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Hulea knows how to build a winner

PAUL HULEA

LEETONIA — When Paul Hulea took over as Leetonia’s head football coach in January, it was pretty easy to identify what needed changed.

“Pretty much everything,” Hulea said. “We came into this job knowing it was going to be a process to get the program turned around and it’s been about as expected.”

When you’ve lost 31 straight conference games and 44 of the last 47 overall, the only way to go is up and the Bears are confident they’ve found the man to get things pointed in the right direction.

Hulea comes to Leetonia with a wealth of winning experience. He has a career head coaching record of 115-46, including 68-32 in nine seasons at Poland and 47-14 in six seasons at Crestview. While at Poland, he captured the 1999 Division III state championship and became the first coach in Ohio history to go 15-0 in the process.

At Crestview, he was part of Tri-County League titles in 1988, 1991 and 1993 and guided the Rebels to their first state playoff appearance in 1991.

Hulea’s last season as a head coach came all the way back in 2004 at Poland, but he said it didn’t feel too difficult being in charge of a program again.

“It’s gone pretty smooth,” Hulea said. “I’ve been an assistant at various stops since I stepped down at Poland so I’ve stayed around the game. Coaching is coaching whether you’re a head coach or an assistant. The biggest thing that’s changed since I’ve been around here is that there are so many options for kids now. When I was at Crestview, it seemed like you either played football or were in the band during the fall in Columbiana County. There wasn’t much else to do.”

Hulea said he remembered the Leetonia community fondly from his years at Crestview and got the itch to be a head coach again when he saw the job come open.

“I always liked Leetonia, I thought it was a good place with good people,” Hulea said. “When I saw the job, I was intrigued and decided to throw my hat in the ring.”

Right after he was hired in January, Hulea said the top priority was to completely overhaul the culture surrounding the program.

“Coach Hulea has been very supportive,” Leetonia senior running back Roman Ferry said. “He’s told us to believe in ourselves because more than half the battle is believing in yourself. If you don’t believe you can win, then there’s no chance you can win. I think that’s what he’s installed in our program — some more belief and definitely more commitment.”

“The biggest thing we’re trying to establish a team-first mentality,” Hulea said. “We’re trying to get the message across that if you want to be a good football player, it takes a commitment. You have to be willing to consistently work on your craft, you can’t just show up and expect to be a good player.”

So far, Hulea has been impressed with how the players have bought into the fresh, new mindset.

“When we got here, there wasn’t really any type of offseason program, but we were able to get a good group of kids that enjoy being in the weight room,” Hulea said. “The kids have been putting in the work, and doing everything we ask.”

Hulea said he plans to emphasize playing aggressive, sound defense and taking care of the ball on offense. He has a few solid pieces to start with in senior running back Roman Ferry (854 rushing yards, 73 solo tackles), senior quarterback Brock Simpson and sophomore running back Marco Ferry.

The Bears averaged 8.8 points per game last season and gave up an average of 47.1.

“We’re going to lean on them a lot,” Hulea said. “We’re going to move the Ferrys around and we’ll pick our spots to throw with Brock. On defense, I want to be aggressive. If we want to compete, we absolutely have to be better on that side of the ball.”

Above all else, Hulea has been satisfied with the Bears’ effort level as August has progressed.

“In our first scrimmage against Sebring, I was mainly pleased with how hard we competed,” Hulea said. “That’s the main thing we are looking for right now.”

Whatever situation he’s found himself in, whether it’s guiding a state title winner or trying to build a program back up from the ground floor, Hulea said the excitement of teaching football and helping kids reach their potential has never changed for him.

“I’ve been having a ball so far,” Hulea said. “Our main objective for this year is to compete hard every time we take the field. Over the years, I’ve been in games where we’ve won, but I was disappointed because we didn’t play as well as we could have. I’ve also been in losses where I couldn’t have felt prouder of my team because of their effort. As long as we do everything we can to play our best this season, then I’ll be happy.”

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