Tag: Ohio

How the Archbishop Moeller football coach became the secret ingredient in the Bengals coaching staff

After just one year as Archbishop Moeller head coach, Doug Rosfeld took a position with the Cincinnati Bengals. He’s making a difference in an 0-10 season.

Archbishop Moeller High School (Cincinnati, Ohio) is one of the legendary programs in the Midwest. It’s no small honor to take on the mantle as the Moeller head football coach, particularly among alums.

RELATED: Rosfeld heads to Cincinnati Bengals football staff; Moeller taps Naumann as interim

So, when Doug Rosfeld became the Moeller head coach, he thought he had made it. That’s what made his decision to leave a year later all the more disorienting. Yet Rosfeld knew when new Bengals coach Zac Taylor came calling, Rosfeld’s calling was changing, too.

Now, Rosfeld stands out as one of the few brights spots in an otherwise dismal season in Cincinnati. As reported by ESPN, Rosfeld has emerged as the catch all problem solver for Taylor in the first year with the Bengals for both.

Rosfeld, the Bengals’ director of coaching operations, has been called “a rock star,” and someone who is good at, “talking to guys, trying to get them to be better men, better people.”

And while the Bengals are out to a 0-10 start, there’s little question that Rosfeld is the human embodiment of the positive culture Taylor and the staff are trying to implement. That comes directly from his time at Moeller.

“They’re giving their all — their physical health, everything they’ve got — for a team,” Rosfeld told ESPN. “When you see that in a guy, you like working and being around it.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a young guy or a college player or a professional athlete. When you see somebody giving everything they’ve got for the benefit of the team and the guy next to him, it doesn’t matter. You want to be around it. You want to help them in any way you can.”

What We Learned: No. 14 Mentor (Ohio) rallies, tops St. Edward in OT to advance

Super 25 No. 14 Mentor scored a dramatic, overtime victory against St. Edward in the Ohio high school state playoffs.

They were on the ropes, then fighting just to force overtime. When Mentor finally got there, the Cardinals made the most of it.

USA TODAY Super 25 No. 14 Mentor capitalized on its final chance, scoring a game-tying touchdown in the final two minutes, then scored a touchdown on fourth-and-goal in overtime and successfully converted a two-point conversion to top St. Edward, 36-35, in the Ohio state playoffs Friday night.

Here’s everything we learned from Mentor’s historic escape:

1) Mentor’s coaching staff and players have some stones

Facing one of the toughest foes in the Cleveland area, a program that has finished as highly ranked as No. 3 in the Super 25 in the past decade, Mentor found itself down by two touchdowns with just four minutes left in the third quarter. No matter. The Cardinals clawed one touchdown back on a trick play, then held off every Eagles advance to set the stage for a last minute, game-tying touchdown.

That, of course, set the stage for the ultimate gutsy call: Following a touchdown, Mentor went for the win instead of the tie. Fortune is said to favor the brave, and it smiled on the Cardinals with quarterback Ian Kipp completing a game-winning two-point pass to senior wide receiver and Kent State commit Luke Floriea.

Game, set, match Mentor, and season for St. Ed’s in perhaps the most fitting ending possible for an epic clash between two of Northeast Ohio’s most storied programs.

2) Did Mentor really score its OT touchdown?

There’s no question that Floriea made the game-winning catch on the two-point conversion, but did the touchdown that led to it really count? There’s at least some suggestion on social media that Ian Kipp’s touchdown — which came on a 4th and goal — was actually stopped just short of the goal line. Truth or fiction? Judge for yourself below. The critics may have a point:

3) The true MVPs: Both defenses

For all the drama, all the fireworks, the game could have been wrapped up in more traditional ways if either team’s offense had effectively executed. Instead, the defenses held strong again and again. St. Ed’s turns it over on an interception inside their own 30? No worries, the defense will dig its way out. St. Ed’s driving to win? Just an set up for Mentor to make a big play. Yes, both offenses clicked back in during the final minutes of regulation and in overtime, but the fierce defenses of both sides kept them off solid footing before then and set up one of the more remarkable finishes of the season, nationwide.

LeBron James shares heartfelt message from mother on triple-double feat

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James recorded triple-doubles against all 30 teams and his mother sent him a sweet congratulatory message.

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During Tuesday night’s Los Angeles Lakers win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double against all 30 teams in the league.

Everyone from fans to coaches, teammates and rivals commented on the historic feat. Although LeBron himself won’t have the most triple-doubles of all-time or likely average one in a season, the feat speaks both to his incredible versatility and longevity. But none of the congratulations hit LeBron quite as much as the one he got from his No. 1 fan: his mother, Gloria James.

James shared a heartfelt text exchange with his mother on Instagram the day after the game.

LeBron and his mother have been in the public eye for nearly two decades, but still remain tightly bound even as James’ All-Time success matches, or even surpasses, the future many saw for him when he was just a high schooler from Akron.