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Grizzlies experience unusually poor year By Don Hunt Ashland High football coach Jim Nagel walked off the field at Eagle Point High School Friday night with anguish and disdain etched on his face. Nagel's Grizzlies had just suffered a 27-19 loss to Eagle Point that officially eliminated them from the state playoffs and guaranteed their first losing season in 17 years. It was another ignominious defeat in a woebegone season. This one was littered with eight turnovers. The week before, in a 62-30 loss to North Medford, Ashland surrendered three kickoff returns for touchdowns and had a punt blocked for another score. This is a proud football program, one that has advanced to the state playoffs each of the past 16 years, marched to the Class 4A state championship game five times in that span and walked off with titles in 1989, '91 and '98. Nagel went into this season with a career record of 163-47 at Ashland since taking over the program in 1983. That's a winning percentage of 78 percent at one of the smallest schools in the state, and let's not forget that the Grizzlies rarely won prior to Nagel's arrival. And that begs the question - what happened? In a nutshell, the majority of the current players haven't worked very hard in the off-season for the past two years. The weight room, once packed with football players in the spring and summer months, has been a rather quiet place in recent times. The Grizzlies' attendance has also decreased in the summer passing league that Nagel launched in the 1980s and that virtually every team in the area now participates in. Summer conditioning sessions have been sparsely attended as well. The upshot is that the Grizzlies are weak in their offensive and defensive lines, and when you combine that with a rather lean year at the skill positions, a down year ensues. "What we're seeing is our kids getting beat by kids who are bigger, stronger and faster," says Nagel, whose team has a 2-5 record with Crater and Roseburg remaining. "It's very frustrating, not only for myself but for the entire coaching staff. "It would be one thing to go on the field and know that the kids worked their hardest and still got beat, but we all know that's not the case at this point in time. "These are good kids and we love them to death, and for the most part they've given us good efforts in practices and games. But we don't have the size, strength and speed we need to have to compete in this conference, and those are the things the off-season develops." Nagel admits this season is more frustrating than 1984 when the Grizzlies managed only one victory. "That team lost six games by a touchdown or less, and it was a building season," Nagel says, noting that the Grizzlies' playoff streak began the following season. "There was progress. What we're seeing now is more of a digression. We've gone backwards, and that's a lot more frustrating." What makes the collapse particularly disheartening for the Ashland coaches is that they're known to be among the hardest-working in the state. Along with the weekday practices and games, they meet from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and from noon to five p.m. on Sundays to study video and finalize game plans. From late August into December, when the playoffs are held, there are precious few days off. Nagel is wondering what he can do to restore the pride and resolve that were once Grizzly staples. "I've got to take a good, hard look at myself and decide if I need to make some changes in my motivation and coaching techniques," he admits. "And we'll sit down with the kids after the season and do some soul-searching." The freshman and JV programs are also struggling this season, and Nagel admits the Grizzlies could sputter again next year unless the players do an about-face in the off-season. He points to the 1998 state championship team as a group that had limited talent but a giant work ethic. "The senior class that year won two games as freshmen," Nagel says. "And so it can be done." Asked how long he can go on as coach with the situation not improving, Nagel said, "I don't know if I've got an answer to that. At this point I'm just taking it one year at a time." THE MAIL TRIBUNE'S new pick-it line that puts names and faces to our football prognosticating can put a reporter in the line of fire following a Friday night game. As I was being soundly denounced - good-naturedly - by the Eagle Point coaching staff in the locker room for having picked Ashland to beat the Eagles, head coach Mike Johnston doffed his blue and gold polo shirt with the words "Eagle Point Football" inscribed on the front and said, "Please give this to the only man in your office with a brain!" That would be Greg Stiles, the former M-T sports reporter and current business writer who was our guest picker last week. Stiles was the lone dissenter among the eight prognosticators to favor the Eagles. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.