eliminate all doubt. Maybe some should actually watch some film. Coach Carper runs Shotgun Wing T. Best of both worlds . . . physical wing t run game with multiple RPO possibilities, and spread pass game. Besides, if people are more worried about the offense than they are coaching fundamentals, getting more kids out, hitting the weightroom then good luck. You got the right guys Cavs. Close out the noise and hit the weightroom.

[Rolltanks]

Best to be quiet and thought of as a fool, than post and eliminate all doubt. Maybe some should actually watch some film. Coach Carper runs Shotgun Wing T. Best of both worlds . . . physical wing t run game with multiple RPO possibilities, and spread pass game. Besides, if people are more worried about the offense than they are coaching fundamentals, getting more kids out, hitting the weightroom then good luck. You got the right guys Cavs. Close out the noise and hit the weightroom.

Im a fool ok guess we will see. Maybe you are right and Chillicothe will dominate now and get all the kids to play and be the power in the fac. I will stay quiet from now on carper is the greatest coach in the area and he is sure to succeed where Ron and Bart too old guys that can’t coach failed

[Gecko]

Best to be quiet and thought of as a fool, than post and eliminate all doubt. Maybe some should actually watch some film. Coach Carper runs Shotgun Wing T. Best of both worlds . . . physical wing t run game with multiple RPO possibilities, and spread pass game. Besides, if people are more worried about the offense than they are coaching fundamentals, getting more kids out, hitting the weightroom then good luck. You got the right guys Cavs. Close out the noise and hit the weightroom.

Im a fool ok guess we will see. Maybe you are right and Chillicothe will dominate now and get all the kids to play and be the power in the fac. I will stay quiet from now on carper is the greatest coach in the area and he is sure to succeed where Ron and Bart too old guys that can’t coach failed

Yeah, and if he doesn’t like it at Chilly he can start looking for another job half way through the first season.

[greygoose]

Best to be quiet and thought of as a fool, than post and eliminate all doubt. Maybe some should actually watch some film. Coach Carper runs Shotgun Wing T. Best of both worlds . . . physical wing t run game with multiple RPO possibilities, and spread pass game. Besides, if people are more worried about the offense than they are coaching fundamentals, getting more kids out, hitting the weightroom then good luck. You got the right guys Cavs. Close out the noise and hit the weightroom.

Cavs have some talent coming up let’s not kid ourselves that these 2 needed each other here. Zanesville only scoring 21 points all year is very tough to overlook but Zanesville has been really bad last 3 years. Time will tell with what he has coming back it’d be tough to screw up then again everyone has thought the last 2 coaches were “the guy”.

[Dundas]

Interesting on the pushback for Carper. You can’t discredit what he did at VC. Winning a TVC championship for the first time in over 20+ years was an incredible accomplishment. You also can’t ignore the debacle last season at Zanesville. It’s obvious that Zanesville was in a much bigger hole than VC and it was going to take more than 10 weeks to turn it around. My personal take is that TJ wanted a challenge and that’s why he left VC. I also think he realized just how difficult it would be to put 100% effort into a program that required 1.5 hours of travel each day just to get to the school. Add another 1.5 hours home and that’s not much time for anything else. Including family. The Carpers are rooted in McArthur and I don’t see them leaving anytime soon. This is a move that will help Carper almost as much as it will Chillicothe. The Cavs have pieces that the Blue Devils didn’t. If TJ can put together a solid staff, I look for the Cavs to improve from last year to next year. The FAC is tough but I think the Cavs will be competitive and you’ll see TJ be able to give more to the Chillicothe program than he was able to give to Zanesville.

[danicalifornia]

Interesting on the pushback for Carper. You can’t discredit what he did at VC. Winning a TVC championship for the first time in over 20+ years was an incredible accomplishment. You also can’t ignore the debacle last season at Zanesville. It’s obvious that Zanesville was in a much bigger hole than VC and it was going to take more than 10 weeks to turn it around. My personal take is that TJ wanted a challenge and that’s why he left VC. I also think he realized just how difficult it would be to put 100% effort into a program that required 1.5 hours of travel each day just to get to the school. Add another 1.5 hours home and that’s not much time for anything else. Including family. The Carpers are rooted in McArthur and I don’t see them leaving anytime soon. This is a move that will help Carper almost as much as it will Chillicothe. The Cavs have pieces that the Blue Devils didn’t. If TJ can put together a solid staff, I look for the Cavs to improve from last year to next year. The FAC is tough but I think the Cavs will be competitive and you’ll see TJ be able to give more to the Chillicothe program than he was able to give to Zanesville.

Some of the strangest pushback I’ve seen is within the Chillicothe community since he got the job over an applicant with zero head coaching experience, amongst other items likely against him.

I get it here as this place is very fickle at times, but I was surprised by the pushback from the Chillicothe community. It might not have helped that it was rumored since about Week 8, so the thoughts were that it was handpicked and the dog and pony show with interviews happened as a waste of time. Don’t think that helped much, but I think Carper is right choice, but I’m not within that part of Chillicothe.

They need to figure it out quickly though and not let things fester and get worse, or he’ll be behind the 8 ball from Day 1

[Cavspride]

I have heard Carper is keeping all assistant coaches from last year. If that's the case, Carper will never turn this thing around!

[formerfcfan]

Interesting on the pushback for Carper. You can’t discredit what he did at VC. Winning a TVC championship for the first time in over 20+ years was an incredible accomplishment. You also can’t ignore the debacle last season at Zanesville. It’s obvious that Zanesville was in a much bigger hole than VC and it was going to take more than 10 weeks to turn it around. My personal take is that TJ wanted a challenge and that’s why he left VC. I also think he realized just how difficult it would be to put 100% effort into a program that required 1.5 hours of travel each day just to get to the school. Add another 1.5 hours home and that’s not much time for anything else. Including family. The Carpers are rooted in McArthur and I don’t see them leaving anytime soon. This is a move that will help Carper almost as much as it will Chillicothe. The Cavs have pieces that the Blue Devils didn’t. If TJ can put together a solid staff, I look for the Cavs to improve from last year to next year. The FAC is tough but I think the Cavs will be competitive and you’ll see TJ be able to give more to the Chillicothe program than he was able to give to Zanesville.

Some of the strangest pushback I’ve seen is within the Chillicothe community since he got the job over an applicant with zero head coaching experience, amongst other items likely against him.

I get it here as this place is very fickle at times, but I was surprised by the pushback from the Chillicothe community. It might not have helped that it was rumored since about Week 8, so the thoughts were that it was handpicked and the dog and pony show with interviews happened as a waste of time. Don’t think that helped much, but I think Carper is right choice, but I’m not within that part of Chillicothe.

They need to figure it out quickly though and not let things fester and get worse, or he’ll be behind the 8 ball from Day 1

Zanesville shouldn’t have hired him if it was obvious that the logistics of travel was going to be an obstacle. Lancaster and Logan themselves are two lengthy commutes to ZV, and McArthur is even more taxing on time + resources to run the travel gamut on.


For Chilli’s sake: they got their new hire shored up before December. That’s huge. Not often does that timetable on transitioning between from one coach to another happen so fast. Getting that extra 4-6 weeks of him in front of the kids, and by extension the community, can help get things moving quicker. The ends will justify the means.