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Topic: Frank's replacement
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L.C.
6/22/2018 6:03 PM
ou79 wrote:expand_more
If you include the Upper Ohio Valley (Valley) in the reference to SE Ohio, then OUr current staff does a terrible job of recruiting. Even if the Valley is not included in the SE Ohio reference, the Valley should be considered as part of Ohio's "backyard", as the Ohio University Eastern Campus (St. Clairsville) sits in the middle of everything. All of the schools in the Valley play in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference (O.V.A.C.) which features 5 divisions (A, AA, AAA, AAAA, AAAAA) in 2 States (Ohio & WVa) with 51 member schools ranging from Warren Local and Parkersburg South on the southern end to Beaver Local and East Liverpool in the north. The conference represents over 18,000 student athletes and championships are awarded in 18 sports. Included in the member schools are Steubenville, Whelling Park and Morgantown. I point out all of this because in the past few years the only 2 players on the team from OVAC schools were Marhefka (St. Clairsville) and Chukwu (Wheeling Linsly). Both were invited walk-ons. In the same time frame the Valley had kids receive scholarships to Michigan, WVU, Penn State, Pitt and a host of other D-I (FCS & FBS) schools including a number of MAC and AAC schools. I know for a fact that a lot of these kids never got any look from our staff. One in particular is now a starting lineman for WVU at 6'8" and 330 lbs. So the bottom line is the current staff either can not or will not recruit the Ohio Valley. Sorry L.C. but I am not impressed with our current staff's ability to recruit its own "backyard".

I did a search to see how many recruits have been recruited from that conference, and found the following that there are basically four strong areas, Morgantown, WV, Wheeling, WV, Steubenville, Ohio, and St. Clairesville, OH. The rest of the conference produces a player every now and then.

MORGANTOWN, WV
2012- Christian Allen, Morgantown - Akron
2014- Amanii Brown, Morgantown, WV - WV
2015- Stone Wolfley, Morgantown, WV - WV (3 stars)
2016- BG Emmons, Morgantown, WV - Alabama (4 stars)
2017- Maverick Wolfley, Morgantown, WV - WV (3 stars)
2019- Amir Richardson, Morgantown, WV - WV (4 stars)
2019- Logan Holgorsen, Morgantown, WV - undecided, BG and NTSU offers (2 stars)

WHEELING, WV
2003- Nicholas Stefanow, Wheeling, WV - Duke
2010- Weston Ross, Wheeling, WV - WMU
2010- Richard Hall, Wheeling, WV - Akron
2018- Cross Wilkerson, Wheeling, WV - Toledo (Ohio offer)

STEUBENVILLE, OH
2006- Angelo Magnone, Steubenville, Ohio - BG
2007- Zach Collaros, Steubenville, Ohio - Cincinnati
2007- Tamawi McGhee, Steubenville, Ohio - Toledo
2009- Branko Busick, Steubenville, Ohio - WV
2010- Dwight Macon, Steubenville, Ohio - Toledo
2011- Shaquille, Petteway, Steubenville, Ohio - WV
2012- Najee Murray, Steubenville, Ohio - Ohio St (4 stars, ohio offer)
2016- Mandela Lawrence-Burke, Steubenville, Oh - Kent St
2017- Charles Reeves, Steubenville, Ohio - Pitt (4 stars, Ohio offer)

ST. CLAIRESVILLE, OH
x2013- Dan Monteroso, St. Clairsville - Purdue (3 stars, Ohio Offer)
x2014- Michael Ferns, St. Clairsville - Michigan (4 stars, Ohio Offer)
x2016- Brendon Ferns, St. Clairsville - WV (4 stars, Ohio Offer)


THE REST OF THE CONFERENCE
x2002- Joel East, Cambridge, Ohio - Duke
x2004- Joshua Patore, Salineville, Ohio - Kent St
x2005- Zac Cooper, Weirton, WV - WV
x2006- Nate Davis, Bellaire, Ohio - Ball State
x2010- Dylan Potts, Hannibal, Ohio - Akron
x2013- James Bodanis, Toronto, Ohio - Michigan St
x2014- Ross Comis, Weirton, WV - UMass
x2015- Colton McKivitz, Belmont, Ohio - WV
x2016- Josh Sills, Byesville, OH - WV (3 stars, Ohio offer)
x2017- Jordan Murphy, Columbiana, Ohio - Bowling Green
2019- Thomas Aronokhale, Linsly, Wheeling, WV - undecided, has Ohio Offer
2019- Brenton Strange, Parkersburg, WV - undecided, many offers (3 stars)

