EDITOR’S NOTE: Our Year of the Coach series, touching many bases at the high school, college and NFL levels, began last summer and winds through the NFL playoffs and ends with Super Bowl 60. What might one call the scope of Ohio coaching connections in the 2026 NFL playoffs? Mind-boggling? Normal? It depends on how you look at it. All six opening-round games include Ohio coaching stories, in some cases big stories. That’s crazy. It’s also routine. The struggles of the Browns and Bengals notwithstanding, Ohio always has been one of the best football states in the USA, a reason the Pro Football Hall of Fame is in Canton. Here, we touch on interesting Ohio connections, several involving Stark...
