Yoder Steps down. **Update** Justin Kropka MF New Head Coach

[Frankie Five Angels]

Agenda? If by agenda you mean to replace a guy that has taken the program to its lowest point in over 50 years, I'm all in for that agenda. Allowing him to "step down" as opposed to firing him seems like they were pretty reasonable and fair to the man. I would bet that nobody that got forced out/fired from any job didnt want to keep that job. Of course he wanted to keep it, he is a competitor and Im sure he cares about the program and wanted to succeed. But the proof is in the pudding. Something isnt working and it starts at the top.

Exactly, the program has eroded to the point a move had to be made. Yoder was in over his head as a head coach and had no control over practice. He just wasn’t a great communicator and I don’t know if he was willing to put the time in like Dave Bruney. There have been times where there were only two kids down at the field house lifting weights.

If you want to talk about an agenda, Yoder was hired over Fitch/Kropka on an agenda with who was on BOE in 2018. His friend and former teammate he brought in from Mount Union to be an assistant is despised by football players and non football player students at the high school. They started out the season with 32 players and I believe were down to mid 20’s by end of the season. Numbers were never close to being this bad with Dave Bruney. There are players who had older brothers on the team previously who were either not going to play or transferring if Yoder was brought back. Spare me with the talk that all the kids at Martins Ferry are lazy or don’t want to be coached compared to even Dave’s last season when numbers were much better.

[neon lite]

I guarantee you that Yoder put in the time.
Dave’s last season he started with 35 players, finished with 30, so wrong.
Fitch/Kropka huh? Well your half right.
So Yoder hired his former team mate to a teaching job? Wow, he does have more power than I thought.
There was a witch hunt to bring this young man down from the minute he was hired to the head coach job…but I’m pretty sure you know that. Well they finally succeeded and you all can be happy with that. Personally, I don’t know why he would want to keep the job considering the crap he had to deal with on a daily basis. From day one there were lies and half truths, and questions of his integrity.
There is more to this story than most know, and it is dishonest and sleazy, but the truth will eventually come out.

But for now, Yoder has lost his job, and Dave Bruney will hand pick his successor to run the MF football program the way he wants it to be run. And when that hand picked successor posts 2-3 win seasons the next couple of years, if he’s lucky, will he be called to the carpet and his integrity called in to question? Somehow I don’t think so.
This is over, and we will all move on. This is my last post on the subject. But here’s a small bit of advice…sit back and pay attention. The conclusion of this story will raise an eyebrow.
Oh…and good luck to the next MF head football coach. You’re going to need it.

[Frankie Five Angels]

Yes this should be your last post because you are too emotionally attached to Yoder being head coach and you are just going to tell more lies. I’m looking at the 2017 Football Preview on Wheeling Intel archives that are online and Martins Ferry started the season with 42 players in 2017. Seven more than what you stated in your post. You need to accept that not everyone can be a head coach and that is true at every level in every sport.

[Purple Riders]

The last 7 or so years under Dave the program was heading in the wrong direction. The roster was hovering in the mid 30s in Dave's final years. When Dave stepped down he waited until spring which left Yoder scrambling to find coaches for his first year.

When Dave retired he felt confident Fitch would get the job and thank goodness that did not happen. Imagine the mess the program would have been in with a guy helping to steal 25K?

I backed Yoder 100% but unfortunately he lost the team to no real fault of his own. Remember Yoder had 10-12 kids come to him before the season wanting starting time or they would quit *Why they were in the low 30s roster. Then you had Sr's on the team who didn't show up to practice or complain coaches are calling them names. I think if Yoder coached this year not sure they would have enough to have a team with quitters and transfers.

Considering the staff lost the kids you can't hire anyone from the current staff. If someone from the current staff gets the job it's less about what's good for the program and more about what's best for Dave Bruney to control. You need someone with coaching XP and a players coach who is proven as a head coach.

