A Coach's Experience in the North-South All-Star Game
My name is Tim Lewis and I am the Head
Football Coach at Miamisburg High School (Region 16). I
recently had the honor of coaching in the Ohio All-Star Football
Classic, representing the “Southside”. Although I
was very excited to take part in this event, I was also very
unaware of what laid before me. I had never taken part or even
attended this game before. Because of this, I kept a daily
log of our activities to help others know more about the
activities and duties that go along with coaching in this game.
Before I get into the daily log, I would like to present some
information that I think would serve helpful for anyone coaching
in this game.
I found it to be very helpful taking a
bag of footballs, cones, and scrimmage vests. We were
supplied with a few footballs and dummies, but if there is any
specific equipment that you like to use in your practices, you
might want to take it with you. Don’t plan on doing
any activities other than coaching, meeting with coaches and/or
players, or looking after players. You will have no down
time. You really do not want any down time, because if you
have free time - so do the players. You do not need to pack
much as far as personal clothing. You only need clothes to
coach in ( lots of T-Shirts, shorts, socks, and underwear) and a
few pair of nice shorts. Any activity off of the campus,
you will be wearing a shirt that is given to you.
We (coaches) were given a Golf Shirt to wear
on all activities, an All-Star T-Shirt, a pair of shoes to coach
in and Game Clothing. Our dorm rooms had no radio or
television, so you may consider taking one or both. And you
will definitely need a fan if there is no air conditioning.
Looking back on the experience, I can say I
enjoyed every minute of it. At that time, I was craving air
conditioning, time to relax, and junk food. The food was
fantastic, if anyone lost weight during that week - it is their
fault. We were all treated like kings. The All-Star
committee, Mr. Gerry Cooke, Mr. Wally Hood, Mr. Bob Brigati, and
Mr. John Raphael worked extremely hard to make sure that
everything was perfect. If there was something needed -
they found a way to get it. I also would like to comment on
the fantastic hospitality we received from the people at Crew
Stadium. They went out of their way to make sure that this
game was treated as a showcase.
I feel privileged to have had the
opportunity to spend a week with the South All-Stars and
especially the coaches. Head Coach Bill Nees did an
excellent job of getting our team ready for Saturday. He
knew when to push and when to back off. He showed great
leadership and did a great job of distributing duties through our
coaching staff. Barry Goettenmoller, Head Coach of
Carrollton High School was our Offensive Coordinator, and coached
our quarterbacks and running backs. Barry did a great job
of keeping our offense moving through practices. He seemed
to know when to add and when not to. Jeff Hood, head Coach
of Van Wert High School, served as our Offensive Line Coach.
Jeff had his hands full. This was the position where we
were the thinnest. At the beginning of the week, we did not
have a complete Offensive Line without stealing from our Defense.
I really enjoyed working with these two gentlemen, since I
coached the receivers, we spent a lot of time together. Zack
Taylor, Head Coach of Glen Este High School, coached our
Linebackers and served as “Get Back” Coach during the
game. Zack kept us all going during the week with all of
his words of wisdom. Rod Smith, Head Coach of Logan Elm
High School, coached our Defensive Backs and led our Pre Game
show. I truly enjoyed the time I got to spend with Coach
Smith, and our coaching clinics we held for each other in the
laundry room.
This was a great experience that I would
definitely do again if asked. I hope this will serve as
helpful for any coach desiring to take part in this game. If
you have any questions that I can help you with, feel free to
contact me at Miamisburg High School (937-866-6994) or my email lewisvahalla@msn.com .
Sunday June 24, 2001
6:30 AM I left
my house, picked up Dustin Williams (a defensive back from
Miamisburg High School
playing in this game) and traveled to Otterbein College
8:30 AM Arrived
at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio. All coaches
(North & South) were to meet
at Otterbein College at 9:00 AM, players at 10 AM.
9:00 AM Greeted
by Bob Brigati (President of OHSFCA), Wally Hood (Liaison with
Otterbein
College), and Gerald Cooke (2nd Vice President
of OHSFCA). I checked into my dorm room
in Mayne Hall, received my key, door pass, bed linens, and towel.
