Colerain and Moeller is not in Cincinnati.

 

 

 

What's strange is that Columbus produces practically no one.

It is what it is--at least in Ohio HS football Cincinnati's the top-gun.  (Get over your pain, fellas.)  :oops: :laugh:   

I guess you failed to list Cleveland as a top ten metro, hummm??

 

Top 10 Metro Areas

5. Cleveland

24. St. Edward (Lakewood), 24. St. Ignatius (Cleveland), 84. Mentor, 90. Glenville (Cleveland), 199. McKinley (Canton), 230. Washington (Massillon), 242. Lake Catholic (Mentor), 272. Solon, 403. Dover, 421. Walsh Jesuit (Cuyahoga Falls)

 

Not intentional, cleveland has great HS football teams.

I guess you failed to list Cleveland as a top ten metro, hummm??

 

Top 10 Metro Areas

5. Cleveland

24. St. Edward (Lakewood), 24. St. Ignatius (Cleveland), 84. Mentor, 90. Glenville (Cleveland), 199. McKinley (Canton), 230. Washington (Massillon), 242. Lake Catholic (Mentor), 272. Solon, 403. Dover, 421. Walsh Jesuit (Cuyahoga Falls)

 

Not intentional, cleveland has great HS football teams.

 

More like the Cleveland area has more good programs (and more Catholic schools recruiting) so the talent is spread around.

 

Ironically, though the converse helps make Glenville great.  The best players in the city limits are free to go there.

It is what it is--at least in Ohio HS football Cincinnati's the top-gun.  (Get over your pain, fellas.)  :oops: :laugh:   

 

This list, like most others produced by national publications, is inaccurate because those putting it together were too lazy to do actual research.  Cincinnati's claim to being the #1 "city" for high school football is based on the success of schools that are actually located in unincorporated areas outside of city limits.  The confusion comes from the fact that many of these townships (and thus the schools located within them) have zip codes that require writing "Cincinnati" after the street address.

 

Colerain is located in Colerain Township.

St. Xavier is located in Springfield Township.

Moeller is located in Symmes Township.

 

Elder is the only one which I believe is truly located in Cincinnati.  The rest are all in unincorporated areas of suburban Cincinnati.

I consider myself an avid follower and proponent of Ohio HS Football and I didn't know that.  I always thought Colerain, St. X, and Moeller were all in the City proper....... I guess because the national pubs always list them as such (as opposed to St. Edwards' designation always being Lakewood).

 

Regardless, there is no doubt that Cleveland and Cincy are two of the best metros for HS football in the entire country.  I'm not sure about the Enquirer, but the Plain Dealer's coverage area, which includes Akron, Canton, and Youngstown is ridiculously loaded.

There are many schools listed as Cincinnati which are not in the city proper.  I think it's because there are a lot of unincorporated areas bordering Cincinnati, whereas there are none bordering Cleveland.

 

EDIT: Never mind, I should have read Clevelander17's post first.

 

Also, this means that Cleveland actually ranks ahead of Cinicnnati both in metor and city rankings (we have St. Ignatius at #24 and Glenville at #90).

 

Not that this list couldn't be placed in the dumb-a$$ rankings thread...

It is what it is--at least in Ohio HS football Cincinnati's the top-gun.  (Get over your pain, fellas.)  :oops: :laugh:   

 

This list, like most others produced by national publications, is inaccurate because those putting it together were too lazy to do actual research.  Cincinnati's claim to being the #1 "city" for high school football is based on the success of schools that are actually located in unincorporated areas outside of city limits.  The confusion comes from the fact that many of these townships (and thus the schools located within them) have zip codes that require writing "Cincinnati" after the street address.

 

There's even parts of Clermont County like that.

Also, this means that Cleveland actually ranks ahead of Cinicnnati both in metor and city rankings (we have St. Ignatius at #24 and Glenville at #90).

 

8-)

I have to wonder about the ranking methodology.  Long term history, short term history, or right now?

 

If it's short term history Maple Heights should be included somewhere, but not if it's long term or "right now".

I believe it is "right now".... the rankings going into this season?

