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BEAVER TOWNSHIP -- With uncertainty surrounding the Ursuline High football program last season, forcing its cancellation after just two games, the school needed a calming influence as head coach heading into the 2026 campaign.
Tony Stephens has proven to be the firm leader the proud program needed.
The first-year coach hit the ground running after his hiring and the fruits of his labor have produced a 3-2 mark at the midway point of the season, currently riding a two-game win streak after a 40-7 drubbing of Warren G. Harding last Friday.
"It's always good to come away with a W," Stephens told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday's meeting at Avion Banquet Center. "I was hired, then in the summer we had almost three months as a staff with the team to get ready for the season. Everything happened so fast and while I was under the gun with some things, I didn't hesitate about taking over the team. Of course, I first had to ask the boss for her permission, we always have to do that, right? My wife, Christine, gave her approval and here we are."
Stephens has two sons who played college football so that weighed heavily on his decision when he accepted the Fighting Irish head job.
"I have two boys that played collegiate football," he said. "My son, Aidan, graduated from Yale and is a fifth-year wide receiver pursuing his master's degree at Youngstown State. My oldest son, Tyler, played at the University of Missouri and is currently in his second season with the Washington Wolfpack of the Arena Football League. We would leave in the middle of the night and drive 12 hours to see Tyler play at Missouri, or nine-plus hours to Connecticut to watch Aidan. She was concerned about that, but I said this is an opportunity and I am not going to worry about that.
"Men have a way of putting certain things off where women think long term. I am fortunate to have been able to surround myself with an excellent coaching staff. I'm not the smartest guy in the room nor do I think I am, so I try to surround myself with guys smarter than me and that makes everyone look good. They know that's the secret food for me so I must credit them for our success thus far."
Creating a new culture and attitude was paramount for the first-year head coach and staff.
"When I came into the program, we had about 20-25 kids in the weight room. There was a lot of uncertainty because there was no structure," Stephens said. "What I mean by no structure, there was no leader because they didn't have a head coach and when you don't have a head coach in any program, there's a lot of uncertainty and lack of direction. There was no stability so when I came in we started working, kept working and got bigger, stronger and faster.
"Then, the message was we have to believe in ourselves. We can't look ahead, worry about the schedule or where we are going to play. My entire message was that we must take care of the little things and we have to control what we can control. We can't control anything outside of our program so we must control what's in front of us. We had to get to work and that's what we did."
Discipline was the main goal.
Stephens mentioned how his approach is about more than X's and O's.
"Everyone was talking about the schedule but the message has been consistent and that is we are going to play between the whistles," he said. "I'm about discipline as a coach and don't want to be dealing with unsportsmanlike penalties or personal fouls. Those are things that you can control so we worked on that first, then we worked on not letting words get to you. Laugh them off and go about your business. Words have no power if you laugh them off. You can control that. That is becoming disciplined, becoming a good football player and that's my message to them. Work is about controlling what you can control. I want to raise leaders and I told them it isn't just about football. It's about life after football.
"I want to raise leaders, good husbands, good fathers and good citizens. My goal is for them to become leaders, then everything else will take care of itself. We can do this if we take care of the little things and remain disciplined. It's a little thing like handing the football back to the referee. We don't toss it, we hand it to them because it shows a sign of respect to the official and the game."
The second half of the season starts Friday night when the Fighting Irish travel to Western Pennsylvania to meet the undefeated Farrell Steelers.
"We do have some things that we need to work on. We are still inconsistent at times as a team but that is because we are young," Stephens said. "I am playing sophomores, juniors and some seniors but our sophomores are really freshmen and the juniors basically sophomores. They have done well but participation-wise, they are really a year behind their actual grade, so I am not surprised at how competitive they have become.
"When we went up against St. Frances DeSales in our opener, I saw a lot of good things that we did. I thought that was a game we could have won had we not made those little mistakes. It could very easily have been 14-10 going into the half, but we still witnessed many positives coming out of that first game. I knew those were flexible mistakes and as we played more and got used to the speed of the game, those things were all going to take care of themselves."
Ursuline's final five games are against opponents boasting an impressive 17-6 combined record.
Two teams, Farrell and Walsh Jesuit, are currently undefeated.
"It's one week at a time and not looking ahead," Stephens added. "I continue to tell these guys that we have STP, something to prove. That's not true to the people outside the locker room, that's to ourselves and as long as they believe in themselves, it doesn't matter who we play. It doesn't matter if they are good or bad because any team can sneak up on you so it's one step on the ladder in front of us. Our goal is to continue moving up the ladder."
Next week, YSU head women's soccer coach Rich Wall will serve as guest speaker.