A Coach's Perspective

 Last week, April 13-20, I spent my spring break in sunny, and somewhat windy, Southern California.  I am an 8th grade English teacher, so any time off is welcomed, but to visit my two relocated sons in a climate a bit nicer than northeast Ohio was a real treat.

         In addition to my teaching career, I have been a football coach at the high school and small college (D.3) levels for thirty-eight years.  My sons, Chris and Doug Gizzi of ZoneReady, played high school football at Cleveland St. Ignatius H.S., college football at The Air Force Academy, and Chris played professionally at Green Bay.  Now, they are fitness trainers in business together in the greater Los Angeles area. Yes, we are a football family in every sense of the word.

         Last Saturday and Sunday, they invited me to work with them at the football combines at Long Beach State College and USC.  I have joined them at spring combines in the Midwest when the Nike staff and ESPN RISE come out to Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. To say the least, I was impressed with the 1600 athletes who participated at the California camps.

         Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing some observations about these athletes and how they compare with their counterparts back in the Midwest.  As you know, our Ohio State Buckeyes have had their problems with warm-weather  opponents like USC

Florida, and Texas.  Perhaps we can engage in some dialogue about this and other football-related issues.