ASHLAND — In more than a decade as a member of Ohio State’s football family, Stan Jefferson has witnessed some of the most memorable games in program history.
Only a handful of them can trump that Friday night in late October of 2000.
Jefferson was the head coach at Mansfield Senior. On the opposite sideline stood Marion Harding coach Tim Hinton, who, like Jefferson, has gone on to a remarkable second act at Ohio State.
Almost 9,000 fans filled the stands at Arlin Field and almost all of them were on their feet. The Tygers were clinging to a 26-21 lead, but the Presidents were on the move late in the fourth quarter.
Enter Mansfield Senior linebacker Maurice Bradley.
The All-Ohioan, who had already rushed for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns, delivered a punishing blow on Harding split end Derick Ross after Ross had hauled in an 18 yard reception in Tyger territory. The ball came loose and Senior High’s Anthony Trumpower pounced on it, preserving the win and lifting the Tygers to their first Ohio Heartland Conference championship since 1993.
“To this day, that game stands out to me more than any other,” Jefferson said last week while watching the Ashland University spring game from the comfort of the plush Robert Troop Center. “It was an unbelievable game.”
Unbelievable is a fitting way to describe Jefferson’s career. Before landing at Ohio State in 2004, Jefferson was an educator and coach in Mansfield for the better part of three decades. He was the head football coach at Senior High from 1993 to 2002, winning four Ohio Heartland Conference championships (1993, 2000-2002) and qualifying for the playoffs four times.
He left for Ohio State in 2004, serving first as the associate director of football operations under Jim Tressel. Since 2006 he has been OSU’s director of player development.
He is a member of the Mansfield City Schools Hall of Fame and the Ohio High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
“Stan’s like me. We’re Mansfield guys,” said AU coach Lee Owens, a Madison graduate. “We grew up in this area, and this is our home.”
The ageless Jefferson — he’s 63 years young, for the record — was presented with Ashland University’s Lifetime Achievement Award before AU’s spring game last week. Jefferson was an assistant under College Football Hall of Fame inductee Dr. Fred Martinelli from 1982 to 1992, helping the Eagles to four conference championship and the program’s first playoff berth in 1986.
“I look at Ashland University and the facilities and it’s just unbelievable,” Jefferson said. “I remember when I first started in 1982 and, through hard work and the support of the community and the alumni … look how far we have come now.
“I’m humbled and I’m honored to be recognized by Ashland University. Dr. Fred Martinelli was a mentor to me.”
Jefferson, who still lives in Mansfield with his wife of 22 years, Shirley, never really expected to leave his adopted hometown (he is a Dayton native). He stepped down as Senior High’s football coach after the 2002-03 school year to become the high school principal.
“I closed the old building and was getting ready to help in the transition to the new building (in the fall of 2004),” Jefferson said, “but I never entered the new building.”
Instead, Jefferson found himself in Columbus. Tressel, who had Jefferson work his football camps at Youngstown State, brought Jefferson in to mentor OSU’s highest-profile athletes.
“When you go into the coaching profession, you are trying to develop young men,” Jefferson said. “Now I help them transition to their lives after football.
“I have been fortunate to have a number of people who have helped guide me throughout my career and because of that I have always felt a responsibility to give and serve others. If you can do one thing to change a young person’s life for the better, that is worth a million blessings.”
One such person is current Mansfield Senior football coach Chioke Bradley. A 1994 Senior High grad who helped the Tygers reach the playoffs in Jefferson’s first year, Bradley has piloted his alma mater to playoff berths in three of the past four years.
“It’s especially satisfying to see him become the man he is and to see the success he is having,” Jefferson said. “That’s just unbelievable.”
Does the old coach miss working the sidelines?
“When I transitioned to full-time administration, it was natural to miss it,” Jefferson said. “I was very fortunate to realize that I get to coach in another way.”
It is something Jefferson plans to do for a long time.
“People ask me all the time how much longer I want to go. Right now I feel great,” Jefferson said. “I’m going to continue to be involved with young people until I am told to come home.
“I’ve been fortunate to be involved in the game. It’s a calling and as long as I know I can contribute to changing lives and helping young people to reach their dreams, I’m going to continue to be involved.”
