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Training Camp Insider: Urbana
Of all the speeches I’ve seen in the last two weeks by area football coaches, Geron Stokes might have given the best. It was so good you would have thought he had written it down and was reading from cue cards, but it seemed to be improvised.
In the speech last week, Stokes ran through the early part of the Urbana’s schedule, warning his players they were going to lose each game if they didn’t start working hard in practice.
If the players weren’t motivated by the speech, they at least know who they’re playing in the first four weeks of the season.
All the new young coaches I’ve met this season — a list that so far includes Stokes at Urbana, Brian Stevens at Northwestern, Nic Black at Graham, Isaac Seevers at Greeneview and Austin Steward at Cedarville — have impressed me with their energy and enthusiasm.
Of all those coaches, Stokes probably walks into the best situation. Urbana is a consistent winner with six playoff appearances in the last eight years under Dave Carroll, and Stokes knows the program and the community well. He is a 2003 Urbana graduate and was an assistant coach the last three seasons.
Urbana should be a hungry team. It was one of only a handful of 9-1 teams in Ohio to not make the playoffs in 2008.
As for the new coach, he doesn’t plan any major changes to the playbook.
“We’re going to try to run the football a lot and play our tough disciplined defense,” Stokes said. “Nothing really has changed. I’ve put my own little twist on the program, and our kids have transitioned into it really well.”
Urbana’s new quarterback this year will be senior Seth Young. Last year’s starter, Nate Reisinger, who graduated, did a good job preparing Young for this season, Stokes said, and continues to help the new starter in practice this August.
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