Alan
Banned
After School with Coach Ginn
By: Alan
We were able to spend a few minutes after school with Cleveland Glenville legendary Head Football Coach Ted Ginn, Sr. yesterday. His story is well known to most Ohio State fans and he spoke with great passion about his life, his kids and how the two are forever interwoven.
When speaking about how his life has become one of a coach and mentor he said: “You know, football saved my life. When I was 19 my mother died and my coach at the time made me stay and stay out of trouble. It saved me, it kept me from going the wrong way.”
Coach said that he doesn’t have any favorites that have come through his program. In fact he went out of his way to say: “All of them are my favorites. Most of the kids I’m dealing with are at risk. It takes a lot to get the focus of the kids as most have had some kind of a rough road.”
When I asked him what the most difficult part of being a high school coach is, he let out a big “Whoooo” and went on to say: “to me….it is first of all finding men that want to coach according to the standards here. It’s not the x’s and o’s, but the heart of a coach. Finding people that want to coach from the heart, you know. Everyone is so busy trying to win state titles. It’s not about winning the game, it’s about winning in life. Winning the kids is winning the game.”
Coach Ginn denied that there is a Glenville to Ohio State pipeline from his side, he said: “I wouldn’t say it is a pipeline. OSU just does a great job of recruiting the kids from Glenville.” He went on to discuss how the whole recruiting process (and preparing his student-athletes for the next level) could be improved upon: “I think we can improve as High School coaches by having academic things in place to serve our kids. Helping out with studying the ACT and regular study habits. We need to provide structure, help with nutrition, when to go to bed at night, all of it. Sometimes we lose them (the kids) in High School because they are not properly prepared.”
He spoke briefly about watching his son (Ted Ginn, Jr.) play football at Ohio State and said: “He’s just got to continue. I’m always proud of him because of how hard he has worked to get to where he is. He just has to continue.” Coach Ginn went on to say that he stays close and follows all of his kids and that “I carry all of them in my heart.”
We concluded by discussing another of his kids who just happened to inherit Ted Ginn, Jr’s room when he left for Columbus. Coach said that Jamario O’Neal would be enrolling for summer school and living in the dorms when he gets here. He finished by saying: “Jamario’s going to go in and start at corner. It’s all up to him, how hard he wants to work. How much does he want it.”
