Clinton Works to Keep Running, Rising
By
Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
September 22, 2016
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
CLINTON – In 2012, Clinton football coach Scott McNitt had accomplished enough during his 27-year career that he was inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Since then, McNitt, now in his 32nd year, has enjoyed the best on-the-field run of his career.
It doesn't happen often that a Hall of Fame coach reaches new heights after induction, but McNitt is proof it can happen.
Over the last three seasons, Clinton is 49-4 with three consecutive finishes with double-digit wins, two trips to the Division 6 championship game at Ford Field and one 40-game regular-season winning streak – the third longest regular-season winning streak by a Lenawee County football team since Hudson won 81 in a row from 1968-77.
All of that success – and especially the recent attention from the 40-game winning streak – has brought some unwanted credit to McNitt, who preaches the team concept and praises the work of his assistant coaches.
“It's a great accomplishment, but I can't stand hearing, 'McNitt did this,' or 'McNitt did that.' It's just that I have to be on the top line, but I've have tremendous assistants and some very, very good players,” he said.
McNitt has similar feelings about his induction into the Hall of Fame.
“The two biggest accomplishments for me have been the Hall of Fame and Ford Field,” he said. “That's every coach's dream. But this is a team thing, and there are coaches on our staff who work a lot harder than I do, and I get all the accolades.
“But it means a lot to me to stay at the same school for 32 years and outlast it. We had some seasons that weren't good. We had three 1-8 seasons in a row. We've been successful – but surviving for 32 years and keeping it going in the right direction, and I think what we have coming from our youth programs and middle school, it can continue – means a lot to me.”
Key to success
When McNitt interviewed for the Clinton job prior to the 1985 season, he was given some advice that has stuck with him for more than three decades.
“When I first got here 32 years ago, during the interview the superintendent said, 'Surround yourself with good people, and you won't have a problem,'” McNitt said. “So it's been a philosophy to put good people into the program.”
As is common with most high school programs, assistant coaches would come and go throughout the years at Clinton. But over the past eight seasons, Clinton has kept its coaching staff together – even down to junior varsity and middle school – and McNitt believes it’s no coincidence that his greatest run has happened under those circumstances.
“We've had changes over the years, and it is what it is, but this last eight years the staff we have in place now seems to jell together,” he said. “Jeremy Fielder came from Adrian College as a football coach and player. He brought a great philosophy and work ethic and new ideas.
“Our line coach, John Schuler, he was a player here in the 1980s and was on one of the best teams we had here. He's back there teaching and coaching, and he's an outstanding line coach. Joe Gillies and our JV coaches do a great job, and we also have volunteer coaches who are very familiar with the program and give us their time and dedication. We all work really well together.”
But coaches can't coach and have great success without talented players, right?
“Having good players is the other key,” McNitt said. “We've had a phenomenal run of outstanding players, and we saw it coming when they were in youth football in fifth and sixth grade. We watched them in seventh and eighth.
“They were a group of very fast kids with unbelievable speed. We watched them, and it was like, 'Holy Toledo, wait until we get ahold of these kids.'”
A trip to Ford Field – and back
From 1985-2009, Clinton made 12 playoff appearances under McNitt. The 1990 team made it to the Class C Semifinals, but more often than not, the Redskins were one-and-done in the postseason. After losing to rival Manchester in the 2012 Pre-District, Clinton was 7-13 in the playoffs.
Since then, Clinton is 9-3 in the postseason.
“I went to the Silverdome I don't know how many years and Ford Field, and we would sit there and go, 'It would be nice to get there,'” McNitt said. “But we were always in such a tough division, we'd always face Monroe Catholic Central in a District, and we could never get over that.
“In 2013, we finally got a good draw, and we felt we could make a good run, and we did (finishing runner-up in Division 6). The next year we were even better, but we drew Catholic Central in the second round, and they kind of blew us out.”
That set the stage for last season. But when the playoff pairings were announced, McNitt and his staff faced an overwhelming road to Ford Field. The first assignment: A road game at reigning Division 6 champion Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.
A 14-10 victory in the Pre-District proved to be the sparkplug that charged the Redskins’ run.
“To go down there and win a close one gave us great confidence,” Schuler said.
Next was Madison Heights Madison, making its 11th consecutive appearance in the playoffs. On the road again, Clinton scored a huge 43-20 victory to earn a home game in the Regional against eight-time MHSAA champion Jackson Lumen Christi.