I believe it is "right now".... the rankings going into this season?

 

I think so, too.  But a listing based on long-term success would be very interesting. 

As for Heights, last night's win was impressive, but I'm having a hard time gauging how good they are this year.  I know their QB is pretty good.  Within the LEL, Heights' biggest challenge may come from an experienced Euclid team, though I still think the Tigers are better and should win the league again this year.  I want to see how Bagley progresses.

 

Bagley went for 275yds and 4 TDs against Toledo St. John's last night in another blowout (51-20) to open the season.  I'm sure he had a boatload of tackles on defense as well.  I'm still somewhat shocked that he isn't being recruited more heavily, but have heard (definitely not first hand from someone that would know) that grades may be an issue.  The WR/DB, Dorian Baker, is getting much more buzz nationally.

 

They also have a senior transfer from CCC at QB (Taz Pauldo) this year who is supposed to have a really impressive arm.  They'll need him because their schedule is absolutely brutal playing at Maple Hts, Euclid, and Shaw... with Strongsville, Glenville, and Warren G. Harding visiting the intersection of Cedar and Lee.

As for Heights, last night's win was impressive, but I'm having a hard time gauging how good they are this year.  I know their QB is pretty good.  Within the LEL, Heights' biggest challenge may come from an experienced Euclid team, though I still think the Tigers are better and should win the league again this year.  I want to see how Bagley progresses.

 

Bagley went for 275yds and 4 TDs against Toledo St. John's last night in another blowout (51-20) to open the season.  I'm sure he had a boatload of tackles on defense as well.  I'm still somewhat shocked that he isn't being recruited more heavily, but have heard (definitely not first hand from someone that would know) that grades may be an issue.  The WR/DB, Dorian Baker, is getting much more buzz nationally.

 

It's sometimes not just grades, but the kid's willingness to even go to the next level. 

 

Devonte Ransom, the Maple RB that kept defenses from completely keying on Shaq Washington, should have been as high a level recruit as Shaq and Andre Stubbs, but barely showed up on the radar and as far as I know never played college  ball.  He simply wasn't interested in playing football after high school. 

Ironically, though the converse helps make Glenville great.  The best players in the city limits are free to go there.[/color]

 

Glenville also pulls from outside the City. They've had a number of talented kids transfer in from numerous inner ring east side neighborhoods over the years. They also tend to get a lot of kids who transfer/flunk out of St. Eds after 9th or 10th grade.

Ironically, though the converse helps make Glenville great.  The best players in the city limits are free to go there.[/color]

 

Glenville also pulls from outside the City. They've had a number of talented kids transfer in from numerous inner ring east side neighborhoods over the years. They also tend to get a lot of kids who transfer/flunk out of St. Eds after 9th or 10th grade.

 

Shaq Washington spent his first two years there, after the Maple HS head coach developed a disliking for him and told the middle school head coach (a former Mustangs teammate of mine) not to let him play quarterback, or better yet at all. 

 

This was actually Jeff Rotsky's last year.  He stayed at Glenville during Tom Bruney's sole year at Maple (he was nowhere near as good at internal recruitment of inner city/inner ring kids as Rotsky or Filtz) then Todd got him to come back home.  I'm not sure the family ever really moved.

Ironically, though the converse helps make Glenville great.  The best players in the city limits are free to go there.[/color]

 

Glenville also pulls from outside the City. They've had a number of talented kids transfer in from numerous inner ring east side neighborhoods over the years. They also tend to get a lot of kids who transfer/flunk out of St. Eds after 9th or 10th grade.

 

I know that one of Heights' better players (Chaz Jones iirc) prior to its rebirth transferred to Glenville for his senior year.  I seem to remember that one of his parents lived in the CMSD.  If the parents have joint custody, that is all that is really needed, even if the one outside the district is technically the "residential parent."  While I was in HS, my mom moved just a few blocks away in to the SE-L school district, but my dad lived in CH so I was able to stay put

I know that one of Heights' better players (Chaz Jones iirc) prior to its rebirth transferred to Glenville for his senior year.  I seem to remember that one of his parents lived in the CMSD.  If the parents have joint custody, that is all that is really needed, even if the one outside the district is technically the "residential parent."  While I was in HS, my mom moved just a few blocks away in to the SE-L school district, but my dad lived in CH so I was able to stay put

 

CMSD is an open enrollment district.  Any student from anywhere in the state can enroll in CMSD schools, regardless of location of residency.

