Ursuline graduate enjoys rebound

By John Kovach

Sean Conway guided Ashland Crestview back to the Division V playoffs.

After five seasons at the helm of Ashland Crestview High, Sean Conway continues to learn important lessons about what it takes to become an effective high school football coach.

Perhaps the best lesson the Youngstown native has learned is that when you get knocked down, you find out why and how it happened, discover a solution to the problem, and then get it corrected and get back on your feet.

That’s what he and his Cougars did this past season after going 4-6 the year before. They turned around their fortunes with a 9-2 record and a berth in the Division V playoffs, losing the first game.

Conway was named All-Ashland Area and Firelands Conference Coach of the Year for the second time.

“We rebounded from 4-6 record and that has been one of my highlights, that we have been able to turn it around,” said Conway, an Ursuline High and College of Wooster graduate who has a five-year record of 35-17 at Crestview. “You learn to appreciate success when you experience a turnaround. It is rewarding for a coach.”

Interestingly, if Crestview had won its first four playoff games this year, the Cougars would have played Ursuline for the Div. V state championship.

Conway achieved the same team and personal successes in his first season at Crestview in 2004 (9-2 record, playoff berth, two coach-of-year honors) when his team also won the Firelands Conference championship.

The Cougars followed with 6-4 and 7-3 records before faltering to 4-6. The 7-3 team also won the Firelands title.

To regroup this year, Conway sought advice and answers from past teachers.

“I learned a lot from some of the best coaches I can come across,” said Conway, who played blocking back four seasons at Ursuline under coach Dick Angle, and running back two years for Wooster under coach Jim Barnes.

“When I had a rough season, the first person I called was coach Dick Angle,” Conway said. “He told me the things I had to work on.

“He is someone who hasn’t stopped supporting me and I still am looking to him for advice. I made a lot of corrections.”

The son of Judy and Bill Conway, Sean said the reason he likes coaching high school football so much is because it is so natural and authentic — an equivalent to growing up and real-life experience.

“I like coaching high school football because those kids care the most about the sport and their teammates, and when you are playing football with your friends, that is what football is like,” said Conway, who launched his coaching career as an assistant at St. Thomas Aquinas while still in college at Wooster after playing two seasons for the Fighting Scots.

“It has been a growing experience as a young coach, and being able to look back and see how well players did on the field is a special feeling for me.”

Conway has stayed close to several of his Ursuline buddies. While an assistant at Aquinas for four years, his first two seasons were under Joe Nora and his final two under Tim Tyrrell — both Ursuline graduates — before taking the Crestview job.

One of Conway’s assistants at Crestview was Felix Catheline, another Ursuline graduate.

“[Catheline] coached my offensive line two years He also went to Ursuline and Wooster. He is now at Columbus South [High] as an assistant,” said Conway, who also maintains close ties with Wooster football.

“Some of the coaches are there that I graduated with,” said Conway, who teaches 10th and 11th grade social studies at Crestview and lives in Wooster with wife, Stephanie, a native of Tuscarawas County and a University of Akron graduate.

“We are adopting a baby girl. Her name will be Isabella and is due in a few weeks,” said Conway, who also credits his father for his football start.

“My dad was my first-ever coach. He played football for Chaney for Red Angelo.” Conway said.

kovach@vindy.com