Jeff Boals reflects on 4 years at Ohio

stands out to Boals not just because of the success, but because of the uniqueness of coaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no manual for navigating the mental and physical aspect, and it was a challenge for the veteran coach.

This season has also presented a few challenges. There were a lot of questions about Boals’ team before the year began. The Bobcats intercepted nine new team members and lost several to the transfer portal. Boals didn’t know what to expect when the Bobcats boarded their plane to Spain in the summer.

Now, that trip seems like forever ago. Ohio has gained some consistency since the summer and since the start of the season in November.

“This year and my first year are very similar.” Boals said. “Going into my first year and fourth year, we kind of had a growth learning mindset. Let’s get better. Let’s get closer as a team. I knew we’d be good. I didn’t know when we’d be good.” ever. The relationships he establishes are solid, and it shows.

Coaching in The Convo is almost surreal for Boals. He takes pride in his Bobcat roots, but he likes to do things his way.

When Ohio defeated Virginia, Boals’ phone lit up with messages of congratulations and support from his former players at Robert Morris, Ohio State, Marshall, Akron and Stony Brook.

Not all of the messages he gets are tied to games, though.

“Recently, I got a text message from Mason McMurray and he transferred from here. It was his senior night, the last game he was ever going to play. He sent me a message thanking me. He told me he loves me and that he can’t thank me enough,” Boals said. “Those mean more than anything.”

Boals started coaching because the job was offered to him. He didn’t realize the number of lives he’d get to touch and the relationships he’d create along the way. Those relationships are why Boals continues to coach.

ASHLEY BEACH ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Ohio coach Jeff Boals didn’t see himself becoming a coach out of college. He was a biology major and wanted to be a physical therapist. However, instead of jumping into medical school once he graduated, Boals took a coaching job at Ohio.

He was the assistant coach at Ohio for the 1995-1996 season after a successful career as a player there. However, Boals wasn’t quite sure if he’d have the same fate as a coach.

“When I got into coaching, I didn’t know how to make it a career,” Boals said.

“It’s hard to believe it’s year 28.”

Boals is in his fourth year as head coach of the Bobcats. He’s seen highs — such as defeating the No. 4 seed and reigning national champions Virginia in the first round of the 2021 March Madness Tournament — and lows.

The 2020-2021 season is one that

When Boals was a player, the team practiced nearly four hours each day. It was brutal, and Boals knew that was something he didn’t want to put his players through. He doesn’t run things that way because he didn’t like it.

Rather, Boals has taken something from each coach he’s worked with over his 28year career. His teams may practice a little less, but he still finds a way to instill the discipline that his old schedule created.

Boals’ players recognize that their coach is someone they can count on for-

“The further you get into it, the more you realize why you coach,” Boals said. “It’s the relationships. The small piece that you can have on helping young men become productive citizens, grow in life, graduate, get a job (and) have families. That’s the cool thing.”

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ILLUSTRATION BY TREVOR BRIGHTON