He takes over for Mike McKenna, who coached the Irish for four seasons.
After spending a few years in Chicago, Myers and his family moved back to the Springfield area. He began coaching youth football three years ago and has followed the team to middle school. Myers’ son Ty is an eighth grader at Central.
“I really got into coaching and really started to care for the kids,” Myers said. “I really started to fall back in love with and was ready to be back in the game of football and it led to this.”
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Catholic Central has one of the most storied programs in Clark County history. The Irish have made 12 playoff appearances, including a D-IV state runner-up finish in 1991 and a trip to the D-VI state semifinals in 2007.
Catholic Central’s last winning season came in 2016, McKenna’s first year as head coach, when the Irish finished 6-4. Since that season, the Irish are 3-27.
The Irish program struggled this fall with about 20 players on its roster — mostly freshmen — and finished 0-10 for the second straight season.
The Catholic Central middle school football team had about 20 players last season and won the Ohio Heritage Conference South Division title with a 7-0-1 record.
After being named All-Ohio as a senior, Myers played collegiately at Illinois. The year before he arrived on campus the Illini finished the season 1-10. Two years later, Illinois finished 10-1, winning the Big Ten and advancing to the Sugar Bowl.
Myers is ready to take on a similar challenge with Catholic Central.
“Being a part of something like that and understanding the grind and what it takes to really turn something around like that, it’s definitely something I’m going to apply to this,” he said. “Football is a game you can’t really cheat. You’re going to get out what you put into it. We have to understand how important the weight room is and make sure they understand our expectations. That’s going to be the key and the foundation to getting this thing turned around.”
With a large influx of freshmen, the Irish should have more than 30 players next fall, Myers said. That number could increase as more schools become eligible for state-funded vouchers.
The freshman group has played football, basketball and baseball together for several years, he said.
“They really trust me,” Myers said. “They’re laser-focused and they know that I’ve been there and done that. They’ll basically run through a wall for me. It’s exciting.”
The players are ready to help restore the tradition at Central, he said.
“It’s going to be exciting to watch them these next few years,” Myers said.
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