Team

United

Record	Div.	Conf.
8/2	Div. V	Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference

Excitement is back in Hanoverton Township with the return of Mike Ward as United High football coach and the prospect that the Eagles could be playoff bound for the first time in school history.

Ward is back after a 13-year sabbatical and has the Eagles 5-3 and in the hunt for a Division V playoff berth. The Eagles are in ninth place in the Region 17 playoff rankings.

Wins this week over Springfield and next week at home against South Range could propel United to a much coveted postseason berth.

“There is a lot of buzz and excitement at school over the possibilities of making the playoffs,” Ward said. “The students, the administration and the entire community are behind us.

“They like the brand of football we are playing. It’s an aggressive, hard-hitting style that people are used to here at United along with the excitement of the spread offense that has the people excited about our chances to make the playoffs for the first time.”

Ward said this was the right time and the right opportunity to return to United as head coach.

“I’ve always had the goal of returning as a head coach somewhere again,” Ward said. “This opportunity presented itself and various changes in my life over the last year or so has led me back into being a head coach again.

“It’s a challenge that I am thoroughly enjoying.”

Ward, who has a 104-66 record in 18 seasons as a head coach in previous stints at Lisbon and United, took over a 5-5 team from Jim Ridgeway and has the high-flying Eagles scoring over 31 points per game.

Q. You lost a thrilling but heartbreaking 46-37 game to Mineral Ridge last week. How has the team responded?

A. The team has adjusted very well. When we win a game, we put it behind us quickly and when we lose we try to do the same and move on to the next game. We have done a good job all season of putting games behind us and quickly focusing on our next opponent.

Q. You dropped to ninth after last week’s loss. Is it safe to say that these next two games are basically playoff games?

A. We feel that these last two games are playoff games. We know we have to win them both and we feel pretty confident that if we can do that we have a very good chance of being in the playoffs.

Q. Your team has put up a lot of points on the scoreboard this season. Tell us about this high-powered offense your team has featured this year.

A. We have an exciting spread offense led by our third-year starter Josh McLaughlin (2,500 yards passing in eight games). We have some very talented athletes at United, we always have, who have a lot of speed and the ability to make big plays. The players we have and the attitudes they have to work hard and succeed along with great coaches who know how to coordinate this offense has made it a pretty exciting offense to watch.

Q. How does an old-school coach like yourself like this new spread offense that many teams, including yours, are employing?

A. It’s hard to get used to. I’m from the school of coaching where you run and you stop the run and you don’t turn the ball over. We still try to maintain that philosophy but it is a new era of football where everyone is trying to utilize the speed and athleticism that they have at their disposal. I think we try to look at talent level we have and then try to figure out how to make those players successful in this system. We try to develop a scheme to fit that talent and that is what we’ve done this year.

Q. You’ve been away from a head coaching job for the last 13 years. Have you stayed involved in coaching in any capacity over those years?

A. I’ve coached every year during the last 13 years. I’ve been an assistant here at United. I’ve coached with coach [Mike] Pavlansky at Canfield and with Coach [Doug] Phillips at Salem so I’ve stayed involved in coaching just not as a head coach.

Q. Are you a different coach now than you were the first time you were at Lisbon and United?

A. Absolutely. I’m a completely different person. It’s almost like it is a different lifetime ago. I’m a much better coach than I was 13 years ago. Just because I’m older. I’m more mature, more knowledgeable. A little more tolerant and understanding of certain situations. So there is no doubt that I’m a different person and coach than I was back then.

Interview conducted by Chuck Housteau.