COMMENTARY: It's time to acknowledge and issue Massillon coach his due respect

 COMMENTARY: It's time to acknowledge and issue Massillon coach his due

By Keno Sultan

Stark County Prep Press writer

www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com

MASSILLON--Several years ago, as I was at Aultman Hospital tending to my mother in her time of need, I received an unlikely phone call from someone as I sat in the waiting room.

Ok, he might take umbrage to me for this but it's time to speak a well needed piece of my mind here.

As my mother was facing a health matter, the man on the other end wasn't just any other head coach. He wasn't any other athletic director. This was a husband and a father on the other end. It was none other than Nate Moore. 

I admit I was very surprised at first he knew she was in the hospital. He was in an administrave meeting and I wondered why he was calling me at the time as it came out of nowhere, especially in the middle of an important meeting in his profession as an administrator. He expressed his concern to me and asked me was there anything he could do for me at that time and told me to be with my mother. It was one thing for me to nearly be brought to tears amid a powerful post-game prayer after Massillon's 24-14 win over McKinley in 2019 to complete a 10-0 regular season. It was wholly another for me to fight back tears (I love my mother so much) in the waiting room awaiting the news of her situation while speaking to Moore.

Even this man in a suit and hat has feelings too. I cry just like any other human being does. With that said, I can't help but to think about something that former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver and Hall of Fame enshrinee Michael Irvin said about reporters who had repeatedly castigated head coach Barry Switzer during the NFC championship presentation from January 14, 1996: "You know, he takes all the (expletive) from everybody and he's been taking it all year. People need to give him his (expletive) respect!"

For 10 seasons, Moore has taken unjust shots mainly from outsiders and during that time there have been things said about him and his team that this gentleman particularly doesn't appreciate. I have seen it all on message boards, chat rooms, and other forms of media. Now I'm not going to go off like Irvin did (he ended up getting a lambasting from his mother for that) but I will make this clear. It's high time to not only acknowledge respect for the Massillon Tigers but also, Moore as well.

Last season despite going 16-0 and winning the Division II state championship, there are perpetrators who continue to throw violent rancor toward the Tigers and it has become as bland as a tasteless cake. From 2018-2020, Massillon was harshly criticized by media for losing three state finals to the point where I was upset and voiced my disgust and now they are defending state champions yet they are still the brunt of criticism in the area. I don't fault Ellery Moore, former Massillon legendary defensive end for calling me out to stop getting caught up in the conundrum of others and to be better than them, to still show respect for Massillon whereas others don't.

What ever happened to giving respect where it is due? Whatever happened to being respectful for a team's accomplishments? Whatever happened to being an adult and finally acknowledging the Tiger football program for their success?

You don't put down a team and you sure don't put down a head coach who not only is 9-1 against Canton McKinley but also the manufacturer of three undefeated regular seasons, three undefeated home seasons, and many other accomplishments along the way at Massillon. There have been 26 head coaches in the Massillon program before Moore and not a single one has taken the abrasive disrespect that Moore and his charges have taken.

INTENSE DIALOGUE. Massillon head coach Nate Moore intensely voices his concern to an official during the second half of Saturday's 135th meeting between Canton McKinley and Massillon. (Keno Sultan/Stark Couny Prep Press)

When I ventured into this profession, Dave Hoover, a three-time Division I state championship winning basketball head coach told me something that became paramount to me: "Keno, if you're going to be a sports journalist, you have to report the facts."

When I see people post the negativity they do on those sports forums or anywhere else, I am willing to bet a cheese pizza from Pizza Hut that most of those people doing the chattering are those who don't have facts themselves. And even if they do have facts, they are not acknowledging them truthfully.

Massillon players thrive as not student-athletes but student-community-athletes. They are always in the top 10 of highest G.P.A. in the state of Ohio. Massillon also thrives on the football field. My appreciation for Moore is a genuine one. Moore also teaches life lessons to his players. And in some cases, he has become a father to those who don't have their biological fathers or a second father to those who have their dads in their lives ala the late Steve Studer (may his legacy always live on).

This man has learned a great deal about why Moore has become successful. The culture in Massillon is based on love for each other. Players and coaches have that love for one another. To continually tarnish the Tigers is like making a mess in the home of a person who invited you in and chances are if you do that, you may not ever be let back in the home again.

It was seven weeks ago as I was waiting to interview Moore after Massillon's 35-21 loss to Bergen Catholic (NJ), I saw a young elemtary school kid weaing a Massillon jersey of a favorite player crying. I knew what that game meant to him. I was hurt internally to see Massillon fall short. Moore taught me a life lesson from that night and it showed the resiliency of his charges to bounce back from defeat, which they did twice. Massillon was down after the losses but not for long.

To Coach Moore, if you are reading this. You have been influential into my life over the last 10 years. You have been influential to Massillon over the last 10 years. You have been influential to the Massillon athletic department the last 10 years. You are blessed to be the head football coach of the Massillon Tigers. And if no one else, you certainly have my respect and always will.

It's time to cease the repeated bashing of Massillon and that of Coach Moore. It's time to acknowledge and give Moore his due respect including the Tigers football team. The last 10 years speak for itself not to mention a state championship. Enough with the rancid potshots. Stop it.

Acknowledge and give respect where it is long overdue. Anyone wants to take shots at me, go ahead, I am OK with that. Take it out on me. But not Moore and his state champion Massillon Tigers.

Keno Sultan is a writer for Stark County Prep Press. He can be reached at 330-445-4575 or email at KenoSultan@hotmail.com.