The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Longtime Celina football coach Jerry Harris will be inducted into the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association's Hall of Fame this weekend in Columbus.
When Jerry Harris came to Celina in 1981, he brought a passing game that could dominate.
This weekend, the coach will get the highest honors for Ohio high school football coaches.
Harris, who coached the Bulldogs for 21 seasons, will be inducted into the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association's Hall of Fame on Friday in Columbus.
"Well, I'd have to say that I'm overwhelmed," said Harris via telephone. "I never expected such an honor. The more I think about it that it's very fortunate and very lucky that there's somebody out there that thought that they wanted to nominate me."
Harris's legacy at Celina was a high-octane passing attack that earned the nickname "Air Harris."
"It all started back in the early 1980s with a young kid that was 5-foot-8, 5-9 160 pounds and had a magical way about throwing the football. That kid was Jeff Wiley."
After going 3-7 in his first season at Celina, Harris got things rolling, going 7-3 in 1982 before the Bulldogs, led by Wiley, who went on to quarterback at Holy Cross, started 12-0 and reached the Division II state championship game in 1983, facing Brecksille-Broadview Heights at Ohio Stadium.
Harris noticed the Brecksville quarterback/punter working his punts in pregame, a guy named Tom Tupa.
"I still remember to this day watching him warm up in Ohio Stadium. As big as that place was, when he was out there practicing punting, that ball went up and you thought it was going to leave the stadium," said Harris of Tupa, who would go on to play quarterback and punter at Ohio State, then spend 17 years in the National Football League, winning a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay. "That's how high and out far he could kick the ball. So he was probably the difference in the game. We held them to one touchdown the whole game but they held us to one, too, because of field position and because of his punts put us in field position that was always in their favor."
Brecksville won the game 12-6.
Another memory of that state game was a pregame speech from legendary coach Woody Hayes, who coached Celina graduate Jim Otis in the late 1960s, including a national title in 1968.
"That was something that those kids are never forget playing in that stadium so I'll never forget," said Harris.
Harris stated that none of the success would have come without great players and great assistant coaches.
After you have athletes, the other thing you have to have is a good coaching staff," said Harris. "It takes more than the football it takes anywhere from four to six to seven eight different coaches that want to get involved and spend the time for something like this to happen."
"In all the years that I coached here, I only had two defensive coordinators that whole time: Walt Shreffler and Mick Gabes," continued Harris. "When you have defensive coordinators, you're turning over half your football team to somebody else."
While Celina never returned to a state final, Harris guided Celina to four more playoff trips in 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998. The 1995 team, led by future Miami University quarterback Mike Bath, and 1998 team, with Trent Dysert, who had thrown for nearly 6,000 yards in his career at quarterback, reached the state semifinals.
Harris stepped down after the 1999 season, but returned in 2006 and coached for two more seasons, finishing with a school-record 134 wins, three Western Buckeye League titles and two regional titles.
When asked about what he'll talk about during the ceremony, he'll have a lot to say, but knows he'll talk.
"You don't get specific because if you get specific, you're always going to omit somebody," said Harris. "You've got to be very general to what you say."
Also being inducted on Friday are David Lee Caldwell, Dave artman, Bill Inselmann, Jim McQuade and Bob Olwin.
