Steubenville, Ohio is 175 miles from Happy Valley, PA. Yet Steubenville High School and Penn State University will be forever intertwined in sexual immorality and adult conspiracy. This tiny town in southeastern Ohio is now known for the recently concluded rape trial, rather than the history of success on the gridiron. And a legendary football coach will go down in a cloud of controversy because of concerns over wins rather than the safety of a 16 year old girl.
For these reasons and more, the football program at Steubenville high school should be shut down for at least three years. Now that has been said an explanation is in order.
Much has been reported about the rape case at Steubenville High School. With the verdict in, the conversation has turned to the people who knew and did nothing about it. Including the coaching staff.
Two players, quarterback Trent Mays, 17, and receiver Ma’Lik Richmond guilty in the rape of a girl from a nearby West Virginia community. Each player was sentenced to one year in a juvenile detention center.
27 coaches roam the sidelines on Friday night at Steubenville High School. These coaches range from the youth football leagues, through Junior High and into the freshman and varsity levels of high school. It is alleged and evidence from the concluded trial that all 27 knew about the rape and did nothing to report it.
Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine now has the ball and wanting a score. He announced a grand jury would convene on April 15 to determine if criminal charges should be filed against coaches, parents and football players who failed to report shared photos of the assault on social media, failed to report the incident or attempted to cover it up.
The head football coach at Steubenville is Reno Saccoccia. The 63 year old has been coaching Steubenville’s football team for 30 years. During 
that time he’s amassed an 85-percent winning percentage for the program. Thanks to testimony and evidence presented in the town’s high-profile trial two weeks ago, all that has disintegrated into ashes.
Mays, in his own court room testimony says Saccoccia knew about the rape, and that his coach failed to report.
Stunning words for a community that surrounded the players rather than the victim. A community left barren years ago when the steel factories closed or left town. Only to look forward to Friday nights and the excitement a High School football team could bring to a town and it’s fans.
Yet Saccoccia and his 26 man coaching staff are in the fourth quarter and down by two touchdowns. Even if they are able to somehow beat the charges possibly levied by a grand jury, they shouldn’t escape the wrath of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
The governing body of High school athletics is Ohio’s answer to the NCAA. The OHSAA is not unlike any other State High School association. Yet it is safe to say they have never been associated with anything like this. Thus drastic measures need to be taken.
Now is the time for the OHSAA to place Steubenville High School’s football program on a complete three year ban. No football at any level for three years and the immediate banishment of all 27 coaches. The three years is for the remaining classes left that were involved with this scandal.
Dan Ross is the Commissioner of the Ohio Association and has been for 9 years. This decision will arrive at his feet soon enough. The options are clear. Send a message to every school and community in the state this activity will not be tolerated in any way, or status quo. Calls to the Commissioner’s office for comment were not returned.
Evidence presented, including text messages, suggested Mays believed his status as a football star, and the importance of football in Steubenville, gave him a sort of “immunity” from prosecution. It is also believed Saccoccia had so much confidence in his program that it shielded his players from accountability. Evidence shows Saccoccia knew about the incident as early as August 13th, almost two weeks after football practice began for the upcoming season. When asked about the charges, Saccoccia exploded at a reporter.
“You’re going to get yours, And if you don’t get yours, somebody close to you will.”
This thinking at ANY high school has to end, and the OHSAA must make this priority.
There is no case to look back on to provide insight on dealing with this. This IS the landmark case. Something like this has never hit the desk of the OHSAA and one assumes, Ross has never had to adjudicate anything like this. Yet he signed up for this decision when he accepted the position of Commissioner. So the penalty for Steubenville rests on his and the board’s shoulders.
In announcing the grand jury, Dewine stated “You cannot bring finality to this without the convening of a grand jury.”
Charges may or may not be filed. But the athletic program at Steubenville High School, covering All sports, must be stopped immediately by the OHSAA.
This article is the view only of the author. Not that of this website or it’s owner.
Dave Mitchell and Mark Donahue co-host the “Ohio Baseball Weekly” show every Monday night at 9pm.