Last game at Maple Heights's Stafford Stadium is tomorrow afternoon vs. Bedford.

 

Simultaneously, Massillon visits 9-0 Canton McKinley and Todd Filtz tries to go unbeaten again.

^what is happening to Stafford Stadium and where is Maple going to play in the future?

^Aren't they building a new high school.  Probably there.

 

^^CM is tough this year.  Erik Glover-Williams is tiny, but still a beast.  He's the only junior signed by OSU as of right now.

^Aren't they building a new high school.  Probably there.

 

^^CM is tough this year.  Erik Glover-Williams is tiny, but still a beast.  He's the only junior signed by OSU as of right now.

 

The new high school is done and in use.  The new stadium is next door.  They tried to have it ready in time, but didn't.  Stafford is by the new middle school.  It will be used for their games. 

 

I didn't know he was a junior.  Yeow.  Top notch junior QB with a DI commit playing for Todd...sounds familiar.

Heights travels to Shaw tonight with a chance to clinch another Lake Erie League championship.  They've already guaranteed at least a share, but a win tonight gives them the title outright.  My sources are indicating that Cleveland Heights and perhaps even Euclid may not be in the LEL much longer.

 

Elsewhere in the LEL, Warren Harding's home game against Lorain was cancelled due to safety concerns and recent shootings in Warren.

 

http://www.wfmj.com/story/23853725/warren-harding-football-game-canceled-due-tension-in-the-city

Heights travels to Shaw tonight with a chance to clinch another Lake Erie League championship.  They've already guaranteed at least a share, but a win tonight gives them the title outright.  My sources are indicating that Cleveland Heights and perhaps even Euclid may not be in the LEL much longer.

 

Elsewhere in the LEL, Warren Harding's home game against Lorain was cancelled due to safety concerns and recent shootings in Warren.

 

http://www.wfmj.com/story/23853725/warren-harding-football-game-canceled-due-tension-in-the-city

 

Yeah, the LEL used to be split into large and small school divisions, in part so the bigger schools could gain computer points (Maple was moved to the bigger division during its heyday).  Now, that's not there any more.  I would not be surprised to see the league actually disband.

 

If you've been watching the Heights sidelines during the games, you can get some feel for team discipline.  Are the players goofing off?  Do they respect the assistant coaches?  If the answers are no and yes respectively, they have a great chance of doing something in the playoffs.  Team discipline (and playing favorites, the two are related) was always Jeff Rotsky's weakness at Maple, he's a great coach otherwise.

Unfortunately, CH doesn't have the horses to do much in the playoffs.  They have GREAT skill position players, but the lines are lacking compared to years past.  Glenville pretty much had their way with them up front and Glenville's lines are not as good this year as they have been previously.  Heights can certainly beat most any public school which will make the DI playoffs (Glenville is in DII this year), but won't be able to man up against the likes of Eds, Iggy, or the Cincy catholic schools.  Too much depth up front on those teams.

Unfortunately, CH doesn't have the horses to do much in the playoffs.  They have GREAT skill position players, but the lines are lacking compared to years past.  Glenville pretty much had their way with them up front and Glenville's lines are not as good this year as they have been previously.  Heights can certainly beat most any public school which will make the DI playoffs (Glenville is in DII this year), but won't be able to man up against the likes of Eds, Iggy, or the Cincy catholic schools.  Too much depth up front on those teams.

 

I think Heights could beat pretty much all of the teams in D1R1 except St. I, St. Eds, and Mentor.  I just don't see them competing with those three.  Hudson, A-Fitch, and Canton McKinley would also be interesting games.