P5 Schools - 18 players
WV - 10
Alabama - 1
Michigan - 1
Michigan St - 1
Duke - 2
Pitt - 1
Purdue - 1
Ohio St - 1

G5 players - 14 players
Akron - 3
Toledo - 3
WMU - 1
BG - 2
U. Mass - 1
Kent St - 2
Ball St - 1
Cincinnati - 1

So, it looks like on average, the conference produces about 1 G5 player a year. I do agree with your point, Wes, because Ohio hasn't gotten any of them. Yet, while there are certainly individual players I wish Ohio had gotten, particularly Nate Davis, even if Ohio dominated the conference, and got half the G5 recruits, it would only add about a recruit every other year.
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BryanHall
6/23/2018 11:31 AM
I may be wading into a topic I don't know much about. However, wasn't Grant Venham a highly regarded punting recruit from that conference?

I think that Nate Davis was such a wild card due to other circumstances. In hindsight he was great, but seems to be an outlier. IF that is the upside, I have no problem with recruiting track record.
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greencat
6/23/2018 11:56 AM
Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:expand_more
Ugh.....are you kidding me?

I would like to get an up and comer like Tom Arth at UT Chattanooga. But alas, this will be a keep in neutral/reverse move.
The young guy at Austin Peay that looks kinda like Tom Cruise took a program that was worse than dead in the water (0-12) and went 8-4 with two of the losses to Cincinnati and #18 ranked Central Florida. They did extend his contract through 2021 but it might not be airtight. I thought he was a pretty good QB when he played for Richmond.
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L.C.
6/23/2018 12:06 PM
BryanHall wrote:expand_more
I may be wading into a topic I don't know much about. However, wasn't Grant Venham a highly regarded punting recruit from that conference? ... [/QUOTE]
He was from Belpre, which is in the Tri-Valley Conference, along with Athens.

[QUOTE=BryanHall]...I think that Nate Davis was such a wild card due to other circumstances. In hindsight he was great, but seems to be an outlier. IF that is the upside, I have no problem with recruiting track record.

Davis was telling people he was going to play Baseball, so most schools moved on.

As ou79 mentioned, Ohio does not disregard the conference, and has had several preferred walkons, including Marhefka and Chuckwu. It seeems to me that they have been recruiting the conference harder since Brian Haines took over recruiting, as they have been making an average of one offer a year. They haven't gotten any commitments yet, however. From my post above, they have made offers to:
2012- Najee Murray, Steubenville - signed with Ohio St
2013- Dan Monteroso, St. Clairsville - signed with Purdue
2014- Michael Ferns, St. Clairsville - signed with Michigan
2016- Brendon Ferns, St. Clairsville - signed with WV
2016- Josh Sills, Byesville - signed with WV
2017- Charles Reeves, Steubenville - signed with Pitt
2018- Cross Wilkerson, Wheeling, WV - signed with Toledo
2019- Thomas Aronokhale, Linsly, Wheeling, WV - still undecided

Of the players Ohio has offered, only one has been lost to another MAC school, that being Cross Wilkerson in 2018. Of the players that Ohio didn't offer, who ended up at other MAC schools, a couple have done well, such as Nate Davis (2006), Angelo Magnone (2006), and Dwight Macon (2010), but some also have no stats, such as Tamawi McGhee, Weston Ross, and Christian Allen.
Last Edited: 6/23/2018 12:46:30 PM by L.C.
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Buckeye to Bobcat
6/23/2018 12:46 PM
greencat wrote:expand_more
Ugh.....are you kidding me?

