Franke and earnest: Falls’ new coach ready to start

February 1, 2015 at 12:06a.m.

Newly appointed Newton Falls High School head football coach Josh Franke enjoys a productive offseason chalk talk session just as much as a weekday midseason practice.

So much so he mentioned it on more than one occasion when discussing his new role as the Tigers’ head coach.

“This was a good opportunity for me and my family and it brings us a little closer to home,” said Franke, who grew up in Toronto, a “football town” 10 miles north of Steubenville.

“I’m very familiar with the Youngstown area and its football tradition. It reminds me a lot of where I grew up where football was king and I’m very excited to come down and experience it for myself.”

Franke was approved by the Newton Falls school board Thursday night to take over the football program and teach world history in the district. His first course of action is simple.

“Get the weight room up and running and get the kids on a workout plan,” he said. “Then we’ll get a few chalk talk sessions set up and I’ll really be able to get a feel for where this team is at.”

Franke spent the last two years as head coach at Edgewood High School in Ashtabula Township and the two years prior to that at Middlesex High School in Virginia. He played wide receiver and safety at Toronto High School, and graduated from Otterbein University. He and his wife Kendra have a pair of daughters, a 2-year-old and a one-month-old.

“We’re a football family,” Franke said. “Not just my wife and kids, but my parents will be at every game as well.”

He helped turn around a struggling Middlesex program and led them to a playoff berth in just his second season. He then returned to his home state to take over at Edgewood. The Warriors went 6-14 in his two seasons as head coach.

Newton Falls is the young coach’s latest challenge and he couldn’t be more excited to get started.

“I’ve been able to look at some of their film, and I know they’ve struggled in past years, but Newton Falls has a rich sports history and hopefully we can get football there as well,” Franke said. “I’m coming into a position where I just want to get to work.

“These kids need to come in ready to learn a lot and I can’t wait to get back there and start meeting kids so we can get ready for our chalk talk.”