Coaches with Ohio backgrounds busy with bowl games, like always
By RUSTY MILLER AP Sports Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - For the second year in a row, the head coaches of both teams in the BCS national championship game have more in common than just wins and rankings.

Once again, both were born in Ohio _ the conveyor belt of big-time college coaches.

LSU's Les Miles and Ohio State's Jim Tressel aren't alone either, with favorite sons also heading the programs at several of the top teams in the nation, including Oklahoma (Bob Stoops), Florida (Urban Meyer), Missouri (Gary Pinkel) and Illinois (Ron Zook). All will be busy over the coming days in major bowl games.

Several other coaching megastars also have Ohio on their resume, including Pete Carroll (USC), Nick Saban (Alabama) and Mark Mangino (Kansas).

So what is it about Ohio that seems to produce successful college coaches?

Miles is a native of Elyria, a city of more than 50,000 not far from Cleveland that also lists writer Sherwood Anderson among its products. "My town was a steel town and Friday night football was as exciting and enjoyable as anything viewed in the area. On Saturday, it was all about college football."

Many of the most famous names in college coaching have either been born and raised within the state's borders or have passed through on their way to making history elsewhere. The list includes John Heisman, Red Blaik, Fielding Yost, Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler and Paul Brown.

Make no mistake about it: football is king in the state's high schools.

This past season, 721 high schools fielded football teams in Ohio. There are mammoth, boys-only campuses such as the one at Cincinnati St. Xavier, which has 1,173 students enrolled. There are also tiny farm towns where everyone supports the local school, such as tiny Marion Catholic, with just 43 boys in the upper three grades.

Regardless of whether there are 200 kids on the team or 20, Friday night lights isn't just a Texas phenomenon. Ohio high schools had more than 47,500 participants this fall.

No wonder football is such an integral part of Ohio's culture.

If autumn Friday nights belong to high school football in Ohio, then the next day is all about the college teams. There are eight Football Bowl Subdivision teams in Ohio (Ohio State, Cincinnati, Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami, Ohio, Toledo), two Football Championship Subdivision teams (Youngstown State, Dayton) and 29 more schools playing in Division II or III or NAIA.

Those teams include perpetual Division III powerhouse Mount Union, which has captured nine of the last 15 national titles while running off winning streaks of 55 and 37 games. The coach of the Purple Raiders is Larry Kehres, who has the best winning percentage of any coach ever at any level. He's a jaw-dropping 260-21-3 in 22 years at the small college in Alliance.

The Cotton, Capital One, Rose, Fiesta and Orange bowls will all have at least one coach with an Ohio background working on the sidelines, not to mention the two native Ohioans in charge of the teams in the Bowl Championship Series finale.

LSU's defensive coordinator in the big game is Bo Pelini. He added his name to the list of prominent major-college head coaches when he took the job at Nebraska earlier this month. Pelini and the Stoops brothers (Bob at Oklahoma, Mike at Arizona) all have the same alma mater, Youngstown's Cardinal Mooney High School. And Pelini also played at Ohio State.

Talk about your three degrees of separation.