“To play the Regional Final at home against Jackson Lumen Christi was just a thrill ride,” Schuler said of the 49-20 victory that earned a Semifinal matchup with undefeated Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, which was making its fifth consecutive appearance in the playoffs.
Clinton’s 42-20 victory over NorthPointe brought it back to Ford Field for its biggest test of all: Ithaca, which had won four of the previous five Division 6 titles and defeated Clinton 41-22 in the 2013 championship game.
“It was a murderer's row of opponents, and we did not want to play Ithaca,” McNitt said. “We wanted Traverse City St. Francis just for something new.
“We knew Ithaca and who they were, but we were hoping for something different. But we had a chance, we were up 13-0 in the third quarter, and Ithaca took over.”
Ithaca dashed Clinton's title hopes with a 27-20 victory, but the experience Clinton had gained two years earlier resulted in a calming effect.
“Personally, I thought we'd get one shot at Ford Field because normally these small towns get one shot, and it's over with,” McNitt said. “I wasn't sure we would get back. And then last year when we got there, it was just like another game.
“It wasn't as big of a hype as it was the first time, and the community loved it.”
It also added to the momentum that has been building.
“It was a momentum-builder for us, and if we stay as a team, we can make it back there,” senior running back Steve Laurell said. “It's just team effort and coaching for sure. It was a good feeling.”
New challenge
The good news at Clinton is that the Redskins are 4-0 and rolling again. The bad news is that the talented speed group has graduated. The 2016 Redskins lack the flashy skill players from the past but are a senior-orientated team boasting an experienced line.
Any coach will tell you that having an experienced, talented line is a big step toward success.
“We have some interior linemen back, but we're brand new everywhere else,” McNitt said. “We do have some senior players who have waited their turn, and we knew we'd be OK up front because we're big.”
Center Alex McIntosh is a third-year varsity player and is joined by Austin Popp and Josh Brown as key players in the trenches, while the senior backfield of Laurell at tailback and Cordell Hernandez at fullback has been “outstanding,” according to McNitt.
“We just don't have the burners, but we have solid, good players,” he said.
Clinton has outscored its opponents by a combined 164-65 this season, with its next game tonight against a 2-2 Morenci team. It's easy to look at a matchup of a 4-0 team and a 2-2 team and assume the outcome, but that sort of mentality makes McNitt a little uneasy. The community has embraced the program, and its expectations can sometimes be a little too much too soon.
“It is erupting into a very big animal,” McNitt said. “We have to be careful, and we have to corral it before it gets too out of control. But it's nice for the football program, based on our current success – getting to Ford Field two out of three years – that is where the excitement comes from.
“The community support really has been incredible.”
The season already has had one milestone. Two weeks ago, McNitt reached 200 career victories, becoming the 61st high school football coach in Michigan to reach that number. He also is 12th among active coaches with 201 wins. His overall record is 201-113-1 for a .640 winning percentage.
“I remember when I got my 100th win. Some community supporters and fathers said, ‘That's quite a big deal, but if you get to 200, that puts you in a whole different group.’ It kind of stuck with me, but I never thought I'd get there,” McNitt said, “but the past four or five years did it.”
The future at Clinton
McNitt is very realistic about what lies ahead for Clinton. But he isn't discounting anything, either.
“Can we get back to Ford Field again? The chances are probably no, but we've gone twice in three years, so it's possible,” he said. “We focus on our rival up the road here, Manchester, just seven miles away, and then try to win our league. If you do those two things, you're going to be in the playoffs and then see what happens.”
It is a sensible approach that has worked at Clinton. He has surrounded himself with good assistants and let them do their thing on the field.
“Our assistant coaches do a phenomenal job, and there are times when I just sit back and watch them do their thing,” he said. “I'm very fortunate to have people like that around us.”
Fielder was hired in as defensive coordinator nine years ago, and he recognizes that there were some up-and-down moments along the way.
“To be given that trust was huge because he's a Hall of Famer,” Fielder said. “He hired me, and I had a big role, and there were some growing pains early on. I will always be thankful for him sticking with me once we got the system figured out and once we figured out how we were going to execute.”
The players come to the varsity having learned the system at a younger age, and their coach is a man who was coaching the varsity more than a decade before they were born. And he wins. That commands respect.
“We know that the coach knows what he's doing, and he's going to make the right call at the right time, and we just need to follow what he does,” said McIntosh, the senior center. “We have no question about it. He knows what he's doing.
“I think what it is is that our coaches push us. Through practice, they expect us to do things right, and if we don't get it right the first time, they expect that we won't make the same mistake twice.”
