Post season interview with Head Coach Jeff Essig Bethel-Tate

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Name: Jeff Essig


School: Bethel-Tate


Position: Head Coach

1) Heading into the 2022 season what was the biggest obstacle facing you and your staff?
The biggest obstacle we are facing this year has to be the same as every year; maintaining a high standard. We continue to find ways to meet the standard from the previous player's foundation set before them.

2) The 2022 season was a true roller coaster for Bethel-Tate. The season opened with three straight losses followed by four straight wins, then two more losses, then a win to end the season. How did the team handle the ups and downs and do you think it taught the younger players lessons they can being into 2023?
Last season was a roller-coaster. We went from 18 seniors in 2021 to 6 in 2022 and due to injury, we finished the last few games with 4. Our young guys were relied on to step up very early in the season. We started 3 freshmen on offense for most of the season (WR, Slot, OT). Our team handled it pretty well considering. We asked some players in all three phases of the game to play positions that they may have not have started the season thinking they would play. Our guys were unselfish and continued the season with a "whatever is best for the team" mentality. Last season taught us a lot about our players desire to compete and the commitment they had to the TEAM concept. We were young, but our guys competed every game no matter the opponent.

3) The last two seasons I have covered you on A Thursday Night? How hard is it to prepare for a Thursday Night game and how does it differ from preparation for the regular Friday games?
We prepare the same way as a Friday night game, with one small difference; we practice on Sunday. We push everything back a day. Our Sunday becomes our Monday, Monday becomes our Tuesday, and so on. The negative of playing a game on a Thursday is usually on Sunday we can pretty much finish up the game plan for the week, but having practice on Sunday gives us one less day to finalize the game plan before our first practice of the week. Saturday becomes that much more important but usually find we make more adjustments through the week to our game plan than on a normal week. Another negative is our future opponents can watch us live and on film instead of just on film. The positive of playing on a Thursday is that our players and staff have the weekend "off", however, almost all of our staff and players attend our next week's opponent's game. Some players and staff may pick a future opponent to go watch instead of next week's opponent. It gives everyone the opportunity to see our opponent's live.

4) Your tenth game in 2022 was against Dohn Community can you tell us how it came to be?
We had a league opponent, Fayetteville-Perry, drop their schedule this past season due to not being able to field a team. This decision was finalized late in the summer and we began our search immediately. Every team on our side of the league had to find an opponent for that game. Some weeks were obviously easier than others. With ours being week 10, it was especially difficult for many reasons. Most week 10 opponents are already locked in with league opponents on their schedule. Most week 10 games are rivalry games with a lot of tradition. Then comes trying to find someone who has an opening for week 10 which is nearly impossible. We finally had to fill our game with Dohn, a team who is not in the OHSAA. This game would not be able to count toward playoff points or selection. The positive of the whole situation was two-fold: our seniors would get their senior night game and our team was able to finish the year playing a full schedule. Being able to play a full schedule was extremely important to us, especially with how our "full seasons" were taken from us in the years previous due to COVID. Our kids deserved a 10-game season and we did our best to make sure that could happen.

5) What was the best and worse part of the 2022 season?
The best part of 2022 was seeing our 6 seniors grow into leaders and continue to hold our program's high standards. The season didn't go the way we planned, but they continued to lead through adversity and their leadership serves as a great model for our future players to follow. The worst part of 2022 was seeing 2 of our seniors go down with season-ending injuries. Peyton Herzner was our starting running back and was on pace to have a career year when he went down with a season-ending injury. The same thing happened to our senior offensive tackle Korbin Dearing. You just feel so bad for anyone who gets injured, but especially a senior. They worked so hard and put in so much effort to finally play varsity reps only to get it cut short.

6) What lesson did you learn as a coach during the 2022 season that will make you a better coach this season?
I always say to our players; if you aren't learning something every day or trying to get better then why are you doing it? Last season taught me that we are still doing things the right way. Our win-loss record may have not been where we wanted, but I know we are still producing great student-athletes with good character who fight through adversity. These traits will prove essential for the rest of their lives.

7) As far as goals go what was the one goal you set for the 2022 team that they were not able to accomplish along with the one goal that they did accomplish?
We set out every year to be league champs and make the playoffs, but we came up short in 2022. We did however continue to compete at a high level as a program and our players never gave up. We continued to pride ourselves in competing at a high level and finishing each play. I am very proud of this team for how they handled adversity. As you said earlier, 2022 was a roller-coaster, but our players always competed to the best of their ability.

