Spread All Day;967492 wrote:Thats what happens when you start talking about a state title guys! lol. Come on, you had to see this coming
I know the post you may be referring to. It was in the D-5 state title contenders thread a few months back. Someone had posted either Ursuline or Campbell would win the state championship in D-5. When I saw the post I immediately made the statement that Campbell was nowhere near being a state contender even with all of the talent they had. I made mention of the leadership concerns I had with the team and wondered if Campbell could even win the AAC-Blue. They shared that title with Girard thanks to a week 8 victory over the Indians. Then after beating Newton Falls in a really ugly game in week 9, it looked to me as if Campbell took Struthers lightly and got their collective clocks cleaned by a Struthers team that had played a much tougher schedule than Campbell had. That loss costed Campbell a home game in week 11 and a third straight trip to the playoffs. But to be honest, I was not surprised with the end result. Senior leadership and good team players make a huge difference in the success or lack thereof a team. Campbell had great talent. But Campbell had no leaders. Campbell had a few kids who were less than ideal teammates. It caught up to them in the end. With no leaders, this team did not handle adversity well enough. And there was plenty of it, on and off the field. Maybe the seniors to be in 2012 will take the shortcomings of the 2011 season as a lesson learned. They have to. If they don't we could see more failures ahead.
Hopefully the person who made that post about Campbell winning state has learned his lesson and will not make any similar predictions for the 2012 season. I mentioned that some Campbell fans wear their pride on their sleeves and have been known to make a bold prediction without knowing about everything that is happening or could happen down the line during the season. Some of these fans do not live in the Youngstown area and are following Campbell from afar. They only can go by what is being said to them, what is written in the papers and what is mentioned on tv. I knew the facts. I knew what the red flags would be as soon as adversity set in. All Campbell fans want to see the Devils win a state championship in football. The talent level is good. But senior leadership, the work ethic in the offseason, and keeping the grades up in the classroom has to get better before a deeper run in the playoffs can be expected. From what I understand had Campbell made it to week 12 there would have been at least 4 key players ruled ineligible due to poor grades. And believe me, these kids who would have been ruled ineligible are not taking the most difficult classes available. I have been told that some of them just do not care.
There are some holes to fill in 2012. But Campbell returns a good nucleus. They will have good size and good athletes. The schedule will be a bit tougher. Starting with the offseason conditioning program, some leaders need to emerge.
