Friday, January 31, 2003
The Canfield High football coach will be in charge of the North squad at Ohio's All-Star Classic in June.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANFIELD -- Mike Pavlansky has a blueprint on how to coach the North All-Stars in the Ohio High School All-Star Classic this summer.
"Make it as simple as possible," said the Canfield High football coach. "Let the athletic ability of the young men take over.
"These are the best of the best," he said, "and we don't want to bog them down and get them thinking too much."
Area talent
Not only was Pavlansky chosen recently to coach in the 58th annual all-star game for seniors, held June 21 at Columbus Crew Stadium, but he was rewarded with plenty of area talent.
The North roster includes Chaney's Keilen Dykes (DE) and Austintown Fitch's Davanzo Tate (DB), both West Virginia recruits.
There's also Boardman's Kevin Tuminello (C), a Georgia Tech recruit; Canfield's Tim Dewberry (DB), headed to Youngstown State; Warren Harding's Mike Kokal (QB/P), a Miami (Ohio) recruit, and Mike Phillips (DB), who is still being courted by several Division I colleges.
So, does all of this talent put more pressure on Pavlansky to win? Not necessarily, says Canfield's third-year coach.
"You want to represent the North all week long in a first-class manner," he said. "We want to get our kids in position to be successful and create great memories for them."
The chosen one
Pavlansky was chosen after being nominated by regional peers, and he credits the effort of Mooney athletic director Don Bucci, Region VIII director of the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association.
"I've obviously been put in this position by the young men at Canfield -- the type of season we had and the amount of work the coaching staff put in throughout the season," Pavlansky said. "It's exciting. I hope to be able to represent Canfield with a lot of class and character this summer."
Pavlansky led Canfield to a 10-0 mark in the 2002 regular season before being ousted by Howland in the second round of the playoffs.
"One true character of that team was they were very resilient," Pavlansky said. "If something negative happened on the field, they were able to bounce back. It happened every week."
Mahoning Valley ties
This won't be Pavlansky's first coaching experience in an all-star game. He was involved in the Mahoning Valley All-Star Game as a coach at Lisbon before he left for Mentor in the early 1990s.
"No doubt, this is the highlight of a professional career, a one-time opportunity," Pavlansky said of the North-South game. "It's very humbling."
Pavlansky will be assisted by Tom Ferguson of Rossford, Chris Kubbs of Marion Pleasant, Joe Pappano of Revere, Vic Whiting of Canal Fulton Northwest and Tim Willis of Madison.
richesson@vindy.com