By Matt Florjancic
MaxPreps.com
AKRON, Ohio --- Though high school football practice does not start for another week in Ohio, many teams took advantage of one final opportunity to bond on the field and improve their skills at the same time.
Inside the Louis and Freda Stile Athletics Field House at the University of Akron, several teams from the Youngstown, Akron and Cleveland areas participated in the Passing/Big Man camp. In addition to instruction given to linemen, the teams aired the ball out on the many indoor and outdoor fields around Akron’s campus.
Cleveland Heights coach Jeff Rotsky brought his current Tigers team to the camp after taking over the job one year ago. Rotsky previously coached the Maple Heights Mustangs to two playoff appearances and a 19-3 record over his final two seasons.
He has also coached at St. Peter Chanel High School in Bedford. The rebuilding process at Chanel turned the Firebirds into a respectable and state championship-contending program after years of struggling.
Now, with this opportunity at Cleveland Heights, Rotsky is trying to create a culture of winning on and off the field within the Tiger community.
“We’re fast like I felt we would be,” Rotsky said. “We’ve gotten stronger, but we’re still not playing aggressive enough, as I’d like to, but we’ve made a lot of strides since last year.
“I don’t make predictions. All I want to do is make sure we have young men that are doing well in the classroom and that we’ll be a better football team than we were last year.”
It was pretty clear Thursday that the move north from Maple Heights to Cleveland Heights did not affect his coaching style. Rotsky still brings a passion for teaching the game of football to the field along with his trademark baseball cap.
In his first season as Tigers coach, Rotsky went 3-7 overall and 2-3 in the Lake Erie League Lake Division. The Tigers are taking advantage of their opportunities on the field with Rotsky. They spent Thursday being instructed as to what passes to throw in certain situations, when to lead receivers and how to throw and adjust when the initial play breaks down.
“I’ve been coming down here from the days when I was at Chanel [and] Maple [Heights],” Rotsky said of Akron’s camp. “[Akron] coach [J.D.] Brookhart and I have become good friends. It’s a good camp. It’s a ton of competition down here and you get a lot of reps. It’s good because we get a lot of film on kids.
While Cleveland Heights develops young talent, other schools are building on the foundation of a 2007 state playoff run.
The Waynedale Golden Bears went 9-3 last season and advanced to the second round of the Ohio High School Athletic Association playoffs. They split the Wayne County Athletic League regular season championship and earned the No. 3 seed in Division V, Region 17.
In a home game, the Golden Bears sent their WCAL co-champion Northwestern (West Salem) home with a 19-7 loss. The next week, Waynedale fell to eventual state runner-up Youngstown Ursuline 29-6.
“We have a lot of young kids in the secondary and at wide receiver and this gives us a chance to come out here and compete against some teams that we probably won’t see this year,” Waynedale coach Matt Zuercher said. “I just enjoy the opportunity for our kids to compete, play together and start to build that team chemistry.
“We’re starting to learn who can turn the page from a mistake and move forward, still play with confidence,” Zuercher said. “We’re starting to learn who can turn their hips, who can run and chase the ball, especially on the defensive side. Those are all things that are important as we head into camp.”
The official start to football camp in Ohio is July 31. Most teams will have two scrimmages before opening the 2008 season the weekend of August 21-23. In addition to the coaches, players know they must take ownership of their responsibilities.
“We’ve got a lot of young athletes,” Waynedale senior running back/linebacker Thad Nofsinger said. “We just had a lot of younger kids picking it up and really showing their potential to play on Friday nights.
“A lot of it is confidence,” Nofsinger added. “You know you’re going to do your job. You have to have the confidence that the guy beside you is going to do his job. Otherwise, you’re not going to be able to shine through and do what you do if you’re worried about someone else. If you have that bond, they’re going to try a little harder for you. They don’t think that are, but they will.”
While the camp was a time for Waynedale to bond, it was also a homecoming for Zuercher. The Golden Bears coach played fullback for The University of Akron football team from 1998-2001.
Since graduating from Akron, Zuercher has watched the program develop under Brookhart. In 2005, the Akron Zips won the Mid-American Conference Championship in the final 10 seconds against Northern Illinois and appeared in the Motor City Bowl.
In the shadows of the Stile Field House, workers are laying the foundation and building the skeleton of InfoCision Stadium/Summa Field. The Zips move out of the Rubber Bowl and into the new stadium for the 2009 college football season.
“It’s just like when you’re in charge of a program, there’s a lot of pride,” Zuercher said. “You take a lot of pride in what’s happened up here. The facilities are great and Coach Brookhart is doing a great job up here in continuing to move the program forward. It’s exciting.”
Like the University of Akron, Rotsky at Cleveland Heights and Zuercher with Waynedale are developing the players of today who will be the proud alumni of tomorrow.
Matt Florjancic currently works as a freelance reporter and sports announcer for WOBL and WDLW in Oberlin, Ohio