 

I can't figure out Solon this year.  They were only 6-4 and didn't have too many impressive wins (other than Brunswick being faiurly good, Kenston was a decent win, but they're D3), but then they only lost by 1 to Glenville.  I feel like they could give some teams a game that you wouldn't expect, but that they also could get beat by teams that look to be well below their level.

 

Anyway, first up for CH is an away game against Wadsworth.  I don't know too much about them and that conference seems to only allow for one non-conference game so you can't get a feel for how strong it is overall, but they're 9-1 with a win over 9-1 Nordonia and their only loss was by 1 point to a 10-0 Medina Highland team.  I think CH should win this one, but it won't be an easy game.  Up next would be the winner of Shaker and Eds, so....Eds.

Unfortunately, CH doesn't have the horses to do much in the playoffs.  They have GREAT skill position players, but the lines are lacking compared to years past.  Glenville pretty much had their way with them up front and Glenville's lines are not as good this year as they have been previously.  Heights can certainly beat most any public school which will make the DI playoffs (Glenville is in DII this year), but won't be able to man up against the likes of Eds, Iggy, or the Cincy catholic schools.  Too much depth up front on those teams.

 

If the position players are stars but the line is iffy, well that sounds like a Rotsky era Maple (or for that matter, Chanel)  team.

 

They play Wadsworth in Round 1, and if they get past them (very much in question:  Jeff’s teams were 2-3 in the first round at Maple and 0-2 in the second round) they get the winner of Shaker Heights and Ed’s.  Meanwhile, Iggy has to go down to visit Canton McKinley, who laid an egg against archrival Massillon this past weekend but was 9-0 before that.  Todd Filtz coaches the Bulldogs, him against Kyle should be interesting to say the least.  Of course, the really interesting matchup, on a purely personal level, would be Heights and McKinley.  There’s a profound dislike between Rotsky and Filtz, and as it turns out, Jeff was pretty much told to hire Todd by the Maple superintendant, who knew him at Steubenville.

 

^It has nothing to do with Rotsky's style.  The lines have been fairly good at CH since he arrived.  It's just an off-year for them due to graduations the past few years with nobody to from this year's upper classes to fill their shoes.

 

^^Glenville wasn't playing well at the beginning of the year.  They were blown out by Eds and nearly lost to Solon.  They got their rythym back in the second half against CH.  Alot of it, IMO, had to do with them realizing how good that RB they plucked out of South Carolina can be for them. 

I wouldn't say Glenville got blown out by Eds.  It was 2 scores and from what I hear, it was closer than that and if not for some dumb penalties, they would have been right in it.

Maybe blow out isn't the right description.  But they did jump all over them, leading 23-0 at the half.  Glenville did cut it to 9 in the 3rd, but then Eds sealed it and coasted to victory.  Eds was clearly the better team that day.  Glenville is about as top heavy as it has been since the Ginn/Hiley/Lenix team with Marshon Lattimore and Erik Smith perhaps being the two of the best Sr. prospects in the area or maybe even the entire state (Berger, the LB from Iggy, and his teammate OT Jim Byrne are right there with them), but the depth is lacking and I thought that was the difference against Eds.

^It has nothing to do with Rotsky's style.  The lines have been fairly good at CH since he arrived.  It's just an off-year for them due to graduations the past few years with nobody to from this year's upper classes to fill their shoes.

 

He had fairly good lines at Maple, too.  Most of the time.  When you don't have good internal discipline, much depends on the players you have and their work ethics.  That's why I asked about sideline conduct.  If he's learned, that will have changed dramatically. 

 

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see him succeed.  He’s one of the best there is at getting kids to come out to play, and he inspires tremendous loyalty among those who he built a rapport with.  He’s also damn good at identifying coaching talent, though unfortunately he often treats them more like players than authority figures.  Unlike some of my fellow alumni, I give him all the credit in the world for building the program to the level he did, though it should probably be noted that it took someone who could get the kids to work (as well as play) to take it to the top.

 

By the way, if there ever was an example of how absolutely critical coaching is at the high school level, it’s Maple Heights.  For some inexplicable reason they hired their new coach from outside the program, and the results have not been good.