I would like to get an up and comer like Tom Arth at UT Chattanooga. But alas, this will be a keep in neutral/reverse move.
The young guy at Austin Peay that looks kinda like Tom Cruise took a program that was worse than dead in the water (0-12) and went 8-4 with two of the losses to Cincinnati and #18 ranked Central Florida. They did extend his contract through 2021 but it might not be airtight. I thought he was a pretty good QB when he played for Richmond.
Another young gun that's good. The question with him though is what are his ties in the midwest? The reason why I liked Arth is because he is from NE Ohio and is someone worth watching that we could either have on our sidelines or very well be recruiting against due to his ties to the area.
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BillyTheCat
6/23/2018 1:43 PM
L.C. wrote:expand_more
I may be wading into a topic I don't know much about. However, wasn't Grant Venham a highly regarded punting recruit from that conference? ...

He was from Belpre, which is in the Tri-Valley Conference, along with Athens.

...I think that Nate Davis was such a wild card due to other circumstances. In hindsight he was great, but seems to be an outlier. IF that is the upside, I have no problem with recruiting track record.

Davis was telling people he was going to play Baseball, so most schools moved on.

As ou79 mentioned, Ohio does not disregard the conference, and has had several preferred walkons, including Marhefka and Chuckwu. It seeems to me that they have been recruiting the conference harder since Brian Haines took over recruiting, as they have been making an average of one offer a year. They haven't gotten any commitments yet, however. From my post above, they have made offers to:
2012- Najee Murray, Steubenville - signed with Ohio St
2013- Dan Monteroso, St. Clairsville - signed with Purdue
2014- Michael Ferns, St. Clairsville - signed with Michigan
2016- Brendon Ferns, St. Clairsville - signed with WV
2016- Josh Sills, Byesville - signed with WV
2017- Charles Reeves, Steubenville - signed with Pitt
2018- Cross Wilkerson, Wheeling, WV - signed with Toledo
2019- Thomas Aronokhale, Linsly, Wheeling, WV - still undecided

Of the players Ohio has offered, only one has been lost to another MAC school, that being Cross Wilkerson in 2018. Of the players that Ohio didn't offer, who ended up at other MAC schools, a couple have done well, such as Nate Davis (2006), Angelo Magnone (2006), and Dwight Macon (2010), but some also have no stats, such as Tamawi McGhee, Weston Ross, and Christian Allen.
Grant Venham went to Warren Local High School who at the time was in the SEOAL NOT Belpre or the TVC.
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L.C.
6/23/2018 6:15 PM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
Grant Venham went to Warren Local High School who at the time was in the SEOAL NOT Belpre or the TVC.

Very interesting, thanks. Since I couldn't find anything online, and since he was from Belpre, I made the incorrect guess that he went there.

Warren Local apparently was in the TVC from 1969-86, then moved the SEOAL, until it disintegrated in 2016-7, and moved to the Ohio Valley Athletic conference. So, in any case, Venham did not play in in the OVAC, but the school he attended now is in that Conference.
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ou79
6/24/2018 2:38 PM
Great research L.C., thanks! A couple other OVAC D-I recruits in recent years were Austin Dorris, a 6'5" 252 lb. TE from Shadyside who was recruited by and is on scholarship at Indiana University; and also Derek Wolfe out of Beaver Local who was recruited by and played for the University of Cincinnati and now plays for the Denver Broncos.


For the short time Jim Grobe was at Ohio he managed to get 4 recruits on scholarship, QB Bo Orlando from Steubenville Central Catholic, David Patton a 6'9" 300 lb. OT from Belmont Union Local and the pair from Martins Ferry, QB Fred Ray and RB Chad Brinker.



Josh Sills is a 6'6" 325 lb. OG out of Byesville Meadowbrook and Colton McKivitz is the 6'8" 330 lb OT I mentioned previously out of Belmont Union Local. Both start on the same side of WVU's offensive line. McKivitz gave a verbal to Miami his junior year then signed a LOI with WVU his senior year. He never had a look from Ohio. He will probably be playing OT in the NFL in a couple of years.

