I first met Chioke Bradley in the summer of 1993.

I was the senior counselor in charge of athletics at Camp Glenn Taylor, the YMCA day-camp stationed on the shores of Charles Mill near Mifflin, and Bradley was a rising senior at Mansfield Senior.

I was in college at the time and knew little of Bradley, an ultra-athletic defensive back who, unbeknownst to me, was being courted by Ohio State and Michigan, among others. He would come out to camp a couple days a week and help out in various capacities.

What that meant to me was I had someone to throw the football with during my free period.

Little did I know I was playing catch with the man who would become the most successful football coach in Senior High history.

After 15 seasons, 103 wins, nine playoff appearances, five conference championships and one memorable state runner-up finish, Bradley recently informed Senior High administrators he is stepping aside. He departs as the winningest coach in program history.

Bradley took over for Jamie Masi in 2010, but to get a feel for what he inherited you have to go back even further.

Stan Jefferson took over from Steve Gilbert as Senior High’s head coach in 1993, Bradley’s senior year, and led the Tygers to the playoffs for the first time in program history that fall. Senior High reached the playoffs three straight seasons from 2000 to 2002 before Jefferson accepted a position on Jim Tressel’s staff at Ohio State.

LeRoy Smith took over for Jefferson in 2003 and the Tygers were 18-32 in his five seasons at the helm. Masi succeeded Smith in 2008 and was 6-14 in two seasons.

When Bradley took over in 2010, Senior High hadn’t had a winning season in the seven years since Jefferson’s departure.

That was all about to change.

The Tygers were 6-4 in Bradley’s first season, but slipped to 3-7 the following year. 

Everything changed in 2012. Senior High shared the Ohio Cardinal Conference title with Madison and West Holmes and qualified for the Division II playoffs. The Tygers fell to Tiffin Columbian in the opening round, but the table was set for a memorable 2013 season.

With a wealth of talent returning from the 2012 team, Senior High rumbled to a perfect 10-0 regular season and an outright Ohio Cardinal Conference title. The Tygers shut out Licking Heights in an opening-round playoff game at Arlin Field before falling to New Albany 26-22 in the regional semifinals.

Senior High won another OCC title and returned to the playoffs in 2015. The Tygers fell to top-seeded Massillon Perry and Mr. Football Keishaun Sims in the regional quarterfinals.

The 2016 team finished 6-4 and missed the playoffs, but the buzz began to build thanks to a talented freshman class that included Angelo Grose, Anthony Hawkins, Ty’Lheir Grose and Clay Caudill, among others.

The 2017 team again reached the playoffs thanks largely to Jornell Manns, an athletic receiver-turned-running back and Minnesota recruit, but the 2018 team finished 5-5 — with all five losses coming to playoff-qualifying teams — and missed out on the postseason.

Expectations were soaring before the 2019 season kicked off, and they were ratcheted up even higher when the Tygers opened the season with a 21-10 win over highly-regarded Norwalk, the reigning regional champion.

A controversial 18-17 loss at Wooster in Week 8 cost Senior High an OCC title, but the Tygers qualified for the playoffs as the No. 2 seed and embarked on a magical postseason run that is still talked about to this day.

Mansfield Senior opened the playoffs with a 28-0 home win over Bay and beat Holy Name 45-30 at Wooster’s Follis Field. 

That sent the Tygers into the regional final against Sandusky at Clyde. Angelo Grose scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime as Senior won a regional championship for the first time in program history with a 15-9 victory.

Grose did it again the following week in a double-overtime win over Aurora at Nordonia in the state semifinals. The Michigan State recruit intercepted a pass on Aurora’s possession in the second OT period, then scored the game-winning touchdown on a pass from Cam Todd to send Mansfield Senior to the state championship game.

The Tygers played their third straight OT game in the Division III final against Trotwood-Madison at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, but came up short in a 14-7 loss.

Mansfield Senior returned to the playoffs in 2020, ’21, ’22 and ’23 before having their postseason string snapped this fall.

With a completely remade roster this year — 11 of the 17 seniors off last year’s regional semifinal team signed to play college football — Senior High stumbled to a 1-9 record. It was the worst record in Bradley’s 15 seasons.

Wins and losses only paint a partial portrait of the Bradley era at Mansfield Senior. In 15 seasons, Bradley had 53 players sign to play college football. At least one player in every graduating class has gone on to play at the collegiate level.

“It’s why I took the job,” Bradley said in the run-up to signing day last February. “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.

“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.”

The football program and the city couldn’t have asked for a better advocate. Bradley was glad to do it.

“I’m a Mansfield kid and I love my city,” Bradley said during the magical 2019 playoff run. “Tyger pride is city-wide.”