 

 

 

It's been a long time since Rotsky was at Maple.  I think we can bury the comparisons by now.  Certainly, we don't need to discuss it every five or so posts.  He's older, more seasoned, and has a larger talent pool at CH to work with.  Sideline discipline was never really a problem at CH.  Maybe it was at MH.  The issue which always held CH back was that some of the top athletes did not play football (basketball coach really discouraged his guys playing football) and the off-season weight program sucked. There were probably only about 5 kids from my class who were consistently in the weight room.  Of course, we had a few kids who could bench 300 without any prior training.  It would have been nice to see those kids get pushed.  That is where Rotsky has made the biggest difference.

Heights ended up with a pretty tough draw for the playoffs.  They can beat Wadsworth, but if anything I think the Grizzlies are the slight favorite, especially at home.  This is actually one of the best first round matchups in DI in my opinion, unfortunately STO is picking up the Ignatius-McKinley game Saturday night.  I believe the Wildcats should roll in that one.

Heights ended up with a pretty tough draw for the playoffs.  They can beat Wadsworth, but if anything I think the Grizzlies are the slight favorite, especially at home.  This is actually one of the best first round matchups in DI in my opinion, unfortunately STO is picking up the Ignatius-McKinley game Saturday night.  I believe the Wildcats should roll in that one.

 

Don't count McKinley out.  The last game nonwithstanding, they've been strong finishers throughout the season. 

 

It will be a fascinating game to those in tune with strategy.  Chuck Kyle is perhaps the best area HS coach of our era, Todd Filtz likely the most successful 30 or under.  I know they picked it because it's Iggy's, but they made a good choice.

 

It figures that my two favorite HS teams not named Maple Heights face off in Round One lol.

http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/news/article/5758194844764637256/maple-heights-football-defeats-cleveland-heights-27-14/

 

As I  say in the comments, again with the late fade.  Maple has had a couple of strong finishes this year, but they are inconsistent about it.

The 2014 State Football Championships started last night in the Shoe.  I watched the first of the seven games to be played though Saturday on STO last night.  And let me tell you, the other 6 games will have an almost impossible time beating last night's opening game for drama and excitement.  Toledo Central Catholic played Athens for the Division III title.  Below is the box score and a recap:

 

http://www.ohsaalivestats.com/sports/fball/2014-15/boxscores/20141204_smef.xml

 

http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/burrow-s-ohio-stadium-debut-produces-lots-of-highlights-but-no-state-title-120514

 

It was a battle between contrasting high-powered offenses.  Athens was led by senior QB Joe Burrow, who is this year's Mr. Football and going to OSU next season.  Burrow accounted for 500 (446 passing and 54 rushing) of Athens' 563 total yards.  Toledo CC had 3 players with over 100 yards rushing - rolling up 654 total yards (501 rushing, 153 passing).

 

It was like a back-and-forth boxing match in the second half, with the lead changing nine times.  Athens scored with 2:52 left to go up 52-49.  Then Toledo CC put together a 12-play, 71-yard drive (converting three 4th-down plays along the way) to score the game-winning TD with 0:15 left to win 56-52!!

The 2014 State Football Championships started last night in the Shoe.  I watched the first of the seven games to be played though Saturday on STO last night.  And let me tell you, the other 6 games will have an almost impossible time beating last night's opening game for drama and excitement.  Toledo Central Catholic played Athens for the Division III title.  Below is the box score and a recap:

 

http://www.ohsaalivestats.com/sports/fball/2014-15/boxscores/20141204_smef.xml

 

http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/burrow-s-ohio-stadium-debut-produces-lots-of-highlights-but-no-state-title-120514

 

It was a battle between contrasting high-powered offenses.  Athens was led by senior QB Joe Burrow, who is this year's Mr. Football and going to OSU next season.  Burrow accounted for 500 (446 passing and 54 rushing) of Athens' 563 total yards.  Toledo CC had 3 players with over 100 yards rushing - rolling up 654 total yards (501 rushing, 153 passing).