All coaches had a room to
themselves, players shared a room with one other player.
9:30 AM Coaches
meeting with Bob Brigati, Wally Hood, Gerald Cooke, and Mr. John
Raphael. John
was the gentleman that organized our entire week off
the Otterbein campus. He made sure
that everything was perfect for us when we arrived at any
of our locations. Our meeting
involved a general overview of the week including safety,
practice times, equipment, and a
day by day schedule.
10:00 AM Players arrived and
checked in, received room assignments, put things in their rooms
and
reported to locker rooms to receive their physicals.
After physicals, the coaches distributed
game jerseys and game
pants, All-Star T-Shirts, and Golf Shirts to be worn whenever we
left
campus.
11:30 AM Lunch in the Otterbein
Cafeteria, during this time the players had their meeting with
Bob
Brigati, Wally Hood, Gerald Cooke, and John Raphael.
1:15 PM South
Coaches and Players boarded the South bus and the North Coaches
and Players boarded
the North bus and traveled to Crew Stadium.
2:00 PM Media Day
and Team Pictures at Crew Stadium
3:05 PM Boarded
buses and headed back to Otterbein College
4:00 PM Both Teams
Practice - North on the Game Field and South on the Practice
Field - Helmets only
5:00 PM Practice
over
6:00 PM Dinner
catered into the Otterbein Rike’s Gymnasium by Damon’s.
Both South and North
coaches and players were treated to chicken and ribs.
Both teams and coaches always ate
together.
7:30 PM Both Teams
Practice - South on Game Field and North on Practice Field -
Helmets only
9:00 PM Practice over
9:30 PM South Team Meeting
back at dorm. Players turned in their car keys, filled out
Bio sheets and
then returned to their rooms.
10:30 PM Players in their rooms
11:00 PM Lights out
11:10 PM South coaches met and placed
player personnel onto all Special Teams
12:30 AM Bed, oh yeah, our dorms were
not air conditioned. Thank God for a fan.
Day 1: very little time to relax.
We were constantly on the move. The South Team had a few
problems that confronted us. One of our linemen reported to
tell us he could not play due to a stress fracture and another
player did not show. It was now our job, as a coaching
staff, to find 2 new players that wanted and were able to play.
The other thing that concerned us was the rule that we could not
replace anyone after Monday night. We were able to
find one replacement and he arrived early evening. So, at
bedtime, we still had one player to find.
Monday June 25, 2001
6:55 AM Wally Hood walked
the hallways of our dorm blowing an air horn to wake everyone
7:00 AM Breakfast at
Otterbein Cafeteria
8:30 AM Both Teams
Practice - North on Game Field and South on Practice Field. Since
this was our
last practice without pads, the South team devoted all but
20 minutes of practice to Special
Teams. We went through our Team Offense during the
last 20 minutes.
11:00 AM Lunch at the Otterbein
Cafeteria
1:00 PM Both Teams
Practice - South on Game Field and North on Practice Field - Full
Pads!!!
3:55 PM Both Teams boarded
buses heading for Columbus City Hall
5:00 PM We all attended a
City Council Meeting, met the council members, and received a
proclamation
dedicated to the All-Stars and game.
5:45 PM Back on the buses
and headed to Cooper Stadium and a Clippers Baseball game.
6:30 PM Arrived at Cooper
Stadium and enjoyed a picnic dinner with Hamburgers and Hot Dogs.
When
everyone was finished eating, we were all escorted onto the
game field and honored by another
proclamation read by one of the County Commissioners, We
then entered the stadium to enjoy
the game.
9:30 PM Boarded the buses
and went back to our dorm.
10:00 PM Arrived back at dorm
10:30 PM Players were to be in their
rooms
11:00 PM Lights out
11:10 PM South coaches met to plan
tomorrow’s practice
12:30 AM Bed
Day 2: We were able to contact another
player and get him on campus before Monday evening. As a
matter of fact, he was able to meet up with us at the Clipper’s
game. We now have a full roster.
