MANSFIELD, Ohio — Serving and loving. Those are two of the most important ingredients to becoming a successful leader, according to former Mansfield Senior coach Stan Jefferson.
“You can’t lead a group of people unless you love a group of people, and you can’t save a group of people unless you serve a group of people,” he said. Jefferson knows this to be true from years of experience, having maintained a variety of leadership roles for the past 40 years.
His outstanding ability to lead as a coach has made quite an impression on others, so much so that he was selected to become a member of the Ohio High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
He will be inducted this June with five others: John Gibbons of Lakewood St. Edward, John Kelley of John Glenn, Jim Henson of Grand Valley, John Magistro of Westerville and Arte Altomare of Leetonia.
Humbled by this honor, Jefferson said, “There are a lot of big names that are in the hall of fame and it’s just, wow…I know a lot of them; I coached against some and others I know personally. There are some great coaches in there, so to know I’m also going in there, that’s just amazing.”
Jefferson served as an assistant football coach at Malabar High School for six years and at Ashland University for 11 years. He also was the varsity track coach at Malabar and Mansfield Senior for 21 years.
In 1993, he became the head football coach at Mansfield Senior. While serving as the head football coach for 10 years, Jefferson’s teams posted a combined record of 65-39, captured four league titles and made four playoff appearances between 1993 and 2002. Also during that time, he was named the Ohio Heartland Conference Coach of the Year four times, Northwest District Coach of the Year three times and a finalist for the National Football League High School Football Coach of the Year.
Jefferson refused to take full credit for his teams’ successes, noting that they wouldn’t have been possible without his fellow coaches, athletes and local community.
“It was a family effort,” he said.
A teacher and administrator for 28 years at Mansfield schools, Jefferson said he loves working with students and student-athletes and watching as they progress.
“To see someone go from point A to point B is just exciting,” he said.
In 2004, Jefferson became the associate director of football operations at The Ohio State University. After two years in that capacity, he was named director of player development.
He works closely with the football operations staff in orchestrating the day-to-day workings of the football program. In addition to monitoring the academic progress of the student-athletes, he is also the point person for the Buckeyes’ far-reaching community relations and outreach initiatives.
“No two days are the same, but every day I come to work to have a championship day, and that means I’m giving my all for the people I’m going to serve that day–the players, our coachers, whoever,” he said.
As he looks to the future, he hopes to continue striving to make every day a “championship day,” he said, noting, “I’m going to continue to serve the people I work with and love the people I work with and give a championship-day effort.”