 

It was like a back-and-forth boxing match in the second half, with the lead changing nine times.  Athens scored with 2:52 left to go up 52-49.  Then Toledo CC put together a 12-play, 71-yard drive (converting three 4th-down plays along the way) to score the game-winning TD with 0:15 left to win 56-52!!

 

It's got to be great for the kids to play at the Shoe, but not so much for the fans. Paul Brown Stadium in Massilon was just about right, plenty of seats but still close to the action and felt like a high school game.

 

Toledo CC was Division II a couple years back, Maple beat them two years in a row just like Lake Catholic, who is also III.  It seems like DII is becoming a public school dominated division, with the parochials going to I or III.

 

Jeff Rotsky just resigned as Cleveland Heights head football coach.

Jeff Rotsky just resigned as Cleveland Heights head football coach.

 

Interesting development. Apparently last year Heights scheduled almost all of its home games on Saturdays and Thursdays so that Rotsky could watch his son (who plays at Mayfield) play his games on Friday nights. However Heights got a new principal this year and word is that the level of flexibility that the CH-UH administration was willing to give on scheduling games on non-traditional football nights changed. Based on that, he resigned. Or that's the story, anyways.

 

Regardless, Rotsky is a controversial figure, but he did a lot for the Heights program and I think that his successor will have a hard time keeping the momentum going. Rotsky has won everywhere he's been, but he's had the most trouble going deep into the playoffs as the head man at Heights. I think that his next destination, wherever that may be, needs to be at a school that isn't in Division I. Way too much competition and way too difficult to build a championship contender when competing against your super-DI privates like St. Ignatius and St. Edward (who knocked Rotsky's Heights teams out of the playoffs twice), not to mention large public school juggernauts like Mentor, Hudson, and Solon.

Jeff Rotsky just resigned as Cleveland Heights head football coach.

 

Interesting development. Apparently last year Heights scheduled almost all of its home games on Saturdays and Thursdays so that Rotsky could watch his son (who plays at Mayfield) play his games on Friday nights. However Heights got a new principal this year and word is that the level of flexibility that the CH-UH administration was willing to give on scheduling games on non-traditional football nights changed. Based on that, he resigned. Or that's the story, anyways.

 

Regardless, Rotsky is a controversial figure, but he did a lot for the Heights program and I think that his successor will have a hard time keeping the momentum going. Rotsky has won everywhere he's been, but he's had the most trouble going deep into the playoffs as the head man at Heights. I think that his next destination, wherever that may be, needs to be at a school that isn't in Division I. Way too much competition and way too difficult to build a championship contender when competing against your super-DI privates like St. Ignatius and St. Edward (who knocked Rotsky's Heights teams out of the playoffs twice), not to mention large public school juggernauts like Mentor, Hudson, and Solon.

 

Hell, he’s a controversial figure among Maple alumni.  No question he took our 0-10 program and turned it into one that regularly went 9-1 or even 10-0.  He did the same thing at Chanel.  But he didn’t “Finish It”, as the 2010 MH program sloganed….and did.  2-5 in the playoffs and he never went past the second round, which has to sound familiar to CH people.  Indeed, his teams always started the game better than they ended it.  For example, they hung with Eds for a half, got beat in the second half.  This was a predictable result of his teams lacking discipline.

 

By comparison, Todd Filtz (who Rotsky first hired as an assistant at the behest of the superintendent) went 9-1 in the playoffs his first three seasons.  His teams had discipline (until the end of his final year) and worked harder.

 

I give him credit for bringing the MH program out of the dumps, but can’t get away from the discipline thing, or the fact that he played favorites and held grudges.  He chased one kid out to Glenville (common theme there), that kid came back to play for Todd Filtz and was PD offensive player of the year two straight years, winning the state title game almost singlehandedly.

 

The good news for Tigers fans:  Both Chanel and Maple won state titles after he left.

 

Indeed, CH should give serious thought to hiring Todd, who was an assistant at Steubenville last year after Canton McKinley politics caught up with him.