Tuesday June 26, 2001
6:55 AM Wally Hood’s
wake-up call
7:00 AM Breakfast at
Otterbein Cafeteria
8:45 AM Both Teams
Practice - South on Game Field and North on Practice Field - Full
Pads. Believe it
or not, the “Two-A-Days Blues” have already set
in.
11:00 AM Lunch at the Otterbein
Cafeteria
2:00 PM Both Teams
Practice - North on Game Field and South on Practice Field - Full
Pads.
5:00 PM Dinner at
Otterbein’s Rike Gymnasium, catered with Italian food
6:45 PM Boarded buses and
headed to Easton Theatres
7:30 PM Both Teams were
treated to the movie “Fast and Furious”. This was
a great treat - the players
enjoyed the movie and the coaches enjoyed the air conditioning.
10:15 PM We arrived back at our dorm.
Players changed their clothes and came down to the lobby.
Coaches distributed 1 Donato’s Pizza to
each room.
11:00 PM Lights out
11:10 PM Coaches met to plan tomorrow’s
practice.
12:15 AM Bed
Day 3: It is evident that with the
heat and the two practices a day, the players are starting to
drag and be leg-weary. The South coaches met with our team
during the day and told them to hang in and continue to work
hard. We assured them that we would be backing off
considerably as soon as the Offense was ready. We were
hoping this would light a fire under our Offense. This was
a crucial time for our team and coaches. Coach Bill Nees
(South Head Coach) made some perfect decisions during this time.
We were pushing them to their limit in the middle of the week.
He seemed to know exactly when to back off - the only problem at
this time was the players did not know this.
Wednesday June 27, 2001
6:55 AM Wally Hood’s
wake-up call
7:00 AM Breakfast at
Otterbein Cafeteria
8:45 AM Both Teams
Practice - South on Game Field and North on Practice Field - Full
Pads
11:30 AM Lunch at Otterbein Cafeteria
1:00 PM Both Teams board
buses and head to Children’s Hospital
2:00 PM Arrive at Columbus
Children’s Hospital. The employees from Children’s
Hospital divided the
North and South players and coaches into small groups and
put us through 7 competitive
activities. Each activity imitated an action or
motion that a person with a disability had to
perform in their daily life. After the activities, we
were given a tour of the Rehabilitation Unit.
Players and coaches were able to visit with patients.
OH YEAH, THE SOUTH WON THE
COMPETITION!
4:00 PM Back on buses and
headed to Outback Steak House
4:30 PM Dinner at Outback
Steak House
6:00 PM Back on buses to
Otterbein
7:30 PM Both Teams
Practice - North on Game Field and South on Practice Field -
Helmets and
Shoulder Pads. During this practice, the South went
through all of our Pre-Game activities and
Specialties. We ran through a game situation bringing
every Special Team onto the field a
couple of times.
9:00 PM By this time,
everyone was in the dorm with nothing planned for the rest of the
evening. Now I
see why we had every minute planned for us. Some
players took advantage of the time and
relaxed,
some played cards, some had brought Play Stations and Video Games
in their rooms,
while others had to be babysitted. This was a late night,
our staff did manage to get together
and plan tomorrow’s practice and begin putting
together a Game Plan. We were also able to
find the dorm’s laundry room - we all did a few loads
of our laundry in the evening.
1:20 AM Bed
Day 4: The players really enjoyed the
day at Children’s Hospital. Everything was very
organized by the Hospital staff and our players did a terrific
job cooperating. There were a lot of players and coaches
touched by the day’s activities. As a staff, we felt
that our team was really coming together. The hardest part
was over and they realized it. With the heat, two practices
a day, no air conditioning, and constantly on the move, it was
easy to get very tired and grouchy. Our players were
fighting this off and really
bonding together as a team.
Thursday June 28, 2001
6:55 AM Wally Hood’s
wake-up call
7:00 AM Breakfast at
Otterbein’s Cafeteria
8:15 AM South Team
boarded their bus for Crew Stadium, North Team practiced on Game
Field
8:45 AM South Team
Practice at Crew Stadium. We treated this time like a game
situation. Specialties
and skilled players were on the field for 15 minutes,
then everyone came out for our Pre Game
stretching and Group Period. We then ran
through our Team Offense and Special Teams.
