Akron -- Some guys coach kids on the art of running pass patterns. Others coach kids on the proper technique for stopping a ball carrier in his tracks, or coach the secrets of throwing a tight spiral or coach the benefits of delivering an effective stiff-arm. Ricky Powers coaches life. Once everybody's All-American as a blood-and-guts tailback at Akron's...
Akron -- Some guys coach kids on the art of running pass patterns.
Others coach kids on the proper technique for stopping a ball carrier in his tracks, or coach the secrets of throwing a tight spiral or coach the benefits of delivering an effective stiff-arm.
Ricky Powers coaches life.
Once everybody's All-American as a blood-and-guts tailback at Akron's John R. Buchtel High, Powers returned to his high school alma mater four years ago to resurrect a program he carried to statewide prominence as a player in the late 1980s.
Buchtel is one of six area high schools competing this weekend at state semifinal football games. The other schools are Chagrin Falls, Lake Catholic, Maple Heights, Mogadore and St. Edward.
Conversations with Powers rarely turn to football, despite his association with the game and the place he holds in Akron's high school lore and beyond.
Instead, he looks you dead in the eye and talks about how hard it can be to teach kids to do the right thing when no one has done it before.
He talks about how difficult it has been to encourage his players to transfer their anger from the streets to the football field. He talks about how instilling discipline, dedication, loyalty and integrity in the program is a far more important -- and daunting -- task than diagramming plays on a chalkboard at halftime of a tie game.
On Saturday in Canton's renowned Fawcett Stadium, Powers will lead his overachieving football team against undefeated and top-ranked Alliance Marlington in a Division III state semifinal game. Buchtel lost three games during the regular season and was never included in the state polls. Yet, it has won nine of its last 10 games, including last week's stunning 35-10 victory over defending state champion Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, and will make its first semifinal appearance since 2005.
"My biggest thing was to try and get our kids to get that anger and fight to the field but that was very tricky because I can't control what goes on in some of their homes," he said. "But, I thought I could teach them to control their destiny on the field and once they learned to do that the sky was the limit."
Teaching high school kids to win at football is important, he says, but teaching them to win at life -- where there are so many distractions and temptations to derail them -- is infinitely more important. And, winning football games with class is infinitely better than winning with arrogance. That is what he is teaching.
Powers always respected the game
Powers gets it and if you spend any time in the locker room/meeting rooms in the bowels of Buchtel High it is easy to see that he is doing everything he can to ensure his players get it too. He was a straight-and-narrow guy off the field and played the game the way it was meant to be played at Buchtel, the University of Michigan and in brief stints in the NFL.
"I never once had to tell Ricky that he had to step it up a notch, even in practice, because he gave you every ounce of effort he had on every play," said former coach Tim Flossie. "And, I can't remember ever having to tell him to make sure he got his homework done. That's the kind of person he was. And is."
And that's how Powers conducted himself after the spotlight faded, after playing at Michigan and briefly in the NFL. He understands what it means to be a Buchtel football player and the responsibilities that go with it. And, he certainly understands what Buchtel football means to the people on the west side of Akron. That is what he is trying to teach.
"Ricky is Buchtel football," said Robert Proctor, the school's assistant principal and a former football coach at Firestone. "His athletic prowess speaks for itself and I'm sure the kids can relate to that. But, people forget that Ricky was a good student, too. He understood that academics and athletics go together. When he took the job here he brought high standards with him."
Powers, who grew up just a few blocks from the school on Valdes Avenue and completed the Buchtel trilogy of attending Erie Island Elementary and Perkins Middle School, has convinced his players what it means to be part of something much bigger than individual stardom.
"It helps that he grew up here, that he was part of this community," said Proctor. "That's a leg up, a big plus. I think the kids feel like he is one of them."
Powers is just as concerned about kids who can't get to school on time as he is about his tailback's time in the 40-yard dash. He has little tolerance for those who can't make it to a 9 a.m. geometry class.