 

Hell, he’s a controversial figure among Maple alumni.  No question he took our 0-10 program and turned it into one that regularly went 9-1 or even 10-0.  He did the same thing at Chanel.  But he didn’t “Finish It”, as the 2010 MH program sloganed….and did.  2-5 in the playoffs and he never went past the second round, which has to sound familiar to CH people.  Indeed, his teams always started the game better than they ended it.  For example, they hung with Eds for a half, got beat in the second half.  This was a predictable result of his teams lacking discipline.

 

By comparison, Todd Filtz (who Rotsky first hired as an assistant at the behest of the superintendent) went 9-1 in the playoffs his first three seasons.  His teams had discipline (until the end of his final year) and worked harder.

 

I give him credit for bringing the MH program out of the dumps, but can’t get away from the discipline thing, or the fact that he played favorites and held grudges.  He chased one kid out to Glenville (common theme there), that kid came back to play for Todd Filtz and was PD offensive player of the year two straight years, winning the state title game almost singlehandedly.

 

The good news for Tigers fans:  Both Chanel and Maple won state titles after he left.

 

Indeed, CH should give serious thought to hiring Todd, who was an assistant at Steubenville last year after Canton McKinley politics caught up with him.

 

I'm glad that you at least acknowledge that Chanel and Maple Heights were horrid before Rotsky arrived there and neither one probably wins a state title if he hadn't completely turned things around. Heights had a rough year last year, but the pieces are still in place to be successful. However as I mentioned above, it's a whole different ball of wax for an inner-ring suburban school like Heights to win a state title in DI than for a school like Maple to do it in DII or a Catholic school like Chanel to do it in DV. It's a lot easier for one player like a Shaq Washington to carry a team in the lower divisions.

 

FWIW, as much as you love him, I don't think that Filtz has a track record as a program-builder, but he's been a solid "caretaker" coach at Maple Heights and Canton McKinley. Maybe he would be a good fit for Heights consider what he's done at these types of urban environments. Would be kind of ironic if it plays out like that.

 

But after reading the following piece, I'm still holding out hope that Heights and Rotsky can reconcile their differences and he can return:

 

http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/news/article/3861130044755711610/jeff-rotsky-i-want-to-be-a-good-dad-a-good-husband-and-i-want-to-coach-kids/#incart_river

Hell, he’s a controversial figure among Maple alumni.  No question he took our 0-10 program and turned it into one that regularly went 9-1 or even 10-0.  He did the same thing at Chanel.  But he didn’t “Finish It”, as the 2010 MH program sloganed….and did.  2-5 in the playoffs and he never went past the second round, which has to sound familiar to CH people.  Indeed, his teams always started the game better than they ended it.  For example, they hung with Eds for a half, got beat in the second half.  This was a predictable result of his teams lacking discipline.

 

By comparison, Todd Filtz (who Rotsky first hired as an assistant at the behest of the superintendent) went 9-1 in the playoffs his first three seasons.  His teams had discipline (until the end of his final year) and worked harder.

 

I give him credit for bringing the MH program out of the dumps, but can’t get away from the discipline thing, or the fact that he played favorites and held grudges.  He chased one kid out to Glenville (common theme there), that kid came back to play for Todd Filtz and was PD offensive player of the year two straight years, winning the state title game almost singlehandedly.

 

The good news for Tigers fans:  Both Chanel and Maple won state titles after he left.

 

Indeed, CH should give serious thought to hiring Todd, who was an assistant at Steubenville last year after Canton McKinley politics caught up with him.

 

I'm glad that you at least acknowledge that Chanel and Maple Heights were horrid before Rotsky arrived there and neither one probably wins a state title if he hadn't completely turned things around. Heights had a rough year last year, but the pieces are still in place to be successful. However as I mentioned above, it's a whole different ball of wax for an inner-ring suburban school like Heights to win a state title in DI than for a school like Maple to do it in DII or a Catholic school like Chanel to do it in DV. It's a lot easier for one player like a Shaq Washington to carry a team in the lower divisions.

 

FWIW, as much as you love him, I don't think that Filtz has a track record as a program-builder, but he's been a solid "caretaker" coach at Maple Heights and Canton McKinley. Maybe he would be a good fit for Heights consider what he's done at these types of urban environments. Would be kind of ironic if it plays out like that.