10:50 AM Boarded bus to go back to
Otterbein
11:30 AM Lunch at Otterbein Cafeteria
1:30 PM Both Teams
Practice - South on Game Field and North at Crew Stadium. For
the South, we
had a short practice and installed our 2 Minute Offense,
just in case.
4:25 PM Both Teams boarded
buses and headed to Logan’s Roadhouse for Dinner
5:00 PM Dinner at Logan’s
Roadhouse
6:00 PM Back on buses and
headed to Magic Mountain
6:30 PM Arrived at Magic
Mountain, we had 3 hours to play video games, Laser tag, play
Putt-Putt
Golf, ride Go-Carts, and drive cars on the Slick Track.
9:30 PM Both teams boarded
buses and went back to dorms
10:15 PM Arrived at Otterbein, again
the coaches distributed Donato’s Pizzas to the players.
Coach Nees
made his most important and most popular decision of the
week. He decided to not practice in
the AM.
11:30 PM Bed
Day 5: Coach Nees’s decision to
not practice tomorrow morning was an excellent decision. The
practice was going to be a walk-through and we felt we had
everything ready for Saturday. We still had one more
practice to take care of anything that we needed plus run through
all of our Team offense and Special Teams again. The
agreement that was made with the players was for them to get up
and check in or eat at the cafeteria in the morning and then go
back to the dorms and stay in their rooms. As a coaching
staff, we would meet and finish our Game Plan for Saturday night.
Friday June 29, 2001
7:30 AM Wally Hood’s
wake-up call
7:45 AM Breakfast at
Otterbein’s Cafeteria, the South players came to breakfast
to eat or just check in
and then go back to their rooms. As a staff, we ate
breakfast, met, and got everything ready
for Saturday night.
11:30 AM Lunch at Otterbein’s
Cafeteria
1:45 PM South Team
Practice on Game Field, North Team did not practice (If they did,
we did not see
any of their players or coaches) Our practice started
with a Specialty Period, and we ran
through our Pre-Game. We then had an individual
period to make sure there were no
questions, short Team Defense and Team Offense
Period. We did spend some time talking
about how the week had went. The players seemed very
ready to play.
3:30 PM Everyone in the
dorm getting ready for the Banquet or packing for tomorrow
6:00 PM Both Teams boarded
their buses to go the Buckeye Sports Café for our All-Star
Banquet
6:30 PM Arrived at the
Buckeye Sports Café, dress shirt and tie affair. A lot of
the players’ and
coaches’ families attended the Banquet. This was
a great opportunity to meet some of the
parents of the players that we had spent the week with.
All of the coaches received a nice
plaque and a ring. The players were introduced and received
their rings. Ohio State Head
Coach Jim Tressel gave a short talk, both Head Coaches were
introduced, spoke and
introduced their captains. The captains were then
given an opportunity to say a few words.
The Banquet went well and the players were given an hour to
visit and play video games in the
game room.
10:00 PM Both Teams boarded the buses
and headed back to Otterbein
11:00 PM Lights out, South coaches met
and made sure everything was ready for the game
12:45 AM Bed
Saturday June 30, 2001
9:00 AM Wally Hood’s
wake-up call
9:30 AM Breakfast Brunch
at Otterbein’s Cafeteria
11:00 AM Check out of dorm
12:30 PM Both teams walked down to
Roush Hall on Otterbein’s campus and watched the movie,
“Remember the Titans”.
2:30 PM Both Teams boarded
their buses, for the last time, headed for Crew Stadium
3:00 PM Arrived at Crew
Stadium and unloaded equipment into locker rooms
3:30 PM Pre-Game Meal at
Crew Stadium
4:15 PM Pre-Game Taping
6:15 PM Specialties and
Skill Players on the field
6:35 PM Pre Game
7:30 PM Kick-Off
South 20 - North 7