Spend about five minutes with first-year Gibsonburg football coach Steve Reser and chances are you'll be ready to

Gibsonburg football coach Steve Reser

 put on a helmet and pads and get dirty.

“He's high-energy,” Gibsonburg Athletic Director Brent Liskai said. “He keeps things in a positive perspective. We like his enthusiasm and what he brings to us. I think there's a huge upside. He's excited about what he's doing and I think that will get our kids excited. His enthusiasm rubs off on them.”

Reser initially met his new team back in mid-March, after he beat out approximately 19 other applicants to replace Matt Harp as Gibsonburg's new head coach.

“They were all ears,” Reser recalled, “and they were more curious about me. Kids don't realize how important it is for head coaches to have that good first impression on their players. I don't think they knew I was nervous. They were curious, eager to find out who their next coach was and what kind of guy he would be.”

Reser, 33, inherited a team that went 3-7 and 1-5 in the Suburban Lakes League a year ago. He has never been a head coach before, but he was an offensive coordinator at Seneca East for five years and for one season at Tiffin Columbian.

“It's been a desire of mine for a while,” Reser said of running his own program.

Born and raised in Tiffin, Reser was a wide receiver and outside linebacker at Calvert High School, where he also played basketball and baseball.

“Basketball,” Reser said, “was just my 'stay-in-shape' sport. I stink.”

He played football, as a slot receiver, at Heidelberg College from 1998-2000 and was named a team captain as a senior. He later became a graduate assistant for two years and served as The Berg's wide receivers coach in 2003.

Seven years and two coaching gigs later, Reser is now an alternative learning center coordinator - “I'm a Spanish teacher by trade” - and perennially upbeat head football coach at Gibsonburg.

Reser said he gets his enthusiasm and go-go-go mentality from his parents, Mike and Sue Reser.

“That kind of stuff starts at home,” Reser said. “I'd like to think my parents did a good job. I look up to them and they mean a lot to me. It also comes from other people I've met and my positive experiences through education and playing and coaching. My wife, Sue, does a pretty good job of keeping me positive. When times are tough, she reminds me of how good things really are.”

The Bears started summer football workouts with 27 players on Aug. 2. Since then, eight more players have joined the team.

“We must be doing something right,” Reser said. “We haven't had anybody quit. If you can find a way to work them and not trick them into it and be honest with them, that's how you gain their repsect. If they respect you, the word spreads. This is football and it's supposed to be fun. We're spreading the word and it's been contagious up to this point.”

Liskai said he likes what he's seen from Reser and his staff.

“Like anything else, it's going to take a while to get a program in,” Liskai said. “The kids are working hard and the attitude is positive. There's always a learning curve for kids going from one coach to another, but I think he's made the transition easy for our kids. I think with his hard work, we'll get to where we need to be.”

The Bears opened this season with a 32-28 loss at Ottawa Hills, then lost to a much-improved Port Clinton squad, 35-6, on Sept. 3. Last Friday, Fremont St. Joe – a playoff team a year ago – handed Gibsonburg a 34-10 home loss.

Despite an 0-3 start, Reser, who installed new offensive and defensive schemes from last season, remains unfazed.

“We've become a better team every week,” he said. “We've faced some pretty good competition. The scores may not show it, but we are progressively getting better. We have not taken a step backward.”

Gibsonburg's motto this season is this: play fast, play physical and play together. The Bears' new head coach hasn't set a time frame as far as how long it will take before the Golden Bears start winning league championships again. Gibsonburg's last SLL title was 10 years ago.

“The whole staff is new and we didn't come in thinking we had to change things,” Reser said. “We just knew what we wanted to do. There are certain ways a football program should be run, and that's what we're focused on. We preach team, pride, togetherness and discipline.

“We want to get better every play and get better every day. It's going to take a little while, but you can already see the team concept building and the cohesiveness coming together. The coaches are doing a good job and the players are giving us everything they have.”

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