8) Which team on the 2022 schedule surprised you the most?
The biggest surprise had to be week 10 Dohn Prep. We really didn't know what to expect. They have no ability to make the postseason. None of their games "count" so to speak, but they played us hard. They play each game for pride and it showed on the field that night. You could tell that they were playing because they wanted to be there on the field competing. That is great to see.

9) Can you tell our readers which of your seniors from the 2022 team are going to play football in college and the college they are going to?
can't answer this one. None of our guys are going to go on. Most of the 6 is going into a trade or military.

10) Can you tell our readers the good and the bad of coaching your son?
Coaching your son is all about enjoying the moment. Next year will be his senior year and just like with any senior, you want to provide the best possible experience. The best part is being able to share in his success at the very moment it is happening. Being a selfish dad, however, after next season I am going to miss him. He has been on the sidelines or at practice with me for as long as I can remember. He learned how to ride a bike on Western Brown's track one summer during two-a-days. Jordan went from running out on the field to get the kicking tee after kickoffs to running onto the same field to return kickoffs. I think the worst part of coaching your son has to be the idea that he got where he is because of who his dad is. I feel bad for him when people outside of the program have and even display or vocalize these thoughts to him. He has to work that much harder and I imagine it is a lot of pressure. He always seems to handle it well. I have so much respect for how he has handled his past three years and how our players through the years have treated him. Football is family and I guess for us it really rings true.

[VetteMan]

Name: Jeff Essig


School: Bethel-Tate


Position: Head Coach

1) Heading into the 2022 season what was the biggest obstacle facing you and your staff?
The biggest obstacle we are facing this year has to be the same as every year; maintaining a high standard. We continue to find ways to meet the standard from the previous player's foundation set before them.

2) The 2022 season was a true roller coaster for Bethel-Tate. The season opened with three straight losses followed by four straight wins, then two more losses, then a win to end the season. How did the team handle the ups and downs and do you think it taught the younger players lessons they can being into 2023?
Last season was a roller-coaster. We went from 18 seniors in 2021 to 6 in 2022 and due to injury, we finished the last few games with 4. Our young guys were relied on to step up very early in the season. We started 3 freshmen on offense for most of the season (WR, Slot, OT). Our team handled it pretty well considering. We asked some players in all three phases of the game to play positions that they may have not have started the season thinking they would play. Our guys were unselfish and continued the season with a "whatever is best for the team" mentality. Last season taught us a lot about our players desire to compete and the commitment they had to the TEAM concept. We were young, but our guys competed every game no matter the opponent.

3) The last two seasons I have covered you on A Thursday Night? How hard is it to prepare for a Thursday Night game and how does it differ from preparation for the regular Friday games?
We prepare the same way as a Friday night game, with one small difference; we practice on Sunday. We push everything back a day. Our Sunday becomes our Monday, Monday becomes our Tuesday, and so on. The negative of playing a game on a Thursday is usually on Sunday we can pretty much finish up the game plan for the week, but having practice on Sunday gives us one less day to finalize the game plan before our first practice of the week. Saturday becomes that much more important but usually find we make more adjustments through the week to our game plan than on a normal week. Another negative is our future opponents can watch us live and on film instead of just on film. The positive of playing on a Thursday is that our players and staff have the weekend "off", however, almost all of our staff and players attend our next week's opponent's game. Some players and staff may pick a future opponent to go watch instead of next week's opponent. It gives everyone the opportunity to see our opponent's live.

4) Your tenth game in 2022 was against Dohn Community can you tell us how it came to be?
We had a league opponent, Fayetteville-Perry, drop their schedule this past season due to not being able to field a team. This decision was finalized late in the summer and we began our search immediately. Every team on our side of the league had to find an opponent for that game. Some weeks were obviously easier than others. With ours being week 10, it was especially difficult for many reasons. Most week 10 opponents are already locked in with league opponents on their schedule. Most week 10 games are rivalry games with a lot of tradition. Then comes trying to find someone who has an opening for week 10 which is nearly impossible. We finally had to fill our game with Dohn, a team who is not in the OHSAA. This game would not be able to count toward playoff points or selection. The positive of the whole situation was two-fold: our seniors would get their senior night game and our team was able to finish the year playing a full schedule. Being able to play a full schedule was extremely important to us, especially with how our "full seasons" were taken from us in the years previous due to COVID. Our kids deserved a 10-game season and we did our best to make sure that could happen.