My point in brining all of this up is that these schools/recruits are in Ohio's back yard. At least one of the Ferns brothers from St. Clairsville did a lot of post secondary work at Ohio University Eastern while in high school. The same goes for McKivitz out of Union Local. I am sure there are others on L.C.'s list that also did post secondary studies at Ohio University Eastern before moving on to another university.
Last Edited: 6/24/2018 2:45:09 PM by ou79
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L.C.
6/24/2018 5:18 PM
I do agree with you that at least part of that conference is "in OU's backyard", but I wouldn't agree that all of it is, in particular, Morgantown and Wheeling. Even then, Ohio is a lot closer to the OVAC than BG, Toledo, and Akron. I think it's good to see Ohio making offers in that conference, and taking preferred walkons from there as well. In time maybe we'll see the next Chad Brinker or Fred Ray.
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Cats2014
6/26/2018 10:20 AM
Burrow is 64 years old and never been a head coach.
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GoCats105
6/26/2018 3:40 PM
Cats2014 wrote:expand_more
Burrow is 64 years old and never been a head coach.
Excellent point that has not been brought up. It's like a UNC basketball Dean Smith-Bill Guthridge situation.
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ShoreCat
6/27/2018 10:33 AM
Since I want to get as much use out of my "got frank?" t-shirt, I'm hoping that the university chooses somebody named Frank.

Frank Oz
Frank "the big hurt" Thomas
Frank Stallone

I'm rooting for Stallone.
Last Edited: 6/27/2018 10:59:00 AM by ShoreCat
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bobcatsquared
6/27/2018 11:06 AM
My vote goes to Frank "The Tank" Ricard.
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L.C.
6/27/2018 1:55 PM
Cats2014 wrote:expand_more
Burrow is 64 years old and never been a head coach.

So he'll be well into his eighties when Frank retires?
;)
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GoCatsGo
6/27/2018 9:35 PM
ou79 wrote:expand_more
Great research L.C., thanks! A couple other OVAC D-I recruits in recent years were Austin Dorris, a 6'5" 252 lb. TE from Shadyside who was recruited by and is on scholarship at Indiana University; and also Derek Wolfe out of Beaver Local who was recruited by and played for the University of Cincinnati and now plays for the Denver Broncos.


For the short time Jim Grobe was at Ohio he managed to get 4 recruits on scholarship, QB Bo Orlando from Steubenville Central Catholic, David Patton a 6'9" 300 lb. OT from Belmont Union Local and the pair from Martins Ferry, QB Fred Ray and RB Chad Brinker.



Josh Sills is a 6'6" 325 lb. OG out of Byesville Meadowbrook and Colton McKivitz is the 6'8" 330 lb OT I mentioned previously out of Belmont Union Local. Both start on the same side of WVU's offensive line. McKivitz gave a verbal to Miami his junior year then signed a LOI with WVU his senior year. He never had a look from Ohio. He will probably be playing OT in the NFL in a couple of years.

My point in brining all of this up is that these schools/recruits are in Ohio's back yard. At least one of the Ferns brothers from St. Clairsville did a lot of post secondary work at Ohio University Eastern while in high school. The same goes for McKivitz out of Union Local. I am sure there are others on L.C.'s list that also did post secondary studies at Ohio University Eastern before moving on to another university.
Speaking of Fred Ray, I read this comment on the former Martins Ferry Purple Rider earlier today, and then later on read this article about his new job. Always enjoy watching former Bobcats continue to coach at any level. Small World

http://wtov9.com/high-school-super-site/fred-ray-selected...
Last Edited: 6/27/2018 9:36:21 PM by GoCatsGo
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brucecuth
6/28/2018 11:00 AM
My thoughts now are the same as they were when O'Shea quit as head basketball coach and many people thought the job should be given to John Rhodes.

