The Observation Deck

Ranger varsity football coach Tom Hannan has resigned from the position after one year. He intends to pursue a job closer to his home. I'll have more later.

Mike-- we all support individual decisions. I hope, however , that current and future Lakewood athletes know that their coaches and the entire athletic community have always supported our athletes. Stan Austin

Thanks for the update. Appreciate it.

Hannan's departure is a setback for the program, which recently snapped a 17 game losing streak.
Hannan did a very good job with the team last season in a very difficult circumstance. By the end of the year the kids had adapted to his offensive system.
Roster size was a challenge, as injuries thinned a roster that already had many kids playing offense and defense.
Numbers will continue to be a major problem for the program, which has been unable to field a freshman team the past two seasons.
On a personal note, I will miss him....he was very open to media interviews and marketing of the program.

We'll keep you updated on the search for the next coach, which will likely take a few months.

It's too bad the coach didn't understand what would be needed prior to accepting the position. LHS Football is in worse shape than their record.

Michael Deneen wrote: Numbers will continue to be a major problem for the program, which has been unable to field a freshman team the past two seasons.

Is this a bad thing? I would guess this will be a continuing problem which may eventually be the death knell for American football. Playing American football is not an option for my nephews because of the risk of brain injury. I cannot imagine my brother's family is unique.

Kate McCarthy wrote:Is this a bad thing?

Yes. Yes it is.
The decimation of the Lakewood youth program is FAR steeper than the decline in football participation nationwide.
Nationally the number of high school players declined from 1.14 million in the 2008 season to 1.09 million in the 2016 season. That's less than a five percent drop, certainly not enough to explain Lakewood's plummet.
https://www.colorado.edu/today/2017/09/ ... -declining

Kate McCarthy wrote: I would guess this will be a continuing problem which may eventually be the death knell for American football. Playing American football is not an option for my nephews because of the risk of brain injury. I cannot imagine my brother's family is unique.

Football isn't going away....it will continue to evolve, just as it has for the past 125 years.
Back in 1905 there were calls to abolish the sport when 19 players will killed across the nation. (The rules were far more brutal then).
http://www.history.com/news/how-teddy-r ... d-football

I'm sure there will continue to be an overall decline, but not the "imminent death" that some have predicted.

Sadly, the decline of the LHS program reflects the overall condition of the city. Historically speaking, the strongest public HS football programs have existed in the most prosperous areas.
IN the early 20th century, those were the Cleveland City Schools.
By the 1970s and 80s, the money moved to inner ring suburbs like Lakewood, Shaker, Euclid, etc.
The football programs in those towns displaced the city programs.
By the 1990s places like Strongsville and Mentor were chewing away at the inner ring suburbs.
Now in the 21st century exurbs like Avon are the new powers....reflecting their growth in terms of population and money.