MANSFIELD — Chioke Bradley’s office at Cyprus High School is a cacophony of 21st-century technology, all cell-phone notifications and desktop-computer alerts.
Mansfield Senior’s longtime football coach can hardly complete a thought before the next electronic interruption vibrates the mobile device left momentarily unattended on his desk, the accompanying ding reverberating off the walls of the cramped space.
Everyone, it seems, wants a moment of Bradley’s time — including a pair of recruiters, one wearing a pullover with the logo of a prominent Division I college program emblazoned across the chest, waiting in the lobby.
The high school football season is busy. The run-up to National Signing Day, traditionally the first Wednesday in February, can be even busier.
Bradley wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s why I took the job,” said Bradley, who starred at Senior High in the 1990s before becoming head coach at his alma mater in 2010.
“We’re not just trying to win football games. We’re trying to provide opportunities to our kids to go on and further their education and continue to play football.”
Historic Haul
Even by Bradley’s standards, Mansfield Senior’s Class of 2024 is unusual. A record nine seniors from last autumn’s Ohio Cardinal Conference championship team have committed to college programs, including FBS recruits La-La Owens (Bowling Green) and Ahmaan Thomas (Buffalo).
That record haul stands to increase as no fewer than three other seniors are mulling over offers.
When it’s all said and done, 12 of this year’s 17 seniors could find themselves on college rosters in the fall.
Four of this year’s seniors, Ja’Ontay O’Bryant (Findlay), Ja’hmere Dotson (Findlay), Quinten DeBolt (Findlay) and Jermaine Bradley (Walsh) signed with Division II programs.
Three others, Jamier Petty (Heidelberg), Zyion Brown (Wittenberg) and Jaiden Grose (Kenyon) have committed to play at the Division III level.
“This is the biggest class we’ve ever had,” Bradley said. “This class is loaded with unbelievable talent and they are great kids, too.
“Just being a really good football player isn’t enough.”
Recipe For Success
Since taking the job in 2010, Bradley has sent no fewer than 50 athletes to the collegiate ranks. That list includes at least one player from every graduating class along with 15 FCS signees.
“There are a number of things that make it possible to attain a college football opportunity. You have to be a good kid off the field. You have to have good character. You have to be a good student and you have to be a good teammate.” Bradley said.
“You have to be a leader. You have to be resilient when adversity strikes. You have to be strong mentally and physically. You have to be a good son. You have to be a good grandson. Then you have to be a very good football player.”
It helps to have an advocate like Bradley.
The former four-year starter at Bowling Green began opening doors for his players the moment he took over for Jamie Masi after serving as an assistant on Masi’s staff in the late-2000s.
“Coach Bradley believed in me before I believed in myself,” said Jacob Supron, a member of Senior High’s first Bradley-coached team in the fall of 2010 who became an All-Ivy League cornerback at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and earned a degree in mechanical engineering.
“If Chioke hadn’t been looking out for me, I wouldn’t have had the opportunities that I’ve had.”
Supron was one of five players who signed out of Bradley’s first class of seniors. Six signed out of the Class of 2014, including record-setting quarterback Jalen Reese.
“Chioke goes the extra mile,” said Reese, who played at Division I Toledo and is a member of Bradley’s coaching staff, “whether that means taking a kid to a camp or arranging a college visit or helping a kid’s parents navigate the recruiting process.”
What was true for Supron in 2011 and Reese in 2014 is still true in 2024.
“One thing we know about Chioke is he’s going to get his players into college,” said the Buffalo-bound Thomas. “We’re lucky to have him in our corner.”
Findlay recruit Dotson agreed.
“He shopped my film to a lot of schools. We know he’s going to get our names out there,” Dotson said. “It’s a blessing to have him.”
For Bradley, it’s not only about getting kids into college. He tries to find the right fit for his players.
“It’s very strategic and stressful,” Bradley said. “We’re trying to put a good product not just on the field, but in the hands of college football programs.
“We build relationships with college coaches and we want to be sure they keep coming back.”
The blueprint is working, said DeBolt, the Findlay-bound kicker.
“Coach Bradley has a good reputation among college coaches and when he talks you up, they pay attention,” DeBolt said. “His word means something to them.”
Summer Camp
One piece of the puzzle is exposing players to college football programs during the summer camp circuit, which has become an increasingly important part of the recruitment of high school players.
Bradley has been taking his players to summer camps in June and July for as long as he’s had the job.
“That’s just something I brought to the table when I got on staff as an assistant,” Bradley said. “Those summer camps have been a resource for our kids and for kids at other districts in the area, too.
“If a kid who goes to Lexington or Shelby or Madison or Ontario wants to jump in the car with mom and dad and follow us to one of these camps, we’ve always encouraged that.”
Road Less Taken
Mansfield Senior’s historic Class of 2020 boasted seven college signees, all of whom played key roles as seniors on the 2019 team that reached the Division III state championship game. One of the members of the Class of 2020, Ty’Lheir Grose, recently committed to Division I Eastern Michigan after attending Lackawanna Community College in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
“Not everyone’s journey is the same,” Bradley said. “You look at guys from that class like (Michigan State’s) Angelo Grose and (Bowling Green’s) Anthony Hawkins, who went straight from high school to Division I football.
“Then you have Ty’Lheir, who took a less traditional path. It’s a testament to his perseverance. We’re so proud of him.”
Long Game
When he was a star defensive back at Bowling Green in the mid-1990s, Bradley had a long heart-to-heart talk with his position coach. That coach, current Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, imparted some advice that has stuck with Bradley ever since.
“We had a conversation in his office when I was a junior in college. He said, ‘Chioke, you’re looking at football the wrong way. It’s not the four-year plan. It’s the 40-year plan,’ ” Bradley remembered. “He said you are going to play football for however many years, but you’re going to have the rest of your life to live. That degree that football will allow you to get will take care of the 40-year plan.
“You’re going to play football for four or five years in college. Football will take care of those four or five years. The degree takes care of the 40 years.”
It’s the same advice that Bradley offers the players he sends to the college ranks.
“Football doesn’t last forever,” said Reese, who earned a degree in finance from Toledo and is a certified financial planner with Northwestern Mutual. “The clock is always ticking, whether you play through high school or you play 10 years in the NFL.”
Pay It Forward
While seeing his former players excel on collegiate fields is satisfying, what brings a smile to Bradley’s face is watching them give back to their community.
“That’s what allows me sleep good at night,” Bradley said. “A lot of these kids are first-generation college kids. No one in their family has ever stepped foot on a college campus. For these kids to be given an opportunity to interrupt that cycle is a blessing.
“You know you are doing things right when you help kids get an opportunity and they take advantage of the opportunity and now they are back giving back to the community. That is when the plan has come full circle. “
Those words are music to the ears of Mansfield City Schools Superintendent Stan Jefferson. Jefferson was Senior High’s coach in the fall of 1993, Bradley’s senior year.
“I’m reminded of the statement by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others?’ ” Jefferson said. “I am just so proud of him.”