Article published November 26, 2009
Knights' Cromwell is Blade's coach of year
Longtime coach directs St. Francis to 11-2 record
Dick Cromwell has a 208-85-1 record in 26 seasons as coach at St. Francis. Overall, he has a 251-119-2 record in 34 seasons.
 VIEW: All-Blade football team: Nov. 26, 2009
VIEW: All-Blade list: Nov. 26, 2009
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THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON
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By STEVE JUNGA
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
Rest assured, Dick Cromwell is not the kind of guy who lies awake at night worrying about what people think about him.
But the longtime St. Francis de Sales football coach was a bit concerned that his highly regarded program had slipped a bit from its usual spot atop the City League the last four seasons.
Some questioned his trademark old-school run game in an era of spread offenses and pass-oriented schemes.
Some may have doubted that St. Francis could climb back among league contenders without some strategic changes.
Perhaps the proof of these doubts came at the City League's annual football smoker, when a preseason poll of coaches tabbed the Knights - who had gone 20-21 overall since their last CL title and playoff appearance in 2004 - for a fifth-place tie with Start.
But Cromwell had a good feeling about his senior class entering the season, and his hunch was correct. The Knights posted a 9-1 (6-1 CL) regular-season
record, earned a No. 5 state ranking and were the only team to beat eventual City champion Whitmer. They were the league's last team alive in the playoffs before falling 34-21 to Maple Heights in the Division II regional final to finish 11-2 overall."Any time you can get this far in the playoffs it's exciting and special for the kids," Cromwell said. "I know a lot of people are happy for the school and the program, especially after a few years that weren't what we had given people to expect.
"I don't take a whole lot of special joy in it because you go into every season trying to do the best you can. Things just clicked a little more this year than they did the past couple years. The seniors were great leaders and gave us an opportunity to win a bunch of games and advance in the playoffs."
For his role in guiding this resurgence of St. Francis football, Cromwell is the 2009 All-Blade coach of the year.
Others considered for the honor were Maumee's John Boles, who led the Panthers to a 9-2 record and Northern Lakes League co-championship, Bedford's Jeff Wood, who guided the Kicking Mules to a Southeastern Conference Red Division title and the school's first Michigan playoff appearance since 1990, Bryan's Travis Cooper, who took the 8-3 Golden Bears (7-1 in Northwest Ohio Athletic League) to the Ohio playoffs for the first time in just his second season, and Fremont St. Joseph's Todd
Drusback, whose 9-2 Crimson Streaks took a share of the Midland Athletic League championship and reached the state playoffs for the first time in 12 years.
As for Cromwell, the Knights' third win in what became a 6-0 start was his 200th in 26 seasons at St. Francis (1979-1984 and 1990-2009). He ended the year at 208-85-1 with the Knights, and 251-119-2 in 34 seasons overall, counting stops at Olmsted Falls (1975-78) and Findlay (1985-88).
Along the way, Cromwell, 62, has led St. Francis to a Division I state championship in 1984, a Division II state title in 2001, a
D-II runner-up finish in 1982 and a D-II state semifinal finish in 2002.
The Knights have made 13 playoff appearances under Cromwell, and won 13 City championships. His teams had won four straight CL crowns from 2001-04, capping a stretch of eight City titles in 10 seasons.
Despite the minidrought of the past four years, the 11-2 record this year wasn't achieved a whole lot differently strategy-wise than the two state championships or 13 league titles.
"We coached this year the same way we did in 1990 and the same way we did the last couple years," Cromwell said. "The things we had been doing were good, and things just clicked this year."
Did Cromwell sense the doubts about his program?
"Oh certainly," he said. "The last three or four years we weren't as good as we had been, and you see a trend going that way. We righted it this year, but I'm sure we were starting to lose some of that respect from the other schools. We either didn't quite have the talent [in recent seasons], or weren't getting it done. Whatever it was, they saw other programs overtaking us.
"There were comments you'd
hear about what we were
doing offensively or defensively, but I don't think our staff ever wavered, and I don't think our kids did either. You're never quite sure as a coach about that famous word 'chemistry,' and how that comes together. Kids do that, not coaches. As the season went on it came together."
Along with his players, Cromwell credits his experienced staff of assistant coaches.
"Craig and George Schaefer, Matt Dombi and Luis Santiago have been with me since 1990. Mike Blochowski's been with me since 1993. The only one position we've changed over the years is our offensive tackle coach, from Ben Benore to John Johnson to Rick Michalak now. [Having a veteran staff] helps with preparation.
"We're not in staff meetings as long, they know the kids, they know the offense, they know the defense and I feel comfortable with the way they treat kids and how they handle situations."
There is one coach that Cromwell misses greatly.
"When I came here [the late former St. Francis head football coach] Dick Mattingly was the athletic director. I Iived five doors from him the last six years of his life," he said. "We were best buddies. He was a good man to bounce things off of, and he was always there to listen to you. He always told me to throw the ball, even though he never did.
"He was a calming influence in one way, and yet someone who also said, 'Dick, don't change your ways. Just keep pushing.' When you have a season like this, you really miss somebody like that because he would've really enjoyed what we were doing."
Contact Steve Junga at:
sjunga@theblade.com
or 419-724-6461.
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