FOOTBALL Stoops family to be honored by foundation

The Ron Stoops Assistant Coach of the Year award will be presented to his son.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Stoops family gathered around a breakfast table following the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans this year when the topic surfaced. Assistant coaches.
"Our dad epitomized what assistant coaches are about. He did whatever was necessary," Ron Stoops Jr. said of his late father, Ron Stoops Sr., a long-time Cardinal Mooney football coach. "He would come early and stay late, and he didn't seek any attention for himself."
So naturally, when the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame inquired about creating an annual award for assistant high school football coaches, Ron Stoops Sr. came to mind.
Award's origin
"Ron Stoops was an assistant for 32 years, and he was happy," said Tim Gleason, president of the Northeastern Ohio Chapter, a Chaney High graduate who resides in Mineral Ridge.
"He was the prototype high school football coach. He was a guy who dedicated his life to it," Gleason said. "Who better to name this award after than Ron Stoops?"
The inaugural Ron Stoops Assistant Coach of the Year award will be given at the foundation's Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet on April 22 at the Executive Caterers at Landerhaven in Mayfield Heights.
And the first recipient will be Ron Stoops Jr.
"I feel very humbled to be part of the whole event," Stoops said. "I feel like I've been blessed and reaping some of the rewards from many accomplishments my dad had while coaching at Mooney."
Four years ago, the foundation created an assistant college coach-of-the-year award as "a way to honor unsung heroes, people who don't get any credit, yet are there behind the scenes," Gleason said.
Because the award worked well at the collegiate level, the foundation decided to institute one for high schools.
Several weeks ago, Stoops received notification by mail that he would receive the inaugural award.
Background
Stoops Jr., 46, has been an assistant football coach since 1978, beginning his career at South High under his uncle, Bob Stoops.
He then held other assistant-coaching roles at Ursuline (1980), Canton Central Catholic (1981-88), Boardman (1987-1999) and Mooney (2001-present).
"My family started to grow, and as I got older I just decided" not to become a head coach, Stoops said. "There was a time I entertained that thought, but the longer I stayed here the less appealing it became to me."
Instead, Stoops focused on the same principles and qualities that made his father a legend in Youngstown.
"From a coaching standpoint, he was very thorough, and he wouldn't leave any stone unturned," Stoops said.
"He also believed that the kids have to execute and be confident at what they're doing," he added. "Confidence comes from repetition."
Former Mooney football coach Don Bucci spent 28 years with Stoops Sr. Bucci remembers his defensive coordinator being "an ordinary guy" who stressed family first yet remained tough on the football field.
"He was just a good person, and he got along well with everybody," Bucci said. "He acquired the admiration of all the students."
Ron Stoops Jr. added of his father, "He enjoyed what he was doing, and he enjoyed immensely his relationship with players. I know that rubbed off on me."
Unified family
Ron Stoops Sr. and wife Dee raised four boys (Ron Jr., Bob, Mike and Mark) and two girls (Kathy and Maureen) on Detroit Avenue in Youngstown.
"We grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood, and sports were very important to us," Ron Stoops Jr. said. "We had to compete with the older kids, and we learned to be tough.
"We also learned that there were no short cuts, and we took pride in what we were doing."
Bob Stoops, the foundation banquet's featured speaker, has begun his sixth year as Oklahoma's football coach, while Mike Stoops was recently hired as the head coach at Arizona. He named Mark Stoops as his defensive coordinator.
But it is their oldest brother, Ron Stoops Jr., who remains home, coaching at a level below them and being just as happy -- just like their father.
"[Ron Stoops Sr.] may have left his life on the football field," Gleason said, "but his legacy will live on."
richesson@vindy.com