Lorain loses assistant Hall to Brush post

Eddie Hall helped build the Lorain football program into a perennial playoff contender.

The 30-year-old graduate of Seton Hill hopes to do the same — and more — at Brush.

Hall was recently approved by the Brush board of education to be the new head football coach of the Arcs. He takes over for Jeff Fink, who stepped down from the position he held for three years to be the offensive coordinator at John Carroll.

But Hall said being the head football coach at Brush goes much deeper than his responsibilities on the football field.

“We’ll win games, don’t get me wrong,” Hall said. “But it’s not the only focus. It’s to help these young people. I think you’ll win a lot of games if you do that. They’ll run through the proverbial wall for you when they trust you.”

That trust factor was a big lesson he learned as an assistant coach for the Lorain Titans, under Coach Dave McFarland. While at Lorain, the Titans advanced to the playoffs in three of the past four seasons with Hall serving most recently as the team’s offensive coordinator.

Hall remembers vividly his interview with McFarland a number of years ago.

“I wanted to talk Xs and Os, and he stopped every single time and asked me, ‘What are you doing for the kids,?’” Hall reminisced. “How are the kids being helped? I didn’t understand it at first. I thought I had to sell myself as a football guy. But I got it — this job is really about ‘do you care about the kids?’”

That philosophy helped Hall get the job at Brush, said principal Karl Williamson. More than 50 applicants put in for the Brush job, but Hall “was head and shoulders above everybody,” Williamson said.

“Eddie is kid-centered through and through,” Williamson said. “He talked about what is best for kids, how to get kids to the next level. It was all kids, kids, kids. That’s what resonated with us over the other candidates. It was a close call for about a minute, but he really stood out.”

Hall, who not only has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Seton Hill, but also a master’s of education degree from Kent State, will be teaching at Brush. But he said the position has not yet been determined.

He met with the players at Brush and is also working on formulating his staff.

“I’m interviewing coaches and am hoping to keep a lot of continuity there,” he said. “I think we have something pretty special there already.”

Even though this is Hall’s first head coaching position, having eight years of experience at Lorain has been invaluable, he said.

“I have been (McFarland’s) assistant head coach, which means he allowed me to literally do everything a head coach does,” Hall said. “That really has prepared me for this opportunity.”

Hall said he wants a top-to-bottom program at Brush, building from youth leagues up through junior high, freshman, junior varsity and varsity.

This past season, Brush went 8-2, won the Western Reserve Conference championship and advanced to the second round of the Division II, Region 5 playoffs.

Hall