"We have team rules and I do not back down from them for anyone and I don't care if it's Corey Smith or Steve Parker," he said, referring to two of the team's biggest stars. "The kids know that if they break a rule, they will be punished for it."
A handful of players paid the price by losing their starting positions or missing entire games. The Griffins were without five starters in one game for violating minor team rules.
"I don't know if a lot of people would do that because they want to win so badly and they'll do anything to win, but I'm just not that guy," said Powers. "I would rather have a kid learn a lesson that he's supposed to learn. If we lose some games because of it, then I'm OK with that. We're gonna do things the right way."
Powers talks about telling his players that football is temporary, a water-break in this marathon called life. He preaches that for the overwhelming majority of high school players -- even the good ones -- football is something that will disappear like a fickle lover, leaving the jilted with little more than a few great memories. So, they had better study.
Powers built program to match his standards
Saturday, Buchtel plays the biggest game in the Powers regime, which began in 2007 when he became just the 11th coach in the school's 80-year history of fielding football teams.
"I could sit here and act like a genius and say that I knew this was going to happen," Powers said, breaking into a grin. "But, honestly, I've always known that our kids were capable. From the first day that I stepped into this building I knew we had the kids who could do this and the only thing holding us back was our mindsets. Physically, we can play with anyone, but our mental approach is what we had to fight because there are so many adversities that our kids have to go through, just in life in general. A week doesn't go by that we don't have some kind of issue."
After winning two state titles and finishing second twice under Flossie and making the playoffs six times in a seven-year span starting in 1999 under former coach Claude Brown, things went haywire in 2006.
The team finished with a 6-4 record and did not reach the postseason. Brown lost his job after pleading guilty on two counts of sexual battery for having sex with a student.
Powers came in and made sweeping changes. He dismissed players and assistant coaches who failed to see his point of view. Even the volunteer coaches -- Powers has four paid assistants -- were chosen selectively. The house-cleaning was not easy. Buchtel fans, who can be as critical as any, began to chirp as the team stumbled to a 2-8 record.
"When I first took the job I had to understand that being a nice guy is a great thing," Powers said. "But I also had to understand that if I wanted things done a certain way and there were people who weren't on the same page, well then, those people had to go. It was tough."
Rayshon Dent has been an assistant at Buchtel since 2002. He had seen the highs and lows.
"I remember the first day when Ricky talked to the kids after taking the job," said Dent, the team's offensive coordinator.
"He told me from Day One that he was going to do some things that I probably wasn't accustomed to. He just said, 'Roll with me and you'll start to see it.' I can honestly say that the things he talked about and the things he has done, the picture has become clear. He has changed the mindsets of a lot of people, from faculty to the kids. He tries his best to do things the right way across the board. He's brought a lot of what he learned at Michigan and the NFL to Buchtel."
The 2-8 finish was followed by a 5-5 record in 2008. It grew to 7-3 in 2009 and the Griffins will take a 10-3 record into Saturday's game.
The progress has been gradual and delicate.
"I had to take so many steps backwards," he said.
"I just assumed that we had the better athletes, that we were bigger, faster, stronger and we would win. As a player you understood that and you knew you would win. But, as a coach, when you really can't control anything, that is very humbling. Something was missing. I told myself that I had to train minds. I had to get the kids to believe in our system, to believe in our concept. It just wasn't there. I remember our first game against Walsh Jesuit and I thank God and coach [Gerry] Rardin that they didn't score 100 points on us. It was that bad."
Powers does not talk about his past glories with his players. He wants them to experience the same giddy, top-of-the-world thrill he did when his teams were state champs.
"It's not about us, it's about them," he said. "This is their time."
When you grow up as a Buchtel kid, you learn everything there is to learn about Buchtel football.
"He never talks about his time here or at Michigan," said running back/safety Marlon Oden, who began attending Buchtel games at the age of 7.
"I don't ask why. I've seen a few of his highlights on YouTube. We all know how good he was."
Now they are learning how good they can be. And, they have one of their own to thank.
