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The Astronomic Rise of Archbishop Hoban - A Story of HS Football Today


OldSchoolLion

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Prior to this year's state playoffs, only 4 teams had ever won 4 straight state titles in Ohio hs football history(5 teams in FL have done it).  And only once had a team in the upper classes accomplished that.  St Ignatius won 5 straight back in the early 90's.  A fifth team was added to the list this year, nationally-ranked Archbishop Hoban of Akron, who won the Ohio Division 2 title (Ohio's second largest class). 
 
Below is the story of their astronomic rise to prominence in Ohio.  And there is a Florida connection.  I have included a history of their seasonal records below, to give you some perspective.  Over the past 2 seasons, only one team has gotten within 21 points of them in the playoffs (this year's 42-28 win over Massillon Washington).  
 
Prior to 2015, Hoban had never played in a state title game. In 2015, Hoban destroyed teams that had beaten them in 2014.  In 2013, Tim Tyrrell took over as their head coach.  Does that name sound familiar?  It should, he coached at Chaminade-Madonna from 2008-2012.  Chaminade's program crashed after Tyrrell left, just like it did when Mark Guandolo left after the 2006 season. 
 
Tyrrell played under former Ohio St coaching legend Jim Tressell(partly famous for violations that took place under his watch) while Tressell was at Youngstown St.  Nice connection to have as a high school coach in Ohio, huh?    After winning their first state title in his third season at Hoban (that amazing year of program improvement), Tyrrell got in hot water for recruiting.
 
Also in 2015, Hoban opened a snazzy new multi-million dollar training facility.  I thought it funny that the article at the link directly below stated the following, "The new facility, while meeting their needs, will help coaches recruit prospects."  
 
After the 2015 season, Maxpreps visited the school on their Maxpreps Tour of Champions, hyping their national ranking-see video further below.  So, come to Hoban, win a state title, work out in a college-quality training facility, and get your face in a video on Maxpreps.  And even if you don't play sports, you can brag to your friends who go to other schools about your team's national ranking.  Not a bad way to attract kids, huh?  Sounds a bit like a business, huh?
 
Interestingly, another Catholic school had been on the rise in Akron when Hoban came on strong.  St Mary-St Vincent had won back-to-back titles in 2012-2013 and was a contender in 2014.  Hoban knocked them out of the playoffs in 2015 and 2016. And this year, that team did not even make the playoffs.  I wonder why, because I'm sure none of their players went to Hoban.:rolleyes:     
 
Archbishop Hoban Season Records

2018 15-0

2017 14-1
2016 14-1
2015 14-1
2014 6-4
2013 5-5
2012 2-8
2011 1-9
2010 4-6
2009 8-4  
2008 9-5
2007 3-7
 
   
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By the way, if you think there is an argument to separate private vs public schools in Florida, you should check out Ohio.  At the link below, you can see their historical state football champions.  This list includes results from state semi games as well.  It is fairly easy tell which are the private schools.

https://ohsaa.org/Portals/0/Sports/Football/history/AllTimeStateTournamentResults.pdf

There is an abundance of very good private school programs in Ohio due to a relatively large Catholic population in many of the metro areas.  These teams are spread throughout the classes.  There are proportionately more private schools in the upper classes in Ohio today than there are in Florida.  And, unlike Florida, where private schools in the upper classes did not come to prominence until the 90's, the private schools in Ohio have been a major factor since the 1970's and beyond.   

I doubt there is a state in the US where the public vs private debate has been as prominent for so long.  Earlier this year, Ohio changed its rules concerning transfers.  Unless meeting exemption criteria, transfers must sit out the second half of the regular season and all of the postseason.  

 

 

 

 

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