BEAVER TOWNSHIP — Long considered one of the area’s most enthusiastic and animated scholastic football coaches, Andy Hake has also been one of the state’s most successful head mentors over the past three decades.

Since 2009, beginning at Western Reserve, then at Valley Christian and currently Mineral Ridge, Hake has compiled a 129-31 (.806 winning percentage) overall mark – he is 139-44 (.760) including playoffs – qualifying for the postseason in 13 of his 16 seasons as a head coach.

Becoming a coach and teacher was an easy decision for the 1998 Mineral Ridge alum.

“My mom and dad were special education teachers for 35 years and I saw the impact that they had on kids, plus I love the game of football,” Hake told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “My dad coached it, I grew up with it and after being around it for so long, I saw the impact that he had on people. I like working with young people, I like our country, I enjoy developing leaders and love making great teams.

“It all matters to me. I have a real passion for this and am over the top in doing it. This is an age group where there are less kids playing. We had 68 kids at Mineral Ridge last year, I am losing 10 but I’ll pick up 22 so we will have 80 or so players next year. We are going to get better and better and that’s how I approach every year.”

Hake has been a government-history teacher for the past 18 years at The Rayen School, East High School, Trumbull Career and Technical Center, Western Reserve Schools and Mineral Ridge, also serving as an assistant coach beginning in 1999 before assuming the reins of the Western Reserve grid program 10 years later.

His team-first concept hits home with his players once they realize success comes to those who understand there is no ‘I’ in team.

“The team concept is so important,” Hake said. “It is the opportunity to teach loyalty, hard work, accountability, commitment, family and team first. Also, it helps our young people develop a heroic sense of belonging, fueled by a courage they cannot find anywhere else. The significant decline in participation numbers, especially football, remains a big concern across the country.

“Perhaps it is injuries, which is always a concern for parents or even time commitment. So much time is needed to be committed and the kids have so many options, plus they might get pressured into picking one sport. Football is so time consuming, year round, hard and quite frankly, dangerous. I really try to encourage all kids to play extracurriculars, no matter what sport or activity. It is so important to be involved in team activities to learn these critical lessons. It doesn’t matter if you are all-state or just a kid on the team trying to do the best you can. Everyone can, and should, benefit from playing high school sports.”

Hake said there have been multiple changes to the game since he first started coaching with NIL (name, image and likeness) the hottest thing currently facing the scholastic level.

“NIL is a policy change in college and now high school athletics, allowing student-athletes to profit from their personal brand through endorsements, social media and appearances rather than being banned from earning money while playing,” Hake said. “This is a fundamental change to the landscape of college sports and athlete compensation. This policy allows athletes the ability to sign deals with companies, use their social media influence and build their personal brand, earning money while maintaining eligibility.

“Colleges have been doing this for a while, and some players are making enormous amounts of money, others not so much. How will this affect high school? How will this affect players on teams and the larger aspect of their communities? There will be added risks around pressure, fairness and exploitation of teenagers, not to mention the mental health strains, exploitation risks as well as equity and focus issues.”

In addition to his parents, Hake said that watching others has helped shape both his classroom and coaching approach.

“I was coached by Lew Lowery at Mineral Ridge, my head football coach was Ron Toth, and I had some great individual coaches who were good guys as well as good family people,” Hake said. “Former YSU head football coach Jim Tressel is someone I enjoy talking with to this day. He’s a kind guy, someone I have been around for a long time and you see great leaders who are selfless. Coach Tressel is a great leader.

“Coaching against great leaders, too, helps as you tend to pick things up from them. I coached against Dan Yeagley at South Range, and Dan Williams at McDonald is a great rival of ours, so you pick up other people’s strengths. You also see their weaknesses, and it puts life into perspective so you try to draw from their strengths and see how they do things. I wouldn’t tell anyone to be like me, don’t be a wild man in practice all the time. It works for me, probably not for them. If it didn’t work for me, then I wouldn’t do it. I am going to be doing this until I am dead. I am going to do this as long as I am able to.

“Young people are looking for leaders, they are in awe of those good leaders, so you do the best you can with our young people. You try to encourage them and unite. I believe in God, it’s good to believe in someone greater than yourself, and while I’m not talking scripture a lot, it’s good for them to believe in someone greater than themselves. There’s nothing wrong with that, they don’t see real leaders, and when they do, they are in awe.”

Hake is as grateful for the everyday players who are rarely recognized, as much as he is the players receiving postseason accolades.

“A special congratulations goes out to all the players that received all-county, league, district, regional and state honors,” he said. “Also, for those who may have earned scholarships, because those are tremendous accomplishments for them, to be recognized for their great feats on the field of play. I really want to take a moment to salute those who never received any honors or those who were not recognized this year for their greatness.

“The down-the-line players that are the majority of those who participate in our sports and who make up our teams. They are the ones that buy into being great teammates and put in the same amount of time and commitment as the all-everything player. They make our sports great, and they should be recognized, too.”

Next Monday, Chuck Haskell, newly appointed director of the Ohio Athletic Commission, will serve as guest speaker.