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Derrick Vicars wants to become a Toledo Rocket
By Mark Griffin
Special to The Press
sports@presspublications.com
Genoa running back/linebacker Derrick Vicars loved playing football for his
father, Comets coach Mike Vicars.
“I'm going to miss it,” the All-Ohio running back said. “He
was always there and I got to talk to him about stuff. It's going to be different.
As a coach’s son, I got to do some extra things and it will be different
not being able to talk to the coaches as well as I did before."
Derrick, who will graduate from Genoa this spring, will continue his football career this summer as a preferred walk-on for the Rockets and head coach Tom Amstutz.
Vicars was a standout running back and linebacker at Genoa last year after starring at Delta, where his father was the coach the previous several years. His brother, Marcus, is going to be a senior at Genoa next season and is also a running back and linebacker.
Derrick (6’1, 200) was a special mention All-Ohio running back his sophomore and junior year at Delta. Last season, he was the Suburban Lakes League and district player of the year and a first-team All-Ohio selection.
As a linebacker, he also led Genoa in tackles with 112 while leading the Comets to a 10-2 record, SLL title and a berth in the Division IV state playoffs.
He rushed for more than 1,800 yards and scored 33 touchdowns as a senior after scoring 27 TDs as a junior at Delta.
UT is bringing him in as a linebacker.
“I had some smaller schools looking at me,” Vicars said. “I didn’t want to pay a lot of money, and UT gave me this opportunity. My dad e-mailed them to see if they had a spot left. I went down for a visit sometime in March and I met with coach (Doug) Downing and coach Amstutz.
“They said just come in and try to get on special teams and make my way onto the team. I’m not one of the scholarship players, so I have to work really hard and show what I can do. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get on some special teams.”
Vicars said he set a goal his freshman year to play football in college.
“This is pretty exciting,” he said. “I always had a goal of playing at a bigger school. To be able to do that is a pretty big deal to me.”
Mike Vicars, whose oldest son, Ryan was the quarterback on Delta’s 2003 state semifinal team, said he will miss coaching Derrick “a lot.”
“It was fun,” Mike said. “It’s tough. I didn’t have kids when I started coaching. Guys will say, ‘I don't want to coach my kids,’ but for me it was so fun and rewarding. I loved every aspect of it. Football is in our family, there is no other way to say it.”
Vicars has also been selected to play in the North-South Game June 14 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Mike Vicars said his son was chosen by the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association.
“It’s divided up regionally,” the coach said. “Not every region has a representative (in the game), but he was the player of the year in our region and got selected to play linebacker on the North team.”
Derrick said he was “a little surprised” he got chosen to play in the game.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “I’m working hard to get ready for it, and hopefully I'll perform well down there. We start practicing May 4 and then we go down the week before the game.”
Vicars, who has a 3.4 GPA, wants to study physical therapy at UT and then become an athletic trainer.
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