It will be interesting if we ever see a true list of all the candidates who applied for the job?

[Frankie Five Angels]

The numbers hovering in mid 30’s is completely false in Dave Bruney’s final years. I looked up 2017 preview and it was 42. I believe the lowest number he had was 40. There is a complete revisionist history on Dave’s final seasons. It is incredible the excuses Yoder gets for leading the program into the abyss. Blaming the kids is a lame and pathetic excuse. There is no witch hunt needed to get rid of a 1-9 coach with the program being at its lowest point in 50 years. The players quit last season by game #4. The problem with Yoder is he had no idea how to motivate 15 to 18 years olds. You clowns whined for years going back to the days of JJHuddle and wanted Dave gone after an 8-2 or 9-1 season and 1st or 2nd round playoff loss. You certainly wouldn’t have given Dave the amount excuses you are giving Yoder if Dave went 1-9. Or you would just lie and say the numbers were in the low 30’s in Dave’s final season.

[cton]

OK, what's done is done and no amount of he said she said will change it. Who will be the next coach? I thought I heard that Kropka's son was a fairly gifted QB on the MF 8th grade team. Is that true? someone also mentioned that Freddie Ray had success in Kentucky before coming back to the Valley to helm the 'Port. does anybody have any info on that? Are there any other rumored candidates?

[cton]

FWIW, I tend to trust my eyes more about something I've seen

FWIW I believe we saw a 1-9 season, the worst since 1970 when the Riders went 0-10.

[Frankie Five Angels]

FWIW, I tend to trust my eyes more about something I’ve seen than something I might read about the thing I’ve seen. A “preview” of the team, where roster names/numbers are probably collected in the dead of summer when aspirations are high but practices have yet to go into full swing, screams old/outdated over what that team might have actually fielded by season’s end. I am a neutral party so I have no rooting interest either way but it’s hardly revisionist history if some people on this thread did in fact observe only 20-something or low 30’s on the field. At best, it’s your word against theirs. Me personally, I would not rely on a team “preview” to settle the debate.

As a side, only 11 posts in 12+ years? Wow, that has to be a record. I’m amazed, truly. Some people get that many posts in one day. lol

Typically coaches are interviewed in August, while 2-a-day’s (or within last 5 years there are now more 1 practice a day) are taking place for newspaper previews. Believe what you want then because it seems like you will believe people with thousands posts. This placed has kind of died within the last 10 years. There nothing really to post about anymore other than a coaching change. I did have a different name when this place was busier back around 09 and 10.

I find it incredible that Yoder’s ineptitude as a head coach is being blamed on Bruney. He has been the head coach for 4 seasons and this is his program. Kropka would have been my pick because of his head coaching experience but I actually was fine with Yoder getting the job because of his age compared to somebody like Fitch 4 years ago. I did not think he would he would be this awful as a head coach. You had a close family member on Facebook blaming the kids and parents. If you have a close family member saying that then Yoder has been saying it privately and believes it. Everything is just excuse and Martins Ferry hasn’t been this bad in 50 years. There are other head coaches in other sports dealing with the same parents and kids and their programs haven’t eroded to what Martins Ferry football has become.

[Frankie Five Angels]

FWIW I believe we saw a 1-9 season, the worst since 1970 when the Riders went 0-10.

Facts be damn cton. It’s everybody else’s fault. You want some more facts. Yoder is a former college linebacker, you’d think at least the defense would be respectable. It was the 2nd highest scoring defense ever and worst since 1966. It is the lowest point differential per game since 1970 when Martins Ferry scored 14 points. The very small minority of messageboard posters whined and complained about Bruney and wanted him gone in early 00’s. They have digged their heals in now and can’t admit they were wrong. I said it then and say it now, be very careful what you wish for.