5) What was the best and worse part of the 2022 season?
The best part of 2022 was seeing our 6 seniors grow into leaders and continue to hold our program's high standards. The season didn't go the way we planned, but they continued to lead through adversity and their leadership serves as a great model for our future players to follow. The worst part of 2022 was seeing 2 of our seniors go down with season-ending injuries. Peyton Herzner was our starting running back and was on pace to have a career year when he went down with a season-ending injury. The same thing happened to our senior offensive tackle Korbin Dearing. You just feel so bad for anyone who gets injured, but especially a senior. They worked so hard and put in so much effort to finally play varsity reps only to get it cut short.

6) What lesson did you learn as a coach during the 2022 season that will make you a better coach this season?
I always say to our players; if you aren't learning something every day or trying to get better then why are you doing it? Last season taught me that we are still doing things the right way. Our win-loss record may have not been where we wanted, but I know we are still producing great student-athletes with good character who fight through adversity. These traits will prove essential for the rest of their lives.

7) As far as goals go what was the one goal you set for the 2022 team that they were not able to accomplish along with the one goal that they did accomplish?
We set out every year to be league champs and make the playoffs, but we came up short in 2022. We did however continue to compete at a high level as a program and our players never gave up. We continued to pride ourselves in competing at a high level and finishing each play. I am very proud of this team for how they handled adversity. As you said earlier, 2022 was a roller-coaster, but our players always competed to the best of their ability.

8) Which team on the 2022 schedule surprised you the most?
The biggest surprise had to be week 10 Dohn Prep. We really didn't know what to expect. They have no ability to make the postseason. None of their games "count" so to speak, but they played us hard. They play each game for pride and it showed on the field that night. You could tell that they were playing because they wanted to be there on the field competing. That is great to see.

9) Can you tell our readers which of your seniors from the 2022 team are going to play football in college and the college they are going to?
can't answer this one. None of our guys are going to go on. Most of the 6 is going into a trade or military.

10) Can you tell our readers the good and the bad of coaching your son?
Coaching your son is all about enjoying the moment. Next year will be his senior year and just like with any senior, you want to provide the best possible experience. The best part is being able to share in his success at the very moment it is happening. Being a selfish dad, however, after next season I am going to miss him. He has been on the sidelines or at practice with me for as long as I can remember. He learned how to ride a bike on Western Brown's track one summer during two-a-days. Jordan went from running out on the field to get the kicking tee after kickoffs to running onto the same field to return kickoffs. I think the worst part of coaching your son has to be the idea that he got where he is because of who his dad is. I feel bad for him when people outside of the program have and even display or vocalize these thoughts to him. He has to work that much harder and I imagine it is a lot of pressure. He always seems to handle it well. I have so much respect for how he has handled his past three years and how our players through the years have treated him. Football is family and I guess for us it really rings true.

Good interview as usual. Especially about how to handle and coach his son, not always easy for the father or the son.

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Name: Jeff Essig


School: Bethel-Tate


Position: Head Coach

1) Heading into the 2022 season what was the biggest obstacle facing you and your staff?
The biggest obstacle we are facing this year has to be the same as every year; maintaining a high standard. We continue to find ways to meet the standard from the previous player's foundation set before them.

2) The 2022 season was a true roller coaster for Bethel-Tate. The season opened with three straight losses followed by four straight wins, then two more losses, then a win to end the season. How did the team handle the ups and downs and do you think it taught the younger players lessons they can being into 2023?
Last season was a roller-coaster. We went from 18 seniors in 2021 to 6 in 2022 and due to injury, we finished the last few games with 4. Our young guys were relied on to step up very early in the season. We started 3 freshmen on offense for most of the season (WR, Slot, OT). Our team handled it pretty well considering. We asked some players in all three phases of the game to play positions that they may have not have started the season thinking they would play. Our guys were unselfish and continued the season with a "whatever is best for the team" mentality. Last season taught us a lot about our players desire to compete and the commitment they had to the TEAM concept. We were young, but our guys competed every game no matter the opponent.

