Kopachy Starting Over in Salem

For some in the ITCL, they may say that Western Reserve’s former head coach Mike Kopachy is crazy for leaving such a talented program, and starting all over again.  But both Western Reserve and Salem have much brighter futures due to his leadership.  What accomplishments the Quaker program will obtain is yet to be seen, but the potential to do great things is in place.      That is what led Kopachy to pursue the Salem position.  “Several community members contacted me because some highly respected coaches in the area recommended me.  I decided to go through the process to see what their committee had to say.  I fell in love with the facilities.  I did some research and they seem to have the kind of athletes it takes to run my scheme,” he would describe what he liked about Salem.  However, it was not easy for him to leave the Western Reserve program that he worked so hard to build.  “It was a hard decision because I am so close with the kids and community of Western Reserve.  I ended up being sold because I felt like the Salem school district was going to be very accommodating to me.”  He would go on to comment about addressing the Blue Devil players, “It was emotional for all involved.  It’s hard for young men to understand adult decisions, but they will be fine because they are such good people.”

Although the Western Reserve program has lost one of its most successful coaches in their football history, they can always reflect on the many accomplishments the program obtained under Kopachy.  He has several special moments that he personally will reflect upon in his experience with the Devils.  “There are so many.  These kids were a very important part of some key moments in my life.  When we were down 28-7 at halftime vs. McDonald in 2006, our guys said they were sick of being the same old losing team.  We lost that game 35-28 but that was the turning point in our program.”  The Devils played not just for themselves, but also for their coach.  “A week later my aunt died and I was emotional and the kids lifted me by beating Leetonia which eventually helped us win the league.”      The Devils also developed pride in themselves and the football program due to his direction.  “Beating Southern on the last play in 2007 to give us back to back winning seasons was special.  I'll never forget Matt Kalbfell leaping into my arms like we won the Super Bowl.  Again, in a losing effort to McDonald, our kids played their hearts out in the playoff game after getting waxed in the regular season on TV.”  One former player echoed the deep bond between them and coach Kopachy.  "He was a coach that cared about his players individually on and off of the field. Even when we were in the ICL, with little hope to win games, he still believed that we were capable of winning everytime we stepped on the field, and his players always believed too."      Anyone who has followed Western Reserve football over the past 20 years can attest to the struggles the program has had.  The past six years have without a doubt, been the most successful in their history.  A 30-32 record, although not very impressive in and of itself, however if you compare it to a 12-48 record in a six year span prior to Kopachy’s arrival at Berlin Center, the numbers begin to take on a new meaning of accomplishment.   Kopachy also has no regrets from his tenure with the Devils.  “We won the first ever league title and had two playoff appearances, three winning seasons for the first time in school history - no regrets there.”      Coach Kopachy was also one of the highest regarded coaches in the ITCL.  While for him the ITCL provided great opportunities and experiences.  “It's awesome.  The ITCL is a model for all leagues across the state on how to build competiveness amongst member schools.”  This fall the ITCL will get to meet Coach “K” as they affection ally call him at Western Reserve, when United travels to Salem on September 4th.   --ITCLFootball.net Article

"It was a hard decision because I am so close with the kids and community of Western Reserve."                   -Mike Kopachy

No doubt, he will face some very difficult challenges at Salem.  The Quakers finished the 2008 with a 0-10 record, with seven of those losses by 28 points or more.  Salem has not had a winning season since 2005 when former ICL coach Doug Phillips led the Quakers. “I feel that changing the mentality towards the positive will be an initial obstacle,” he remarked about his biggest challenge.  Despite these facts, Kopachy sees the Salem position as being different than the one he inherited when he arrived at Western Reserve six years ago.  “The difference is they (Salem) had Bill Miller, who is a fundamentally sound coach, who despite lack of success as far as wins and losses, was a big success as far as developing players on and off the field.”