 

But after reading the following piece, I'm still holding out hope that Heights and Rotsky can reconcile their differences and he can return:

 

http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/news/article/3861130044755711610/jeff-rotsky-i-want-to-be-a-good-dad-a-good-husband-and-i-want-to-coach-kids/#incart_river

 

I've always acknowledged that he was a difference maker of epic proportions and indeed I was absolutely thrilled when Maple hired him and disappointed when he left.  It should be noted that Tom Bruney actually succeeded Jeff, but he only lasted one lackluster year before heading to West Virginia where he has been very successful.  Todd had a decent year following up, but they did miss the playoffs two years in a row.  Then Shaq came back, along with Devonte Ransom and Andre Stubbs they had three kids with NFL speed along with solid lines.  It’s tough to call Todd just a caretaker, though that ended up being his role at McKinley.  They lose both those Lake Catholic semifinal games without discipline and solid coaching.

 

Jeff inspires incredible loyalty and returns it, but as I said the flip side happens if a kid rubs him the wrong way.  He told the middle school coaches to not let Shaq play quarterback, or better yet not let him play at all.  (This came from one of them, a teammate of mine last century). 

 

Jeff gets the kids to come out, and he does a good job relating to and inspiring inner city and inner ring kids.  Someone like Chuck Kyle or Todd gets them to work.  That makes a difference in the 4th quarter, and November.

 

To win in an urban environment, you not only need to get the athletes to come out (Ginn and Rotsky do this well), but you also need to get them to work hard and play disciplined. I don't think there's any coach in the state that has had success on both fronts. And truthfully I think that Kyle is working with a completely different demographic and probably shouldn't be mentioned in the conversation. Kids do come to him, but his job is a lot easier on both fronts because of the fact that St. Ignatius can draw from anywhere and because the kids he's coaching are, to put it gently, more "coachable." Give Rotsky credit for turning around two inner-ring, closed enrollment high school football programs, and to Filtz for being the only coach in the history of the Northeast Ohio high school football to win a state title at one of these schools.

 

As mentioned above, I'm still holding out hope that Rotsky and Heights can mend fences (has to happen soon, though), because there aren't a lot of people that can do what he did in that type of a school.

The issues with Rotsky and discipline perhaps were evident at MH, but not at CH.  His teams played hard for him.  What C17 is right about the barriers to success in D1 vs. any other division.  MH never had to go through St. Eds to win the state title.  CH was one QB sack away from taking down Ed's a few year's back.  They were somewhat cheated out of the playoffs another year when they might have had their most talented roster.  He didn't chase away any players.  In fact, he brought several in to the program and school system.

Maple Heights now has two head coaches who won state championships for them and were hired for the HC job under the age of 25.

 

http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/news/article/3547348967557818858/shaq-washington-taking-over-alma-mater-as-maple-heights-football-coach/

Follow-up to ^

 

My Facebook “on this day” had a post from 2010, the year Maple Heights won the state title in football.  They were 5-0, had given up 34 points, and had scored more than that in four of five games.

 

This year they are 5-0, have given up 34 points, and have scored more than that in every game.  Their smallest margin of victory has been 24 points.

Their rookie head coach was the quarterback on the 2010 state title team.

It's always hard to tell with Maple Heights because their regular season schedule isn't very tough, but it does seem that they could have a chance to do some damage in the playoffs this year.

On 9/24/2018 at 12:46 PM, jam40jeff said:

It's always hard to tell with Maple Heights because their regular season schedule isn't very tough, but it does seem that they could have a chance to do some damage in the playoffs this year.

 

They ended up 12-1, losing to Hoban in the regional finals.   Both playoff wins were by 30.

 

One thing that's telling with Maple's recent past is how much difference a coach makes.

 

Todd Filtz's last season they were 9-2, 15-0 and state champs the year before.

 

Delvin Culliver's first (2012) and last (2017) seasons they were 4-6.

 

Shaq Washington's first season:  12-1.