[cton]

Facts be damn cton. It’s everybody else’s fault. You want some more facts. Yoder is a former college linebacker, you’d think at least the defense would be respectable. It was the 2nd highest scoring defense ever and worst since 1966. It is the lowest point differential per game since 1970 when Martins Ferry scored 14 points. The very small minority of messageboard posters whined and complained about Bruney and wanted him gone in early 00’s. They have digged their heals in now and can’t admit they were wrong. I said it then and say it now, be very careful what you wish for.

I will admit that I was certainly for DB getting a more imaginative offense to use the weapons he had on hand in the early 00s, and spoke about it vehemently on the MF site at the time.. But as vocal as I was about the offense, I always cautioned those calling for Dave's head exactly the same thing, be careful what you wish for. I lived through the debacle of the 60s. Even though I was a youngster, I remember well the sting of those lost years. I am absolutely scarred by the sight of Wintersville carrying Kettlewell off the field on their shoulders after finishing off the Riders to go 10-0 while MF was in the midst of the abyss that was the late 60's Purple Rider football. I do not want to return to that and I'd bet everyone whining back then would agree that winning an average of 8-9 games a year sounds pretty darn good right now. I cant believe that DB got on the school board specifically to affect this change and nothing else. Serving in public positions are thankless jobs and it takes someone that cares about their city/school district to be effective. Time will tell, but I believe after spending over 40 years serving Martins Ferry by developing young boys into men, Dave has earned the benefit of the doubt. you will never get rich coaching HSFB and the sacrifices it takes to do it in one school district from 1974 to 2017 (except for the short time at Bridgeport) should be a fairly good indication that someone cares about what is happening in the District.

[Ghostman5000]

Wow seeing a lot of heat in this thread.
What was Yoder’s record each year?
I feel like each year it got worse. Maybe a trend between declining record and numbers. What made the numbers drop is the real question.

[RydersOnTheStorm]

Regardless of your opinions on the matter of what happened or didn’t happen the roll needs filled. We all know Dave has had a hand picked choice ready since he decided to run. It’s all coming to plan. Who will it be? The easiest guess is kropka but who knows? Could be Freddy Ray. I’ve already stated I’d love for Tommy Bruney to come back to the valley to coach for his alma mater. It doesn’t seem far fetched. And I’ve heard rumblings that he would definitely be up for it.

[Marion Page]

If you want to talk about an agenda, Yoder was hired over Fitch/Kropka on an agenda with who was on BOE in 2018.

100% this.

[RES874]

The numbers hovering in mid 30’s is completely false in Dave Bruney’s final years. I looked up 2017 preview and it was 42. I believe the lowest number he had was 40. There is a complete revisionist history on Dave’s final seasons. It is incredible the excuses Yoder gets for leading the program into the abyss. Blaming the kids is a lame and pathetic excuse. There is no witch hunt needed to get rid of a 1-9 coach with the program being at its lowest point in 50 years. The players quit last season by game #4. The problem with Yoder is he had no idea how to motivate 15 to 18 years olds. You clowns whined for years going back to the days of JJHuddle and wanted Dave gone after an 8-2 or 9-1 season and 1st or 2nd round playoff loss. You certainly wouldn’t have given Dave the amount excuses you are giving Yoder if Dave went 1-9. Or you would just lie and say the numbers were in the low 30’s in Dave’s final season.

I remember a preview years ago a local school had 42 ball players and the day after picture day they had 30 players.If you pay Attention to previews you will see a lot of this.So you can’t trust football previews for number of players.m

[Philip_Columbo]

Regardless of your opinions on the matter of what happened or didn’t happen the roll needs filled. We all know Dave has had a hand picked choice ready since he decided to run. It’s all coming to plan. Who will it be? The easiest guess is kropka but who knows? Could be Freddy Ray. I’ve already stated I’d love for Tommy Bruney to come back to the valley to coach for his alma mater. It doesn’t seem far fetched. And I’ve heard rumblings that he would definitely be up for it.

Curious is Tommy Bruney presently coaching and if so where?