So, the obvious question looms. How much longer does McNitt expect to coach? He didn't dodge the question.
“I could be easily done this year, or I could go another 10 years,” he said. “I want to be able to turn it over to Jeremy Fielder, our really good defensive coach. He has waited, and he is probably going to take it farther than we ever dreamed of.
“Jeremy is a phenomenal football coach.”
Although Fielder likely would be thrilled to someday succeed McNitt, he seems comfortable in his current role, too.
“Times have changed for head coaches, and it is kind of nice to know your role and coach with people you trust and just be able to do your job,” said Fielder, who also is an English teacher at the high school. “When you look at coaching, yes, the head coach is the position and it's the title, but when you get down to the nitty gritty, you're a team within a team.
“If you have an outstanding team and coach with people you respect and admire, you're happy there no matter what your role is.”
Chip Mundy served as sports editor at the Brooklyn Exponent and Albion Recorder from 1980-86, and then as a reporter and later copy editor at the Jackson Citizen-Patriot from 1986-2011. He also co-authored Michigan Sports Trivia. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clinton’s Steve Laurell (left) and Cordell Hernandez, shown this season against Manchester, are two of the top returning players from the 2015 Division 6 runner-up. (Middle) From left: Clinton assistant coach John Schuler, head coach Scott McNitt, defensive coordinator Jeremy Fielder. (Below) Clinton also returns multiple contributors from the offensive line that took on Ithaca during last season's Final at Ford Field. (Top photo by John Discher/Adrian Daily Telegram.)
Let's Not Forget These Winning Coaches
December 15, 2015
By Ron Pesch
Special for Second Half
Buried deep within the MHSAA’s list of coaches with 200 career football wins is the name Oscar Johnson. Sharp eyes will note that Johnson began his coaching career in 1925 – 90 years ago.
Following graduation from Western State Normal School (today, Western Michigan University) in Kalamazoo, Oscar E. Johnson coached two seasons at Mount Pleasant High School before moving on to Muskegon Heights in 1927. Known by his nickname, like most from the time period, “Okie” coached multiple sports including football, basketball and baseball. After 37 years (1927 to 1963) and six mythical gridiron championships (as well as three Class A basketball titles), he retired and moved to Baldwin.
During a teacher’s strike in 1979, Johnson, now in his 70’s, came out of retirement to coach Baldwin’s football team for four contests, earning three wins against a single loss. In 40 seasons, Johnson’s teams posted 209 victories against 106 defeats and 28 ties.
In 1975, his was the lone name that would have appeared on the MHSAA’s list of coaches with 200 football wins.
In 1980, Bill Maskill, a graduate of Michigan State University and head coach for six seasons at Sheridan, then Galesburg-Augusta for 29 years, was the second to join the list. Jack Castignola, who started his coaching career in Ohio before becoming varsity coach at Monroe Catholic Central and then Trenton, was added to the list in 1981.
They were followed by Dick Mettlach, long of Crystal Falls and that school’s successor, Crystal Falls Forest Park, Jack Streidl who led Plainwell for 37 seasons, and Dick Soisson, who coached for a combined 41 seasons at Owosso St. Paul, Kalamazoo St. Augustine and Kalamazoo Hackett. Each posted his 200th win in 1984. Leo “Smokey” Boyd, who coached 40 years at Standish-Sterling, Saginaw Sts. Peter and Paul and Saginaw Nouvel, notched his 200th win in 1985, becoming only the seventh coach to accomplish the task in 90-plus years of high school football in Michigan.
Only two additional names were added over the next five years. Walt Braun, long of Marysville, joined the exclusive group in 1986. Al Fracassa, who spent a combined 46 seasons coaching at Royal Oak Shrine and Birmingham Brother Rice and turned down the chance to join Muddy Waters’ coaching staff at MSU in 1980, picked up his 200th win in 1988. That brought the list to nine total.
Twenty five years later, the list totals 58 names. So what changed?
Of course, it was the addition of the MHSAA football playoffs, which debuted in 1975.
A look at two coaches helps illustrate the issue.
Fracassa, the list’s current leader in all-time wins with 430, took 29 seasons to tally his first 200 victories. It took only 23 more seasons for him to gain the next 200. Farmington Hills Harrison’s John Harrington took 24 years to total 200 wins, but picked up his 400th after only 20 more.
Between 1960, Fracassa’s first season, and 1988, Fracassa’s teams played an average of 8.30 games a season. Between 1970, Herrington’s first year and 1993, the year of his 200th, his teams averaged 9.64 games per season.
