WGH football team a mess

If it wasn't bad enough that the Warren G. Harding football is 1-6 for the first time since 1985, now there is even more controversy swirling around Trumbull County's most prominent high school football program. Assistant coach Alex Engram was fired last week after an alleged pattern of misbehavior in the locker room and divisiveness within the coaching staff. There were allegations that the firing was related to alcohol consumption at a private party that took place last month. It is known that Warren City Schools board member Patty Limperos was at the party until 3:30 a.m., but she denies there was any drinking.

Some thoughts:

1. In a way, I blame the board for the issues related to the coaching staff. It took so long to hire a coach after the board got rid of D.J. Dota that there probably wasn't sufficient time for newly hired Rick Rios to get the staff in place that he wanted. Rios isn't from Warren. He came here from Toledo and it could be that the combination of timing and his being from somewhere else left him no real choice but to make use of resources perhaps already in place. If the hiring process wasn't such a joke to begin with, perhaps Harding could have had its head coach in place much earlier. Then the new coach, Rios as it turned out, would have been able to vet the candidates for the assistant jobs and hire the guys he wanted.

2. This developing party story can't be good for Limperos' bid to get re-elected as a board member.

3. Harding plays at Massillon on Thursday night. The Tigers are 6-1. The Raiders are in disarray on and off the field. Maybe Rios and his remaining staff can use all the trouble as a sort of motivational tool, but this doesn't look like a matchup Harding needs in Week 8.

Stay tuned.