Coach changes haven’t derailed UA, Jerome, Coff man
The boys lacrosse scene in central Ohio seemed ripe for upheaval when coaches Ted Wolford of Upper Arlington, A.J. Auld of Dublin Jerome and Mark Forsythe of Dublin Coffman resigned after last season.
But with lacrosse about to begin the first postseason tournament under direction of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, guess which Division I teams are seeded Nos. 1 through 3 in the region?
Former UA player and assistant Kyle Olson has the Golden Bears (15-1) at No. 1, longtime middle school coach and high school assistant Shane Comisford has Coffman (16-3) seeded second, and former Dublin Grizzell Middle School coach Andy Asmo has Jerome (12-4) seeded third.
Olson had just agreed to become a volunteer assistant at UA after resigning as Hilliard Davidson coach when Wolford called in July to say he had decided to go into semi-retirement after 25 seasons, 460 victories and 16 state championships.
“This is one of the few jobs I would have gone after, and the first person I called when I got the job was to Coach Wolford asking if he would come back to help,” Olson said. “With this job I wasn’t about to shake things up. How can you demand more than Ted Wolford? He is the best.”
Senior captain E.J. Caldwell called his brother, Griffin, to get the lowdown on Olson.
“Griffin played here when Coach Olson was an assistant and he was very high on him,” Caldwell said. “I found out Coach has so much energy and passion for the game. It’s also great having Coach Wolford on the staff. I know he loves it.”
Auld and Asmo had been a team for 11 seasons in Jerome’s runs to state championships in 2010 and ’11 and runnerup finishes in 2006, ’12, ’13 and ‘14. Asmo prepared middle school players for the varsity by using the same system.
“We went into this to be competitive at a high level, wanting to build a brand and not just a team,” Asmo said. “Taking over the varsity was more excitement than nerves. Of the 32 players, I coached 30 at one point. We have the same terminology and same concepts. I wasn’t going to blow up what was working.”
Asmo said he and Auld talk on the phone about lacrosse so much that their wives have to be annoyed.
Senior goalkeeper Josh Miller and the players were stunned when Auld and Asmo walked into the weight room in December and announced what was going to happen.
“Coach Auld was great, but I knew this was going to be a smooth transition,” Miller said. “We were ready to take it on, take the next step. We didn’t have to learn new terminology. Coach Asmo has the same intensity and commitment as Coach Auld.”
There was little familiarity with Comisford at Coffman. He coached 11 seasons at Worthingway Middle School in Worthington, four as an assistant at Thomas Worthington and one as an assistant under Olson at Davidson.
The Shamrocks were coming off a season in which Forsythe led them to an 18-3 record and regional championship appearance.
“I was extremely excited to get this job — it was a no-brainer,” Comisford said. “I coached against Coffman for five years and knew there was a lot of talent. They had to buy in to me, work their tails off and be a team. They were hungry to learn and did buy in.”
Coffman exorcised one demon by defeating Upper Arlington 16-12 on May 2 after 22 straight losses in the series dating to 2002.
Senior captain and defender Jacob Karston said a 9-8 victory over Jerome was important, but the UA game was immense.
“We could say we beat one of the best teams in Ohio,” Karston said. “We pushed ourselves and hustled for every ground ball and looked for every pass. We walked off the field and said we had something special.”