HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP — There are very few times and places you can catch more than 20 Ashtabula County football coaches together.

The Urban Meyer-Dean Hood Youth Football Camp at Spire was a rare day, indeed.

Nearly half of all high school football coaches in the county were at the event providing instruction for 200 local football players.

“There were about 25 coaches here,” Geneva assistant Jay Corlew said. “We’re thinking about the future, without a doubt. There are a lot of friendships out there and we all coached against each other.”

“They took time out of their busy schedules,” Meyer said. “We had (more than 20) coaches and 200 young athletes here. It’s all a good community service project. They all took time out to be here. And it was great to see old friends.”

The coaches were pleased to be included.

“I thought they did a great job getting this thing going,” Corlew said. “It was nice of Dean and Urban to come back and take a day or two out of their busy schedules and come out to support the county.

“Dean said he wanted to make this an annual thing.”

The event was a good way to bring the four corners of the county together.

“I think it’s great,” Conneaut coach Rocco Dobran said. “The whole county came together with the common goal of just getting the kids excited about the sport.”

“It’s wonderful for the simple reason we all live in Ashtabula County,” Lakeside coach Ryan David  said. “We all want to make it better and the way to make it better is to teach doing things the right way, instill discipline and build character.”



Playoffs

Meyer is happy the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision is now moving to a playoff. He was happy, however, with the bowl games, as well.

“I think (a playoff) is great,” Meyer said. “I don’t know enough about it yet. I think the old system was great, too. I think about the athletes and coaches. We’re excited to win the Rose Bowl, then we have to go play one more. I think it’s great for the fans. They wanted it. But I’m not worried about the fans.

“I am worried about the coaches and athletes. I was 50/50 on it.”

When asked if he would prepare differently for a playoff or if there were more pressure to win, Meyer was frank.

“The pressure’s no different than at Eastern Kentucky or the University of Cincinnati,” Meyer said. “I get asked if I approach a game differently. I’m not sure what that means. I try to win every game. I didn’t look at it any differently at Bowling Green, Utah or Florida or wherever.”

Bob Frey had a different perspective, having seen what it’s like on both sides of the fence in his travels as a coach.

“What it’s going to do is take the controversy out of the mix,” he said. “Jay and I played at Mount Union, which is Division III. You’ve got to be a great team (to win the championship). It seems money, of all things, corrupts sports’ purity.”



Hometown love

Meyer has always made it a point to let people know what a great place he thought Ashtabula was. He even went so far as to relate a story on that very fact.

“In 2006 when we played Ohio State for the national championship, I got upset with a reporter,” he said. “A reporter was doing a story and he asked if it was tough growing up in Ashtabula, Ohio. I wasn’t following. People say it’s tough in Ashtabula. There are bad places. There are a bunch of bad places. This is a great place. What a great place this is to come and spend some time.”

“It’s a great place to grow up,” Kansas Wesleyan coach and Edgewood graduate Frey said. “It means a lot to come back and do something.”



Opening lines

Hood made a point of catching the campers’ attention right from the beginning. As he was getting them organized for the day, he delivered a pretty good message.

“It’s very, very important, that when your parents, teachers or coaches talk, you pay attention,” he said. “Focus on the person talking to you. It’s very important the person talking to you sees your eyes. There are other kinds of focus. There’s body focus. Don’t be turning around to look at something else. When somebody’s talking to you have your positioned toward that person.

“The third part of listening is having your mind focused. You could have good eye and body focus, but your mind is way off in the distance.”

Hood proceeded to test his subjects.

“Give a hand to Spire for letting us put this on,” he said.

The players applauded, drawing a reprimand.

“When I say give a hand, what am I talking about?” he asked, then raised his hand up in the air. “Clap for the coaches.”

The players applauded again.

Hood, again, reprimanded, then said a clap was just smacking his hands together once.

“Do you know what I mean when I say give a round of applause for Coach Meyer?” he asked, then clapped several times, moving his arms around in a circle.

 

Impression

Having grown up in Ashtabula, Hood had an idea what Spire would be. He received a pleasant surprise.

“I was absolutely blown away,” he said. “I thought I would see something just a little bit better than Wenner Field. They have an Olympic pool here. We had the whole camp planned for outside. Then we got weather. They said we could move it inside, so I started wondering how I would have to change things.

“They said I didn’t have to change anything. The field inside is every bit as big as the one outside.”

 

Recruiting trail

With Meyer and Hood so obviously proud of growing up in Ashtabula, they were asked if they would recruit Ashtabula County a little more than in the past.

“We start close and work our way out,” Hood said. “We hit Southern Ohio then Tennessee — Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Then we go into Northern Georgia. Indianapolis is three hours away and Pittsburgh is five. From there, we go where we catch fish.”

“Cleveland is our backyard,” Meyer said. “We kill in Cleveland. There’s nothing more I would like than to recruit an Ashtabula County kid.”

Frey isn’t so lucky. His recruiting base will probably rarely, if ever, reach to Ashtabula County.

“I am in Kansas, the number of schools they pass just get to us makes it difficult (to recruit in the county). We did recruit a couple Lakeside guys. I know the coaches in the area and we still talk. If a guy is not a Division I kid, I can and see if he has any interest.

“There’s not a lot you can do when you’re a 16 hours’ drive away.”

Ettinger is a freelance writer from Ashtabula.

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