When Frank hangs it up, it certainly is possible that the best person for the job is already on the staff. But we won't know that until we determine who all the candidates are, and that involves a national search. I'd submit that our AD already has candidates in mind that he'd like to talk to (given Frank's age). Further, if a national search is not undertaken, the AD is derelict in performing his duties.
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Mark Lembright '85
6/28/2018 4:31 PM
Just throwing out a crazy thought here which certainly has NO basis in fact whatsoever, just a random thought. Maybe Frank's choice of replacement isn't currently on the staff but is someone else instead?
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Bobcat1996
6/28/2018 5:15 PM
Bobcat fans shouldn't get overly concerned about Frank's replacement as he isn't going to retire soon. This team has a great young QB, OL, RB's and that is just for starters. They have depth and the Defense will be just fine. Coach Solich knows what he has coming for the future also.
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TWT
6/29/2018 8:53 PM
Bobcat1996 wrote:expand_more
Bobcat fans shouldn't get overly concerned about Frank's replacement as he isn't going to retire soon. This team has a great young QB, OL, RB's and that is just for starters. They have depth and the Defense will be just fine. Coach Solich knows what he has coming for the future also.
Last year was a school record 508 points scored in his 13th coaching season. Three more wins and he has 100 at Ohio, becoming the programs 3rd 100 game winning coach. Then Hess sits at 108 wins and Peden at 121. Its going to be interesting to see how far he can go. Hess coached 20 seasons in Athens and Peden 21 seasons so with a few more seasons Frank is going to be comparable to those greats and he largely is already. Hess had 4 MAC titles back when the MAC had 6 or 7 teams in it and Ohio didn't have to prove itself in a title game. Frank has 4 division titles at Ohio and 3 bowl wins. Frank has made things happen facility wise at a level Hess didn't.
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TWT
6/29/2018 9:18 PM
L.C. wrote:expand_more
I'm sure that if someone wants to dig around, they can find plenty of examples of cases where an assistant coach took over for a retiring coach, and retained the rest of the staff. Probably some turned out well, and some not so well. On average, I'd expect a slight reversion towards the mean.
I know that is your opinion that Ohio would return to a sub .500 football team once Frank leaves but you neglect how much the program dynamics have changed since the 80's and 90's. Back in those days there wasn't the scholarship and academic limitations so Nebraska would stack players so other conference mates couldn't have them and so on down the line. Anything that happened in the MAC before 1997 when it moved to 12 teams is ancient history of events that occurred in a different era. Another huge factor is the 12 game schedule with 6 home games. Ohio can bake a few wins into the non-conference total to help pad on a down year like they did in 2014. Any winning season is now a bowl game which bakes in publicity. Grobe's tenure at Ohio twenty years later is now forgotten without a few bowl games as milestone. It wasn't his fault it was the rules of the day but it diminutizes the job he did at Ohio. Then of course the facilities, weight programs and technology have changed since the dark days of Ohio football. Its been 10 years since Ohio has won less than 6 games. Its been 15 years since Ohio has been really bad winning less than 4 games. This is a different era.
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TWT
6/29/2018 9:43 PM
Enough separation is in place from the second tier G5 programs where we can bounce back quickly. Think Central Michigan or Louisiana Tech, both programs that are remote in their respective states but don't stay down for long. The program is getting to the point that it has a tradition advantage over the second tier. Three coaches that have won a 100 games here and 10+ bowl games. In the 80's Ohio was looking up to about everyone from the tradition and profile perspectives.
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BillyTheCat
6/29/2018 10:34 PM
I think we need to rename South Green drive appropriately, Frank Solich Way, it goes past the Academic Center and IPF that would not be possible without Frank.
Last Edited: 6/29/2018 10:34:43 PM by BillyTheCat
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TWT
6/29/2018 10:43 PM
Hess was the one who should have put in the foundation for a next level 35,000 seat stadium. Peden Stadium was already 30 years old when he started coaching.
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L.C.
6/30/2018 7:05 AM
Uncle Wes wrote:expand_more
I'm sure that if someone wants to dig around, they can find plenty of examples of cases where an assistant coach took over for a retiring coach, and retained the rest of the staff. Probably some turned out well, and some not so well. On average, I'd expect a slight reversion towards the mean.
I know that is your opinion that Ohio would return to a sub .500 football team once Frank leaves but you neglect how much the program dynamics have changed since the 80's and 90's. ...

My opinion is that history gives us a base on what to expect. That doesn't mean we can't try to improve on that, nor that that you can't hope for better. I don't expect an instant drop back to the kinds of records that the Bryant years produced. I simply expect some reversion towards the mean. Thus, after Peden came Widdoes, who was good, but not quite as good. After Hess came Burke, who again, was not quite as good. Then, in the turnover that follows, sometimes you get another great coach, and sometimes you get something worse.
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Bobcat1996
6/30/2018 8:39 AM
Two historically top 10 programs come to mind when replacing coaches. The Sooners Lincoln Riley replaced Stoops and was excellent last season. Small sample size as he is only in his 2nd season, but Oklahoma was a top 4 team in 2017. Since Pete Carroll left USC for the NFL, they have been ok, but not dominant. Some would say they have underachieved.
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