Off The Beaten Record: Dr. Ross Won’t Be Easy for OHSAA to Replace
By ROSS BISHOFF
Last week, OHSAA Executive Director Dr. Dan Ross announced his resignation, effective Sept. 15. Ross took over as the ninth OHSAA commissioner in 2004.
According to an OHSAA press release, “the Board of Directors will begin implementing a succession plan and assemble a search committee for the OHSAA’s next executive director.”
“I have been so blessed to serve our member schools in this capacity for 14 years,” Dr. Ross is quoted in the release. “I don’t plan to retire from my work of promoting all the positive things that school sports can do for our kids, schools, and communities. We’ll see what the future holds for me. It’s time for me to step aside and allow for new leadership of the OHSAA. I would like to thank our current and former staff members and board members who I have worked with during my time at the OHSAA.”
Whomever the board selects will no doubt be a great candidate, but he or she is going to have some big shoes to fill. Dr. Ross has been a fantastic commissioner, and his leadership is a major reason the OHSAA is such a strong association for Ohio’s high school athletes.
Ross always impressed me in two ways: One, his personable and honest demeanor was a great attribute for the top commissioner of the OHSAA; and two, the fair way he handled the many issues that come up on a regular basis for the association.
Anyone who has coached, been an AD, been a parent, been a fan or an athlete knows that high school sports is a playground rife with emotions. And in Ohio, high school sports is life to so many people. Think about dealing with all of those voices, their issues, their emotions, not just in your school district or sport but with the entire state.
I have no idea how OHSAA commissioners remain sane and composed in the face of that. But they do it with an openness and class that is admirable. And most importantly, they solve problems. They don’t just push them aside.
One of the biggest issues Dr. Ross faced in recent years was obviously competitive balance. It’s an issue that affects every single high school athlete in the state and virtually everyone who cares about high school sports has a strong opinion on the subject.
This is not a new debate in Ohio, where often people fight over separate tournaments for public and private schools. The issue heated up in a major way around 2011. My recollection is that Delphos St. John’s beat Shadyside 77-6 in the 2010 Division VII state football championship and certain areas of the state went ballistic.
Since then, Dr. Ross and his crew went to work on ways to combat a split between public and private schools by using a Competitive Balance proposal.
Personally, I’m totally against Competitive Balance, separate tournaments, more tournaments, more divisions, anything like that. Many of you disagree, I understand that, however, it’s not the point of this particular column. The point is we’re not running the show, and we don’t have to try to be fair to every athlete in the state.
Dr. Ross worked diligently to find a fair compromise that would be adopted in a democratic fashion. He has to be applauded for that, whether you like the outcome or not. The alternatives may have been disastrous to fans of Ohio high school sports.
It’s one example of many to illustrate the type of leadership Dr. Ross brought to the OHSAA. And he did many more, of course, and in the afore-linked press release, you can read all about them.
The overwhelming point is that since 2004, the OHSAA has had a great leader at the helm. He won’t be easy to replace. But his guidance kept the association strong and continued to give Ohio’s athletes a wonderful stage to show off their hard work.
Thanks for everything, Dr. Ross.
Number of the Week: 172
Ohio Northern’s Ryan Bruns, a Marion Local product, broke the men’s basketball record for blocked shots on Saturday. Bruns blocked three shots in a win over Mount Union, giving him 172 for his career. The previous record of 171 career blocked shots stood for 36 years.
Quote of the Week: “The NFL has the greatest farm system in the world. We pay our farm-system coaches $10 million to develop players. (Alabama coach) Nick Saban is our farm system. (Ohio State coach) Urban Meyer is our farm system.”
- Mike Vrabel, the newly Tennessee Titans coach
Agreed. Dr Ross was a great man that served the OHSAA well. He will be tough to replace. Although Assistant Commissioner Jerry Snodgrass would be a worthy candidate!