“He’s a coach. He’s a leader. He does things the right way. But, above all that he is a friend, and in this business that is something hard to come by.” Ryan Thayer, assistant football coach at Poca High School had nothing bad to say about head football coach, and State alum, Seth Ramsey.
Ramsey, who graduated in 2009 from State with a bachelor’s degree in education, has breathed life into the Poca football program. This is Ramsey’s fifth year with Poca. The Dots are 4-0 this season.
“My favorite thing about State was being a part of the baseball program,” Ramsey said. “We had a real great group of guys, both coaching staff and players.” he said.
With Ramsey on the baseball team, State won three conference championships.
Ramsey started coaching while at State. He said he played four years and coached for two at his alma mater.
“He comes from not only a baseball background, but a coaching background,” Thayer said. “His dad was a baseball coach, his brother is a football coach, his mom was an athletic director, as well as a girls’ basketball and softball coach. So coaching is literally in his blood, and you can tell.”
After leaving State, Ramsey went to Buffalo High School as a baseball coach for two years. Ramsey was on the football staff as an assistant for one year, and the Bison were 0-10.
Ramsey decided to head to Poca High School. He took an assistant baseball job, followed by an assistant football job, before being offered the head coaching position for both sports.
Football has put Ramsey’s name in the news.
Not long ago, the Dots went 0-39 during several seasons. Last year Ramsey led the team to a 9-1 record and post-season play.
Asked how a coach with a baseball heavy background could switch roles and turn a 0-39 team into a 2-8 team and then a 9-1 team, Ramsey responded with one word: stability.
Thayer, however, boasted about Ramsey’s abilities.
“It’s all about consistency,” Thayer said. “Ramsey had been around those kids for awhile. We all have.
“During that 39-game losing streak, it’s not like we didn’t see improvement. The coaching staff recognized the ability and talents of those guys, and Ramsey was the forerunner of that,” Thayer said. “He knew we could do it. We knew we could do it. We just had to get the guys there as well.”
Thayer added, “Ramsey is a great leader, great coach, a great guy. He will be whatever those guys need — a father figure, a leader, someone to talk to, even a friend to an extent. I think that’s what made a major difference. They trust him. That’s a big thing.”
Asked what he would say to someone at State who is wondering about getting into coaching, Ramsey said, “Go somewhere you are wanted, somewhere you will learn and actually work. Don’t go somewhere that you’re just going to be a part of a 35-man staff where you don’t get to do anything. Learn and grow that way.”
