Finally, after months of looking, backtracking, and making decisions that weren’t on target, the Greenville School Board and Athletic Director have found a coach for the Green Wave football program. Steve Channell has been tasked with turning around a program that has spent years in the doldrums of High School Sports. Coach Channell spent 21 years as Edgewood’s Head coach. Under his leadership, Edgewood won 11 conference titles, had 10 playoff teams, and played in the 2003 D–II State Championship. Channell then moved on to oversee a resurgence in the Miamisburg football program. For the past 3 years, he has been an assistant at Troy High School. He has the pedigree to turn around Greenville.
Now that we have a qualified coach, the big question is: Will he be given the resources and time to turn things around? Past history says no. I hope that changes. Coach Channell is a disciplinarian, something that is desperately lacking in our program. Not the discipline that is needed for bad people, but the kind needed for athletes. The kind that says, get to work in the weight room, study your position, run, get in shape in the off-season.
I am not worried about the athletes; they understand what it takes. No, I am worried that the parents and administration may think his methods are too harsh. They are not. I would like to see a real commitment to let Coach Channell run HIS OWN PROGRAM AS HE SEES FIT! No, I do not think at all he will be abusive, there is a major difference in the two, but sometimes from the outside it looks bad, and things get misconstrued to the public.
I was fortunate to have three disciplinarian coaches, two at Greenville and one in College. They were hard on you, but you learned and learned what it takes to be successful. We have one good example of a coach who is a disciplinarian now, Coach Jerrod Newland of the Lady Wave Softball program. All you have to do is look at his record of success to understand two things: 1- the system works; and 2- it always involves student-athletes willing to learn.
They may not like everything the coach does or says, but they realize when he is on their butts about something, it is because he sees more in them than they do themselves. Good athletes, and we have plenty of them, and good students in Darke County as a whole are not afraid to work hard when they are pushed and see a clear goal in front of them. A good coach will inspire, aggravate, frustrate, and chew you out when needed. They do that because they are frustrated, not at the athlete, but at the loss of talent the athlete is not using to their potential.
Athletes are funny creatures. They like discipline because they can see the goal in the end: success! I have always found it odd that a coach can chew out at an athlete on the field and get that person to perform better, yet in the classroom, that kind of behavior is frowned upon. Sometimes, teachers need to give a kid a kick in the pants, too. Now, before you get excited, I mean the kind of kick that motivates and inspires, not actually kick them…..although…..never mind!
As we Wave followers await to see what happens, let’s give Coach Channell a real chance. Let’s support a man who is going to take our young men and turn them around, not only on the football field but turn them into productive, disciplined citizens and leaders. I have talked to several of the players, and they are all in on this season. Will it happen immediately, probably not, but they realize they are laying a foundation for success in the future, and are willing to do their part. That is a sign of maturity and sacrifice we need, and these young men are ready.
The question is: Are the rest of us ready and willing to do what it takes?
That’s the way I see it…….from the sidelines!
