OREGON, OH (WTOL) - After spending 10 years as an assistant coach, John Galyas was an assistant coach at Clay High School for a decade. This year, Galyas one of many first-time head coaches in northwest Ohio.
"The effort's been great. Their attitudes have been awesome," Coach Galyas said. "They've been very, very coachable, which is something that we have stressed, So, I'm really happy with our guys."
The Eagles finished 3-7 in 2016. Part of that was due to their youth. But with a year of experience under their belt, Coach Galyas is ready to see what his Eagles can do.
"Well the one nice thing is a lot of them have played already, as sophomores they've played," Coach Galyas said. "So they have been Friday night tested a little bit, which is nice. So that certainly helps. Then we compliment them with some of our seniors, which we have up front, so it's really a nice combination."
Coach Galyas and his staff focused on team chemistry in the off-season. The senior veterans on the team say that strategy is paying off.
"From last year we've grown tremendously," said senior receiver and corner Jack Winckowski. "And being a group and being one unit and not looking towards ourselves, we're looking out for our team and just trying to put us somewhere and get us on the map."
"We worked a lot harder in the off-season, a lot more weights were being lifted, a lot more guys were in the weight room, buying in, showing up to the weight lifting, being prepared," said senior center and linebacker Devin Lunsford. "This season with the new coaching staff, we've been pushed a lot harder, and more prepared for our hard league."
While the TRAC is a tough league, the Coach Galyas hopes to convince his team to become winners.
Clay opens up their season at Rogers.
