Greenon turns to Ferguson as football coach

RECENT GREENON HEAD FOOTBALL COACHES

2014: Kevin Ferguson

2013: Dave Miller Sr., 1-9 overall record

2010-12: John Jewell, 9-21

2004-09: Tim Hale, 29-31

It’s not as if Kevin Ferguson has inherited the great unknown as the Greenon High School head football coach. Start with a lot of hard work, then double that effort.

“That was one of my selling points,” Ferguson said on Friday after being named the Knights coach. “I’ve been here for two years. I knew exactly what I’m getting into here.”

That would be a program that has slid to the bottom of the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division.

Greenon was 1-9 last season under the guidlance of longtime area presence Dave Miller Sr. A 14-7 defeat of Benjamin Logan snapped a two-season, 17-game losing skid in Week 9. The Knights were outscored a combined 378-61.

But Miller, the father of Covington head coach Dave Miller Jr., was one-and-done. Greenon also was 1-9 in 2012, the last of three losing seasons compiled by then head coach John Jewell.

Greenon hasn’t had a winning season since Tim Hale was at the helm for a 7-3 record in 2007. The Knights were 5-5 in 2008.

Ferguson, 32, teaches art at the high school. A 2000 graduate of West Carrollton, he has been a Knights’ assistant the past two seasons and has 10 combined years of experience coaching middle school and high school wrestling and football at the Greenon, West Carrollton, Fairborn and New London school districts.

“I’ve always wanted to be a head coach,” he said. “I just didn’t think it would come this soon at Greenon. … People look at 1-9 as a bad thing. I look at it as a great opportunity. We’ve got a good group of kids and we can do some good things here.”

Ferguson also will oversee the program’s offseason weight-lifting. He said much of the assistant coaching staff will return, in addition to new hires.

Greenon is scheduled to open against perennial playoff participant and Ohio Heritage Conference heavyweight West Liberty-Salem next season.

“I really enjoy working with our student athletes,” Ferguson said, “and I want to prepare and coach each of them, so that together we can build a program the community, staff and student body can be proud of.”