3) The last two seasons I have covered you on A Thursday Night? How hard is it to prepare for a Thursday Night game and how does it differ from preparation for the regular Friday games?
We prepare the same way as a Friday night game, with one small difference; we practice on Sunday. We push everything back a day. Our Sunday becomes our Monday, Monday becomes our Tuesday, and so on. The negative of playing a game on a Thursday is usually on Sunday we can pretty much finish up the game plan for the week, but having practice on Sunday gives us one less day to finalize the game plan before our first practice of the week. Saturday becomes that much more important but usually find we make more adjustments through the week to our game plan than on a normal week. Another negative is our future opponents can watch us live and on film instead of just on film. The positive of playing on a Thursday is that our players and staff have the weekend "off", however, almost all of our staff and players attend our next week's opponent's game. Some players and staff may pick a future opponent to go watch instead of next week's opponent. It gives everyone the opportunity to see our opponent's live.

4) Your tenth game in 2022 was against Dohn Community can you tell us how it came to be?
We had a league opponent, Fayetteville-Perry, drop their schedule this past season due to not being able to field a team. This decision was finalized late in the summer and we began our search immediately. Every team on our side of the league had to find an opponent for that game. Some weeks were obviously easier than others. With ours being week 10, it was especially difficult for many reasons. Most week 10 opponents are already locked in with league opponents on their schedule. Most week 10 games are rivalry games with a lot of tradition. Then comes trying to find someone who has an opening for week 10 which is nearly impossible. We finally had to fill our game with Dohn, a team who is not in the OHSAA. This game would not be able to count toward playoff points or selection. The positive of the whole situation was two-fold: our seniors would get their senior night game and our team was able to finish the year playing a full schedule. Being able to play a full schedule was extremely important to us, especially with how our "full seasons" were taken from us in the years previous due to COVID. Our kids deserved a 10-game season and we did our best to make sure that could happen.

5) What was the best and worse part of the 2022 season?
The best part of 2022 was seeing our 6 seniors grow into leaders and continue to hold our program's high standards. The season didn't go the way we planned, but they continued to lead through adversity and their leadership serves as a great model for our future players to follow. The worst part of 2022 was seeing 2 of our seniors go down with season-ending injuries. Peyton Herzner was our starting running back and was on pace to have a career year when he went down with a season-ending injury. The same thing happened to our senior offensive tackle Korbin Dearing. You just feel so bad for anyone who gets injured, but especially a senior. They worked so hard and put in so much effort to finally play varsity reps only to get it cut short.

6) What lesson did you learn as a coach during the 2022 season that will make you a better coach this season?
I always say to our players; if you aren't learning something every day or trying to get better then why are you doing it? Last season taught me that we are still doing things the right way. Our win-loss record may have not been where we wanted, but I know we are still producing great student-athletes with good character who fight through adversity. These traits will prove essential for the rest of their lives.

7) As far as goals go what was the one goal you set for the 2022 team that they were not able to accomplish along with the one goal that they did accomplish?
We set out every year to be league champs and make the playoffs, but we came up short in 2022. We did however continue to compete at a high level as a program and our players never gave up. We continued to pride ourselves in competing at a high level and finishing each play. I am very proud of this team for how they handled adversity. As you said earlier, 2022 was a roller-coaster, but our players always competed to the best of their ability.

8) Which team on the 2022 schedule surprised you the most?
The biggest surprise had to be week 10 Dohn Prep. We really didn't know what to expect. They have no ability to make the postseason. None of their games "count" so to speak, but they played us hard. They play each game for pride and it showed on the field that night. You could tell that they were playing because they wanted to be there on the field competing. That is great to see.

9) Can you tell our readers which of your seniors from the 2022 team are going to play football in college and the college they are going to?
can't answer this one. None of our guys are going to go on. Most of the 6 is going into a trade or military.

10) Can you tell our readers the good and the bad of coaching your son?
Coaching your son is all about enjoying the moment. Next year will be his senior year and just like with any senior, you want to provide the best possible experience. The best part is being able to share in his success at the very moment it is happening. Being a selfish dad, however, after next season I am going to miss him. He has been on the sidelines or at practice with me for as long as I can remember. He learned how to ride a bike on Western Brown's track one summer during two-a-days. Jordan went from running out on the field to get the kicking tee after kickoffs to running onto the same field to return kickoffs. I think the worst part of coaching your son has to be the idea that he got where he is because of who his dad is. I feel bad for him when people outside of the program have and even display or vocalize these thoughts to him. He has to work that much harder and I imagine it is a lot of pressure. He always seems to handle it well. I have so much respect for how he has handled his past three years and how our players through the years have treated him. Football is family and I guess for us it really rings true.

Good interview as usual. Especially about how to handle and coach his son, not always easy for the father or the son.

Thanks. I enjoy posting these and it is getting easier to get the coaches I cover to do these.