DC Offensive Coordinator McCord honored by the OHSFCA

By LYNN GROLL
groll@crescent-news.com

Legendary status as a football coach is never handed out, it is merited only for a unparalleled pedigree of mentors.

For 30 seasons (28 varsity) in the small town of Ayersville a dean of the game patrolled the sidelines of the Pilots’ program and now will take his place in the Ohio High School Football Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame.

On Friday, April 21, former Ayersville head coach and current Defiance College offensive coordinator Craig McCord was part of the 2006 induction class at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Pickerington’s Jack Johnson, Jay Circosta of Woodsfield, Urbana’s Ray Decola, Akron Garfield’s Bill McGee and Byron Morgan of Solon and Mayfield join McCord in the 2006 HOF class.

“Yeah, it’s quite an honor,” remarked McCord, who currently serves as offensive coordinator at Defiance College. “I feel very humbled to be recognized by the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association with this honor. As I’ve told many people, it’s not me.

“I look at it as an accomplishment of Ayersville football in the 30 years that I was there. It’s a tribute to the great players that I had over all those years. It’s a tribute to the great assistant coaches that were very loyal to the Ayersville program for years. It’s a tribute to the community as a whole and God bless the parents that were very loyal for all those years that stuck by our program and behind our kids. It’s not me, it’s really not.”

McCord compiled a 209-80-2 mark during his 28 varsity seasons at Ayersville while his teams outscored the opposition 7,429-4,064.

“If you coach for 28 years you’ve fought every battle there is to fight and that’s a tremendous credit to Craig,” lauded Archbold head coach John Downey, who began his tenure at Archbold in 1979 and coached against McCord on one occasion in their 1990 Division V playoff clash at Defiance High School which the Streaks won, 23-13. “Not many can say they started a program from scratch and Craig did that. He put the program in the right direction. The tradition at Ayersville will be always be alive from what Craig did there.”

The origin of Ayersville football actually started in 1974 when the school fielded freshmen and junior varsity squads and it wasn’t until two years later that the Pilots began competing at the varsity level.

“What a challenge ... really,” said McCord about starting the program from scratch. “It was my first head coaching job and to come into a situation and start a program was a challenge. Hats off to the people at Ayersville who had the foresight to develop the program, people like Rod Martin, Marv LeMaster and Garry Breese and some of the men that were involved in putting it (football program) together.”

Ayersville took its bumps and bruises during that first season by going winless at 0-8-1 but only one other time, McCord’s final season, would Ayersville finish with a losing mark.

In 1977 the Pilots catapulted their record to 7-3 and from there Ayersville football was put on the map forever.

“You look at that first year of varsity competition in 1976 and we were 0-8-1,” stated McCord. “We had pretty decent freshmen and JV years, the two years prior to that, and then we come out and go 0-8-1 and you kind of say whoa. It kind of makes you step back. But then that very next year we went from 0-8-1 to 7-3. That was kind of the catalyst that jumped-started the program.

“I think if we would’ve went through a couple of losing seasons in a row it would’ve been very difficult. But that second year we got over the hump and went 7-3. That second year we opened up with a big victory over Hicksville and I think that was the catalyst that kind of ignited the fire that got us going.”

Those around McCord knew there was something special about him and Dave Pergram, an assistant during the 1976 season, had a feeling McCord was the right guy for Ayersville.

“I knew he was the man for the job right away,” said Pergram, who went on to serve 16 years in the Ayersville football program. “He worked night and day. He was one serious coach and a good man.”

Over the next seven seasons the Pilots never had a worse record than a 6-3-1 mark in 1982. Three years later, Ayersville grabbed a choke-hold on the Green Meadows Conference that the other seven teams in the conference couldn’t break free of until more than a decade later.

From 1985 to 1994, the Pilots won an astonishing 67 of their 70 GMC games while garnering every GMC title in that timespan. McCord’s teams wracked up 3,038 points in the 10 years while opponents scored a mere 1,007.

Included in the 10-year stretch was a state runner-up finish in 1986 along with four other trips to the state playoffs.

McCord added two more GMC titles to his resume in 1997 and 2000 while also earning playoff berths in 1997, 1999 and 2000.

“It was always a big challenge playing against Craig and Ayersville,” noted Fairview head coach Bob Olwin, who coached against McCord from 1995 until McCord stepped down in 2003. “They always had all sorts of weapons and they were always well prepared. You knew what they were going to do but you couldn’t stop it.”

While players and assistant coaches had a great respect for McCord as a coach, they also had the utmost respect for McCord as a person, too.

“I think it’s a tremendous honor for Craig and he’s well deserving,” said Barry Parsons, an assistant under McCord from 1996-98. “Not only was he a great coach but a quality person and a great guy.”

Lessons in life were also learned by current Ayersville assistant Bill Ondrus, who spent the 1980-1997 seasons coaching along side McCord.

“I had some really great years with a lot of people and had a lot of really neat times,” commented Ondrus. “It was just a really neat experience to work with Craig. Working with Craig was great. He was always prepared and ready to go. I learned a lot of life-long lessons while coaching with him.”

