NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio — The 2020 football season has been one of adversity for just about every team in Ohio. But for the North Royalton Bears, the team had to overcome a 0-6 start.
As the Bears run plays during practice, there’s no place head coach Nick Cuilli would rather be.
“It’s the thing I look forward to after teaching to a computer,” Cuilli laughed. “They know when to be serious, they know when it’s time to screw around, and we have a good time together. We enjoy being around each other.”
As he coaches up his players, it’s a unique season with temperature checks and masks during practice. Unlike anything he’s experienced in his 19 years as a head coach.
“The emotional rollercoaster we’ve been through every—I don’t want to say only every week. It’s like every three days. Two days. You’ll hear something about another school, or you’ll hear something about a team you just played, and then all of a sudden, those dominos start falling. It’s just been unbelievable.”
But that rollercoaster only got worse as the season unfolded as the Bears went 0-6 in the regular season.
“Horrible. It just compounded. You want to talk about rock bottom, by week 5, we were, you know, not only with the COVID stuff, the injuries, the record—we were rock bottom,” said Cuilli.
As senior linebacker and captain Matthew Van Steenlandt makes a play in practice, he says the team never lost focus.
“Yeah, sure, we lost a lot of games, but … we learned how to play this sport right. And this sport, if you’re ever half in, you’re never going to win any games,” said Van Steenlandt. “Losing six (games), you just got to put on the blinders and just keep on going. It’s either all or nothing in this sport.”
Despite the 0-6 start, the Bears still qualified for the playoffs—an opportunity the team and the coaches didn’t waste.
The Bears won not one, but two playoff games in overtime.
For senior captain Seamus Coberly, moments that were unforgettable.
“It was really surreal, honestly. All the guys were just so excited and we had so much fun on the bus ride home and just talking after the game, and that’s just something we’ll remember forever.”
While North Royalton continues practicing, hoping for another big win, coach says this team has already exemplified the saying “never give up.”
“Those kind of words are said all the time, you know, like, they’re great cliches, but you know, every weeks a new game. Just because we were 0-6, this group of young men right here, they didn’t care. They didn’t care that we were 0-6, they decided, we’re going to come together and we’re going to win not one, but two playoff games with that kind of pressure, and in that kind of fashion.”
A team that didn’t care about how they started, but will always remember how they finished.
