Team

Valley Christian

Record	Div.	Conf.
2/5	Div. VII	Portage Trail Conference (Metro)

This week’s Q&A

Despite only winning one game a season ago, Brian Marrow of Youngstown Christian isn’t ready to forget about last year. The Eagles are using last season’s 1-9 mark to remind them what can happen if they’re not careful. And Marrow knows his players are taking the 2011 campaign seriously. They’ve already matched their win total from last year, and won on opening week for the first time in Marrow’s five years at the school.

Q. Last year had to be difficult for you and the players. What lessons can you learn from a season like the one you had in 2010?

A. I learned to put things in perspective. We were a young team without a lot of experience. We weren’t a senior-laden team, and the seniors we did have didn’t really play a whole lot before. Three of our captains were juniors. We’ve already matched what we did last year, but I tell the guys we haven’t done anything. Sometimes when you play a lot of young guys and you have a losing season, it helps your program in the future. Those guys took their lumps and they didn’t like it. So that makes them work harder to try to forget about last year.

Q. You were able to prove your point early this season, with a 24-0 victory over Lowellville in week one. How beneficial was it to get the first win out of the way and prove the guys, especially the ones who were on the team last year, that winning was in their futures?

A. That was huge because all during the offseason we told these kids they had the opportunity to do something special. In the five years I’ve been here, we had never won an opener. So to get a first win without anybody really believing in us was huge. But the next day when we were watching film, I asked them what they had done so far and they said nothing.

Q. Is it difficult to reign in the emotions of high school players? Can a big win like that could be enough to get chest puffed out a little bit and cause a loss of focus?

A. Every once in a while I have to put a bug in their ears to remind them. But they are really policing themselves, which is great. They usually come up with their own motivation. That’s one thing is we have a lot better senior leadership this year.

Q. You mention having a younger team last season. You return several players from last season, including five returning lettermen and a transfer on the offensive line. Granted a lot of the talk in high school football centers around the quarterback and running backs, but it’s got to be nice to have that leadership up front to kind of solidify everything. How does that help you?

A. Obviously it helps to have some guys returning. That’s awesome to have the guys in the trenches and get the job done. You can’t do anything without them. I tell the kids that they’re the most important guys on the team. They do the dirty work; opening holes and wearing guys down. Without them, we can’t do anything. You need to block for your quarterback and open some holes to help wind the clock down. [Offensive line] coach [Jared] Vrable has done a really good job with them.

Q. For you, what is the most rewarding part of coaching?

A. Definitely teaching the young men. I want them to be good people first. I want them to be good husbands and good fathers later on. We have our kids take care of things off the field. I really want these guys to be great leaders in the school. We always preach to them about being great students first and be productive in their communities. Obviously you want wins, but it’s just important to understand how you’re going about them.

Interview conducted by Jon Moffett.