The Road to Respectability

It's not easy being Jeff Ramsey.

That's what kept telling myself during our two hour drive together from the NCAC Media Day in Granville this past week.

It's not just the demands of being a coach who goes through the everyday grind of practice, game preparation, film study, etc. That's tough enough for anyone. But to have to do it at Oberlin College is a challenge all its own.

First things first, many people in and around Lorain County and Greater Cleveland aren't even aware that there is an Oberlin College football team. Remember the scene in the movie "Major League" when Tom Berenger's Jake Taylor character gets stuck at a party with a bunch of strangers who ask him what he does for a living. When he tells them he plays for the Indians, he gets my favorite line in the movie:

"Here in Cleveland? I didn't even know they still had a team!"

That's about how it is for Ramsey most times when he tries to go out and sell the program. If people know anything about the Yeomen, it's that they once got national attention for a 44 game losing streak between 1997 and 2001. That was six years ago and Ramsey still has to occasionally answer questions about it.

What's worse, High School coaches often tell their players not to take Ramsey's calls during recruiting. "You don't want to go to THAT school!" As if there was something wrong with one of the nation's finest institutions of learning that features a world-renowned Conservatory of Music. Apparently 'THAT' would be a bad place for said-recruit to visit. It's a mindset that Ramsey must combat every day. He also has to constantly arm-wrestle to try to get prospective student-athletes through a rigorous admissions process.

Yet, with all of the above working against him, Ramsey is quietly turning around the Yeomen. They have posted a pair of 5-5 seasons twice in the last four years and are poised to finish above .500 for the first time since 1974 and post the most number of wins in a season since 1963. At least 19 starters from a season ago are back to team with a freshman class of 21 for one of the deepest rosters in recent team history.

Running back R.V. Carroll, who ran for a school record 336 yards against Kenyon is back. So is signal caller Greg Mangan and explosive wideout/specialist Chris Schubert. All five members of the offensive line return. So does preseason All American safety Chase Palmer. And on and on.

The geniuses in the NCAC Media as well as Ramsey's fellow coaches apparently don't think as highly of O.C. as I do. The Yeomen were predicted to finish sixth in the league in both polls during the Media Day festivities. It's not a surprise. The Yeomen must cross the threshold and become a winning program before they receive the respect that is given to conference powers like Wabash and nearby Wooster.

This year could be that year. And maybe then, the jokes will stop.