Team

Girard

Record	Div.	Conf.
9/2	Div. IV	All-American Conference Blue Tier

Girard vs Struthers

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Girard vs Struthers

There’s a whole lot of new in the Girard school system this year.

There is a brand new, state of the art school. A renovated football stadium with new turf and a new head football coach — sort of.

When Bud McSuley resigned after last year’s undefeated regular football campaign his long time assistant Nick Cochran was promoted to head coach.

Cochran has had a storied athletic career both at Girard and as a member of the Youngstown State University football team (after a brief one-year stay at Ohio State).

Cochran grew up in a sports family. His dad Joe was principal at Girard and his brothers Del, Joe and Mike all played at Girard.

Cochran was known for his basketball prowess on the high school hardwood but went to Ohio State on a football scholarship.

After a year, he transferred to YSU and shared time at quarterback with Ray Isaac in 1990 and 1991. In 1992 he led the Penguins to a runner-up finish in the NCAA Division I-AA national championship game against Marshall.

He has been a teacher and assistant football coach and most recently the boys basketball coach at Girard.

Although being one of the most innovative offensive football minds in the Valley, Cochran has passed on other chances to coach in the valley, instead sticking with the Indians as McSuley’s top aide.

“It’s always special when you can come back and coach in your home town,” Cochran said. “We have great people here. As you can see, we have a new stadium and a new school.

“There’s a lot of excitement here and I don’t think there is a better place to be on a Friday night than Girard, Ohio.”

Q. You got your first win here as head coach at Girard last Friday against Struthers in come-from-behind fashion. What was that like for you?

A. It was a great feeling. It’s more for the kids though. It was a big win and an emotional win because of the atmosphere. It was at Struthers and it was like an old time football game. We tried to smash mouth it and they tried to smash mouth it. It felt like an old MVC [Mahoning Valley Conference] game.

Q. You worked with McSuley for a long time and had a very successful program at Girard. What did you learn from him that you incorporate in your program now?

A. Things haven’t changed much. [McSuley] was a great leader, a great motivator. His greatest strengths were his organizational skills and the way he treated kids. I try to emulate that especially with the way we treat kids and teach them.

Q. How would you describe your coaching style?

A. I’m a little bit more emotional. I get after it a little bit. I try to let my coaches do their thing and like Bud I try to do a lot of the things he did.

Q: You have always been known as an offensive “guru.” Are you still heavily involved with the offense as head coach?

A. I still do a lot. We have a couple of young assistant coaches that are learning and I’m trying to develop them as well.

Q. You were cutting edge on this offensive scheme that almost everyone uses now. What made you decide to incorporate the “spread offense” before most even knew what it was?

A. When I first came up as a coach, we didn’t have the lineman to go toe-to-toe with bigger schools so I wanted to spread out my better skill players and get the ball to my best athletes out in the open field instead of having them try to run up the middle.

Q. Would you have liked to play in this kind of offense when you played quarterback in high school and college?

A. Without a doubt. If I knew as a player what I know now as a coach, I would love to do this. As far as going back and being able to audible at the line of scrimmage would have been great.

Q. What was your first Friday like as head coach?

A. I was kind of relaxed actually. The kids were ready to play. I could see it in their eyes and that relaxed me. We came out with a lot of energy and I thought we were ready to go.

Q. What do you enjoy doing when you are not coaching?

A. I enjoy spending time with my family. My wife Angela and my three daughters are just great. They are sports fans and keep me up to date on any big sports events I might miss when I’m coaching. Mostly I love working with kids, even kids from other schools. I just love teaching them and helping them succeed.

Interview conducted by Chuck Housteau.