Group to honor North’s Conley
Ebony Hall of Fame
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN — Joe Conley has experienced many achievements as a teacher, football coach and parent.
But perhaps his three biggest milestones were helping to direct North High football players to two City Series football championships and academic success and college scholarships, and guiding all five of his children through college.
Conley served as the offensive coordinator under coach Clifton Knox for five seasons from 1967-71, and the Bulldogs, usually the doormats of the league, eventually improved to win city titles in 1970 and 1971.
“North High school hadn’t won a game. It had lost a large number of games. But in three years [as the smallest school in the city], we were able to win the city championship from the other five high schools. That was a real achievement to be able to do,” said Conley, who went on to become superintendent of Youngstown Schools and principal of Eagles Heights Academy before retiring.
But, “ The thing we prided ourselves on was to move the classroom [psychologically-speaking] from the school to the field. The technique that we used in the classroom, we used the same technique to teach football on the football field.”
Because, “Just as in the classroom, you have to determine what needs to be learned, and then you teach it and to the degree that there is mastery.”
And as a result, “Most of our boys were able to go to college and most got scholarships and were able to do well. Rick Bevly was my quarterback.”
Bevly was quarterback on North’s two city championship teams and went on to star at quarterback for Ohio University.
Conley will be recognized for his career accomplishments when he is inducted into the Ebony Lifeline Support Group Hall of Fame with nine other persons, during the organization’s 13th annual All Sports Banquet on Friday at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Social Hall starting at 6:30 p.m.
He will be joined in the 2009 induction class by Shirley Carson, bowling; Henrietta Williams, track/educator; Iris Irwin, baseball; Willie Provitt, bowling; Benny Harrell, bowling/golf; Rigo Castillo, soccer/coach; Mike McClendon, football/coach; Rick Adams, basketball/track; and Frank (Doc) Mason, contributor.
Guest speaker will be Sanford Rivers, a 2008 inductee, retired NFL official and a South High graduate.
Claude Bentley, a 2002 inductee and a former Youngstown State basketball player and East High basketball coach, will serve as master of ceremonies.
Tickets are available at L.E. Black, Phillips and Holden Funeral Home and F.D. Mason Funeral Home.
Tickets are priced at $30 and may be purchased by calling Bob Thomas at 330-261-1825, Pat Traylor at 330-792-0234 or Ed Prayor Sr. at 330-0743-6193.
Conley, a graduate of The Rayen School (1954) and Youngstown State (1965), said that he and Knox as a teachers and coaches made sure that students and athletes learned the basic and most important things in life, including good character.
Then he said they transferred that mentality to the athletic field for the student-athletes to follow.
Asked if his coaching strategies could work today, he replied, “I can’t speak for the other coaches, only for us. We studied film and the opponents tendencies and we took advantage of them.”
He said he has kept all of his records and files as a teacher and coach, and may publish them so that today’s teachers and coaches could see what worked back then.
Conley launched his career after college as a sixth grade teacher at Kirkmere Elementary. Then he taught mathematics at Science Hill Junior High before joining North High as a teacher and coach.
After his coaching career, Conley served as an assistant principal at Hayes and Science Hill and then principal at Science Hill before becoming superintendent of Youngstown Schools for about three years (1994-97) before retiring from city schools.
Conley and his wife, Vivateen, also had a successful joint venture: They had five children and put all of them through college.
One son, Thomas Conley, is CEO and president of the Youngstown-Warren Urban League. Three other sons — Willie Timothy, Joseph Jr. and Paul — all are YSU graduates. Daughter Virginia is a San Jose State graduate.
kovach@vindy.com