To others he was more than just a coach.

“Coach McCord was a father figure to his players,” explained 1986 and ?? All-Ohio running back Chris Schlachter. “We would’ve done anything for him. If he would’ve told us to run through a wall we would’ve done it.

“He taught us to believe in ourselves and prepared us very well. He had a great ability to bring guys together and mold them. He took a bunch of boys and made them into men. I think he gave us tools to use in life, too, and that meant working hard in anything you do.”

Schlachter’s brother, Dean, was also a two-time All-Ohio running back in 1989 and ?? while Chris and Dean’s older brother Brad was an All-Ohioan in 1984.

“When you walked near or stood near coach McCord you got goosebumps,” said Dean. “He was that kind of person. Coach McCord is a heck of a guy. Not only was he a great coach but a great mentor on and off the field. I always remember that he told us his door was always open and that meant during the season and offseason. It also meant after you graduated, too. Just because you graduated didn’t mean you couldn’t come back to talk with him.”

Teaching the fundamentals and basics of the game was another asset of McCord’s, according to one of the 1986 team’s seniors Rob Giesige.

“We weren’t the biggest guys,” noted Giesige. “We were a bunch of guys who knew the game, that could adapt and overcome based on technique. By the time we were seniors it was ingrown on you and coach really stressed technique. I think few worked as hard as coach McCord.”

Andy Groll, another 1986 senior, echoed the comments of his teammate.

“Coach McCord was an excellent motivator who instilled upon everyone the importance of their role,” added Groll, an All-Ohio defensive back as a senior. “Not only was he an inspiring head coach, but his ability to teach and focus on the basics of blocking and tackling allowed him to create the excellent tradition at Ayersville.

“He was an avid teacher of the true mechanics of football. He’s not only deserving of this honor as a football coach but what he meant to the multitude of player’s lives he has touched.”

Many of the players at Ayersville grew up dreaming of playing under McCord and 1997 All-Ohio quarterback Shay Dawson had the thought in his mind at a young age.

“You were used to winning at Ayersville,” noted Dawson, who threw for 1,731 yards as senior signal-caller in ??. “I watched guys like my brother (Shelby), Andy (Groll), Curt Partee, the Schlachter boys and (Denny) Martin play football for Ayersville when I was growing up. When you were little and you were playing in your backyard you emulated those guys. The tradition that coach McCord built at Ayersville had a lot to do with it. Every time you stepped onto the field you carried it with you. Whether it be practice or a game you let it all out on the field.

“Coach McCord is definitely deserving of this honor,” continued Dawson. “I think the way he won was amazing. He wasn’t flashy. He wanted you to wear black shoes with white shoelaces with no name on the back of your jersey. After you scored a touchdown you handed the ball to the official and acted like you’d been there before. I really liked those qualities about him.”

McCord said he possesses a plethora of memories from his time at Ayersville with the first GMC title in 1985 being a major memory. The 1986 playoff run stuck out in his mind as well, which included a miraculous 29-28 win over Mogadore in the state semis in Berea and then a week later coaching in the ‘Horseshoe’ against Newark Catholic for the state championship in which the Pilots fell just short, 28-27. He also pointed out the 1989 playoff upset (35-32) of Lima Central Catholic.

“Those are some great moments but those were just games,” mentioned McCord. “I could just go on and on with special memories. I think the greatest memories I have are just seeing incoming freshmen that stick with the program for four years and then see how they change from young boys to young men. To have those players come back and they see you and they talk about those memories they had ... I think that’s the greatest memories.

“Plus we were such a tight-knit community and the great memories I had working with all the parents ... we had great parental support. I think we had that family feeling that we tried to develop amongst our team and parents.”

McCord pointed to his high school coach at London High School, Jim Bowlus, as an influential figure in his rise to greatness. Bowlus was a legend in his own right and was inducted into the OHSFCA Hall of Fame in 1978 during his first year of eligibility. He compiled a 161-66-6 record from 1947-73 during his career at London which is situated between Columbus and Dayton.

“I’ve got to look back to my high school coach Jim Bowlus (as an influence) who passed away a year ago and I wish he could be there next Friday during the induction ceremony,” said McCord. “Not only was he my coach but I also got a chance to work with him for four years as an assistant coach before I came to Ayersville. I learned so much from him. He’s really the one who encouraged me to learn as much about the game as I could.”

Support from his wife Patti, daughters Kim and Melissa along with son Jonathon was also crucial according to McCord.

“I had great support from my family,” lauded McCord. “My wife has been a football widow for 37 years and it takes someone special and she’s pretty special for supporting me all those years. My three kids were able to be part of the program with my daughters Kim and Melissa being football managers along with my son Jonathon who played for me and also got to coach with me the last part of my career.

“If I didn’t have family support I don’t know where I would be because you come home from practice or games and they were always there to lend their support and love.”

While McCord’s legacy will carry on forever at Ayersville it will soon be forever etched in the OHSFCA Hall of Fame as well.