Between 1988 and 2011, when Fracassa won his 400th game, his teams played an average of 11.61 games a season. Between 1994 and 2013, Herrington’s 400th, his teams played an average of 11.09 games per year. Fracassa’s teams compiled 68 victories in the MHSAA postseason. Herrington’s teams lead the state with 87 victories in the state playoffs.
Simply put, with the arrival of the postseason, it became easier to get to 200.
While no one would debate the accomplishments of any of the 58 gentlemen on the list, all but a few benefit from a baseline that few others who coached only 40 years before them were unlikely to reach.
Of course, those previous years included an amazing array of mentors. In hindsight, perhaps the list should include a mark for coaches from who assemble 150 varsity wins during the regular season only.
Johnson, and many others on the current list, certainly fall within such a category. But so would people like Ted Sowle, who, according to extensive research by former state historian Dick Kishpaugh, compiled a combined 171-47-10 mark between 1937 and 1963 as varsity coach at Grant, Algonac, Cathedral Prep in Erie, Pa., and Grand Rapids Catholic Central. At the time of his retirement from coaching in 1963, he ranked second in the state on the career wins list, behind only Johnson.
Ray Rynberg, a Grand Rapids Union and Central Michigan graduate, began his coaching career at Cedar Springs in 1939. After 12 years, he stepped away from the coaching ranks to pursue a degree in school administration from the University of Michigan. In the fall of 1955 he returned to the sidelines at Grant. He remained for 21 years, compiling a record of 189-62-9 (including seven unbeaten seasons) surpassing Sowle on the list upon retirement following the 1975 season.
Elmer Engel, who is honored in Bay City with his name attached to the city’s beautiful football stadium, also would appear on such a list. A three-year starter at the University of Illinois, Engel arrived in 1950 and installed the T-formation. He worked the sidelines for the Wolves through the 1972 season, compiling a 165-34-8 record and mythical Class A state titles in 1958, 1965, 1967, 1969 and 1972 according to the Associated Press polls ranking the state’s top teams.
Traverse City’s Jim Ooley led the Traverse City Trojans to a 164-56-4 regular season record (and a 179-60-4 record overall). Muskegon’s C. Leo Redmond led the Big Reds to a 156-29-13 record and six mythical Class A state titles between 1923 and 1946.
Certainly, there are others, many long-forgotten by most to the sands of time, who would qualify for the list. But who are they?
Incredibly successful coaches, like Flint Northern’s Guy Houston, would still fall shy. Playing in the incredibly tough Saginaw Valley Conference, Houston’s teams posted a remarkable 148-41-13 mark in 24 seasons as head coach of the Vikings. Nick Annese, who rolled up a 55-29-2 mark (including 38 straight victories) in 10 seasons at New Lothrop, then led Corunna to a 91-32-3 mark over 14 seasons but falls several games short.
So will many other of the state’s more well-known names, like Lloyd Carr, best known for his years at the University of Michigan, (who served as an assistant at Detroit Nativity and Belleville, before becoming head coach at Westland John Glenn for a few years), University of Nebraska’s Bob Devaney (who spent years 14 years coaching in Birmingham, Keego Harbor, Saginaw, and Alpena) and Colorado’s Bill McCartney (who assisted under his brother Tom at Detroit Holy Redeemer, then served as varsity football and basketball coach at Dearborn Divine Child). All moved on to the college game as assistants before reaching 150 high school wins.
Nick Annese’s son, Tony, who coached at Montrose, Ann Arbor Pioneer, Jenison and Muskegon tallied 169 regular season wins (and 195 victories overall) at the prep level before moving on to the college ranks at Grand Rapids Community College, then Ferris State University.
Can you name others, missing from the list of 200-game winners, with 150 varsity victories in the regular season? If so, contact me at the e-mail address below.
Ron Pesch has taken an active role in researching the history of MHSAA events since 1985 and began writing for MHSAA Finals programs in 1986, adding additional features and "flashbacks" in 1992. He inherited the title of MHSAA historian from the late Dick Kishpaugh following the 1993-94 school year, and resides in Muskegon. Contact him at [email protected] with ideas for historical articles.
PHOTOS: (From left) Longtime Bay City coach Elmer Engel with a player from the 1968 Bay City Central yearbook, legendary Grant coach Ray Rynberg from the Muskegon Chronicle and championship-winning coach Jim Ooley of Traverse City.