Wildcat turnaround near fruition
By Bob Baptist
Columbus Dispatch Reporter
When newly hired Coach Bob Farmer huddled with his first Hilliard football team a little more than two years ago, he faced a group of veterans conditioned to losing. The Wildcats hadn’t posted a winning season in four years.
However, a couple of sophomores sensed that the situation was about to change.
“IT WAS HIS enthusiasm. You could tell right away Coach Farmer knew how to motivate people,” said Kevin Durban, now a senior on the 9-0 Hilliard team that is rated fifth among Ohio’s top 10 Class AAA teams.
“He sat us down and told us how we could get on the winning road,” said Dallas Sharp, who in three seasons as a Wildcat back has become one of Central Ohio’s best all-purpose football players.
Before Farmer’s arrival from Dublin in 1976, Hilliard had managed to tarnish in four seasons the winning tradition former Coach Norm McElheny had established over 21 campaigns from 1951 to 1971. During McElheny’s tenure, the Wildcats won about twice as many games as they lost, earning Mid-8 League championships in 1959, ’60, ’61, ’62 and ’69. After his resignation in 1971, Hilliard slipped to consecutive marks of 1-8, 2-7-1, 3-7 and 2-7-1.
Farmer felt the records weren’t an accurate assessment of Hilliard’s talent pool.
“I HAD WATCHED the films from the previous season,” Farmer said. “and I knew the talent was there. The only thing missing was the attitude. They started losing, and it just carried over from one season to the next. I told them the new staff planned on winning the Ohio Capital Conference championship.”
“The varsity didn’t have the attitude to win,” Sharp recalled of his freshman year. “The seniors who were here downgraded everything and everybody.”
“There wasn’t any enthusiasm,” added Durban. “But we never lost hope. We had good teams in junior high. We figured we could have good teams in high school.”
One game proved to be worth a thousand of Farmer’s motivational speeches.
“IT HAD BEEN seven years since we beat London,” Farmer said of Hilliard’s traditional rival. “Well, we beat them in my first game, and then we won our next two. The attitude went up tremendously. That’s when the kids started believing in the program.” Hilliard finished with a 7-3 record that year and was 5-5 last season.
This year? “There’s nothing like it,” Durban said. “There are more people at the games. There’s more of everything.”
Everything includes pressure. “There’s a lot of that,” said Sharp. “Everybody’s out to get you; teams throw everything against you.”
“But Coach Farmer just tells us to take one game at a time,” replied Durban. “He always stressed every Friday night that it is the most important night of your life. He said that against London when we were sophomores. He said that game would be our whole season.”
“IT TOOK a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of desire on the kid’s part to get here,” Farmer said. “When you think about it, I guess we’ve been everywhere there is to be the last three years with these kids.”
Almost, Hilliard never has had an undefeated football team. A victory Friday night over Reynoldsburg would make the Wildcats’ journey complete.”
Columbus Dispatch Reporter
When newly hired Coach Bob Farmer huddled with his first Hilliard football team a little more than two years ago, he faced a group of veterans conditioned to losing. The Wildcats hadn’t posted a winning season in four years.
However, a couple of sophomores sensed that the situation was about to change.
“IT WAS HIS enthusiasm. You could tell right away Coach Farmer knew how to motivate people,” said Kevin Durban, now a senior on the 9-0 Hilliard team that is rated fifth among Ohio’s top 10 Class AAA teams.
“He sat us down and told us how we could get on the winning road,” said Dallas Sharp, who in three seasons as a Wildcat back has become one of Central Ohio’s best all-purpose football players.
Before Farmer’s arrival from Dublin in 1976, Hilliard had managed to tarnish in four seasons the winning tradition former Coach Norm McElheny had established over 21 campaigns from 1951 to 1971. During McElheny’s tenure, the Wildcats won about twice as many games as they lost, earning Mid-8 League championships in 1959, ’60, ’61, ’62 and ’69. After his resignation in 1971, Hilliard slipped to consecutive marks of 1-8, 2-7-1, 3-7 and 2-7-1.
Farmer felt the records weren’t an accurate assessment of Hilliard’s talent pool.
“I HAD WATCHED the films from the previous season,” Farmer said. “and I knew the talent was there. The only thing missing was the attitude. They started losing, and it just carried over from one season to the next. I told them the new staff planned on winning the Ohio Capital Conference championship.”
“The varsity didn’t have the attitude to win,” Sharp recalled of his freshman year. “The seniors who were here downgraded everything and everybody.”
“There wasn’t any enthusiasm,” added Durban. “But we never lost hope. We had good teams in junior high. We figured we could have good teams in high school.”
One game proved to be worth a thousand of Farmer’s motivational speeches.
“IT HAD BEEN seven years since we beat London,” Farmer said of Hilliard’s traditional rival. “Well, we beat them in my first game, and then we won our next two. The attitude went up tremendously. That’s when the kids started believing in the program.” Hilliard finished with a 7-3 record that year and was 5-5 last season.
This year? “There’s nothing like it,” Durban said. “There are more people at the games. There’s more of everything.”
Everything includes pressure. “There’s a lot of that,” said Sharp. “Everybody’s out to get you; teams throw everything against you.”
“But Coach Farmer just tells us to take one game at a time,” replied Durban. “He always stressed every Friday night that it is the most important night of your life. He said that against London when we were sophomores. He said that game would be our whole season.”
“IT TOOK a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of desire on the kid’s part to get here,” Farmer said. “When you think about it, I guess we’ve been everywhere there is to be the last three years with these kids.”
Almost, Hilliard never has had an undefeated football team. A victory Friday night over Reynoldsburg would make the Wildcats’ journey complete.”