Family drives Vivo back

Jim Vivo will leave his job at Westerville North after one year and seek a position in the Mahoning Valley.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
Jim Vivo is coming home.
Driven to reunite with his family, Vivo stepped down as football coach at Westerville North High and will return to the Mahoning Valley for good after the school year.
The former Ursuline High coach, who led the Irish to the Division IV state title in 2000, was making the 21/2-hour drive between Westerville, a Columbus suburb, and Boardman to see his family.
"It's tough on the family," said Vivo, 34. "You miss enough when you're coaching anyway. Family has to be the most important part of your life."
Vivo, a Chaney High graduate, and his wife, Nadine, had trouble selling their Boardman home. So Nadine stayed there with the couple's children, Jimmy (age 4) and Jenna (2), while Vivo started his new job.
"He came here with a passion," Westerville North principal Jim McCann said. "He came with the expectations to stay more than a year.
"At the same time, a lot of factors go into that," McCann said. "He's a family-oriented man. Family is very important to him."
Team struggled
A Division I school, Westerville North struggled in Vivo's first year, losing a number of close games on a rugged schedule. The Warriors finished 2-8.
"Obviously the record was not very good," Vivo said. "Anytime you change anything, it's hard. My first year at Ursuline, we were 5-5. If you talk to any coach, the first year is always hard."
Westerville North opened the season against defending Div. I state champion Cleveland St. Ignatius. The Warriors took a 10-0 lead, but the game was postponed because of lightning and St. Ignatius rallied to win the next day.
"We won the big rival with Westerville South [in the third week]," Vivo said. "After that we lost two [close] games.
"From there it just snowballed," he said. "We just couldn't seem to get over the hump. When you can't get over the hump, it's easy [for some people] to jump off the ship."
Tried to improve it
Westerville North was a young team that went 10-10 in the two seasons preceding Vivo's arrival. Vivo tried to improve that mark with his demanding style.
"There was a lot of work to do football-wise," Warriors athletic director Andrew Ey said. "We were not well-coached in the past and kids did not know much about football."
It was an eye-opening experience for some players who weren't ready to accept the demands, Ey said.
"The expectations in the past have been really low, and they [the players] hadn't been asked to do anything," Ey said. "He came in and asked them to do stuff and be accountable, and that was a huge change for everybody."
As the season progressed, Vivo noticed a difference between his coaching experiences in the Mahoning Valley -- he also coached at Boardman and Lowellville -- and those in Central Ohio.
"There are some great football coaches and great football players in Central Ohio," he said. "But there's a different mentality in Northeast Ohio. It's not an excuse why we were 2-8; that's just the truth. It means more to the kids up here."
Will finish teaching
Vivo, who sought a public school position for retirement benefits, will finish his teaching duties -- business courses, including accounting and keyboarding -- at Westerville North before returning to the Valley for good and finding new employment.
He hopes to coach in the area next season -- his name has been rumored for the Niles job -- but realizes teaching positions are hard to find.
"I don't even know if it's been posted," Vivo said of the position to succeed Bill Bohren at Niles. "I know it has great tradition and atmosphere for high school football. It's still too early in the process for me to even speculate, and whether they're interested in me."
The team that is interested in Vivo's services makes its home in Boardman: his family.
"Hopefully I'll coach somewhere else someday, in any capacity," Vivo said. "But I only have one son and one daughter, and obviously that's most important to me."
richesson@vindy.com