Wanna coach? Move to Ohio
Published: 12/26/2008 10:18 AM
Last Modified: 12/26/2008 10:18 AM
Youngstown's Bob Stoops meets Ashtabula's Urban Meyer for the national championship, meaning Ohio reigns in college football coaching.
Again.
"Less than 4% of the country's population lives in Ohio, but 15% of college football's major-conference head coaches were born there -- the most for any state," writes Darren Everson of the Wall Street Journal. "And this volume is more than matched by quality: 14 of the last 18 teams that have made it to the national title game have had head coaches with Ohio connections."
The secret to that astounding success?
"Football's important there," Stoops said. "Everyone knows that, from the littlest leagues on through grade school, high schools, there's a lot of quality coaching. You know, there's a lot of population throughout the state of Ohio, too, and I think because of that, because of the bigger cities and the number of schools, there's a lot of competition maybe that fuels that."
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
