BOND HILL, Ohio – Eric Richards has his entire life in front of him. Fortunately, he’s already living his dream.
Richards was hired as Woodward High School’s track and field coach this year at just 19 years old.
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“I just graduated high school in 2021 and most of the kids are near my age,” said Richards, who turned 20 on March 30. “I can build up a bond with them and it’s so much easier to be coached by someone who can relate to you. It was awesome that I got my first head-coaching job with no head-coaching experience. I had to learn and come in on my own, really.”
Richards, who graduated from Glenville High School in Cleveland less than two years ago, comes from a track family and has been in the sport since he was 10. As a senior, he won a state championship in the 4-x-400 relay in the Ohio High School Athletic Association state tournament, helping lead Glenville to a state runner-up finish in Division II. He earned a track and field scholarship to Central State University before transferring to the University of Cincinnati, where he is currently a walk-on redshirt athlete this season.
Legendary Glenville head track and football coach Ted Ginn Sr. was a big inspiration. Ginn’s words from just a few years ago helped Richards see the big picture when he got into coaching.
“He (Ginn Sr.) gave us a lot of speeches during practices and changing the culture. That’s what made me want to coach because my passion is to help young adults my age to get to college,” Richards said. “Since we started in February, the message I give them all the time is to put in the work. If you want something, you gotta work for it.”
That goal of pushing high-school athletes to the next level makes it all worthwhile for Richards. His typical day includes going to school at UC, track practice with the Bearcats in the afternoon, Woodward’s practice later in the afternoon, then homework and studying at night.
While it was only a few years ago he was in his students’ shoes, Richards likes to offer his own experiences in high school as fuel for his current players.
“I was in a pretty bad environment myself as an inner-city kid,” Richards said. “A lot of kids don’t have help and don’t want to go to practice because they’re chasing the streets or afraid of the environment. The hardest thing is getting them to practice and make sure they stay.”
'I want to win their lives.'
This season, Richards offers his taxi services by driving a few of his players home after each practice who live further away from Woodward’s Roselawn campus. He’s also teaching two of the seniors on the squad to drive.
“I’m not just a coach. I’m their brother and educator,” Richards said. “I want to win their lives. I want to keep them on the right path.”
Recently, Richards got a chance to show some of his players what the next level could look like. He took a five-person group of Woodward runners and jumpers on a visit to West Virginia State, a Historically Black University in Institute, West Virginia. One senior, Marciano Winn, picked up a partial scholarship offer, according to Richards, and the group will be visiting Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee next week.
“The trip was awesome. The students love the HBCU campus and they got to experience the WVSU (West Virginia State University) culture and HBCU students’ life on campus,” Richards said. “I can see all my student-athletes going to the next level to not only play sports but getting their education. They can get be successful in the future with their brothers and sisters who have the same goals as them.”
Richards has the Bulldogs running well on the track, too. At the Finneytown Wildcat Invitational on April 18, Winn was the long-jump champion and junior Donte Ferrell, one of the city’s top football players at wide receiver, won the high jump and the 200-meter dash. He was also the runner-up in the 400-meter dash. The Bulldogs also had a first-place relay (4-x-800) and three runner-up relays (4-x-100, 4-x-200, 4-x-400).
Richards has high hopes for his track and field team but knows the results are not as important as the messages he tries to send them on a daily basis. If he can get his team on the right path on and off the track, they’ll all be winners.
“I always say to them, ‘in life, you won’t go far unless the goalposts are far,’ so put in the work in practice and during the meets and you’ll go far,’” Richards explained. “We win every day because we’re not going to lose. Every day I teach my athletes the core values and teaching them life. It’s a brotherhood.”
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