KC grid coach Conto resigns after 18 years
KARNS CITY — Saying it's “time for someone younger to step in and keep it going,” Ed Conto resigned as Karns City varsity football coach Monday night.
Conto, 56, was the Gremlins' head coach for 18 seasons. He was 167-52 during that time and has the program on a streak of six consecutive District 9 championships.
“I started thinking about this a little bit last spring,” Conto said. “The kids are changing. Society is changing. People are more individual now than team.
“I've always believed in developing a strong team atmosphere, strong team chemistry. That's getting harder to do.
“Last year, my seniors hit their weight room workouts extremely hard. But most of the underclassmen just weren't picking it up. A lot of guys work out on their own now, follow programs over the Internet.
“Everybody has a cell phone. It's all individual. That's how it is now ... and I can't change who I am,” Conto added.
Also the principal at Karns City, Conto plans to retire from that position after the 2018-19 school year.
The Gremlins had only two non-winning seasons under Conto — 4-6 in 2010 and 5-5 in 2004 — and finished 7-5 last season.
Conto recorded his 200th career head coaching win last fall and was 203-126-2 overall as a head coach. He was 10-51-1 in his first seven years as A-C Valley coach before leading the Falcons to the District 9 playoffs in each of his final four seasons there.
When he joined the Karns City administration, “I thought my coaching days were over,” he said.
An opening popped up on then-KC coach Lon Hazlet's staff and Conto was asked to fill it. When Hazlet left to become head coach at Dubois a year later, Conto became KC's head coach.
“A couple of school board members asked me if I'd be interested,” Conto said. “I talked it over with my wife and she said 'why not?' So I took the job.
“It's just time for me to give it up. I have a son playing at Grove City College and I need to devote more time to my wife and family.”
Karns City School District Superintendent Eric Ritzert said at Monday's school board meeting that “it's our loss that he's stepping down. It will be a tremendous loss for us to lose him from the coaching ranks.”
KC athletic director Brian Markle served as defensive coordinator under Conto for a number of years.
“You have to know when it's your time to go and I think Ed feels like it's his time,” Markle said. “He believes a new coach will inject more energy into the program.
“He always trusted his assistants and let them coach. He delegated the duties out and he was never afraid to move us around to different positions, either. And he knows how to communicate with kids.”
Conto had plenty of his former players — at A-C Valley and Karns City — wind up on his staff or others in the coaching ranks.
“We always put in schemes we felt would work for the talent we had,” Conto said. “And we were always big on teaching technique.
“We taught the kids technique and fundamentals in a way that if they ever wanted to coach midget football, junior high or whatever, they would be able to do that. A lot of them have.”
Conto estimates coaching more than 200 kids at A-C Valley and more than 400 at Karns City.Approximately 25 of his former players are part of a bear hunting group he belongs to.“Coaching kids, developing and maintaining relationships through these years has been a tremendous experience,” he said.The best experience has been having his kids on the sidelines with him each Friday night, he said,.“My daughter was probably my biggest critic,” Conto said, laughing. “She'd come up to me during a game and tell me I had to get these guys going, what's going on?“I'd tell her, 'I'm trying,' and for her to 'get back before she got run over.'”While his coaching career is ending, his love for high school football continues.“I won't be sitting home on Friday nights, I'll tell you that,” Conrto said. “I'll always be a Gremlin.”Markle said the Karns City football job will be posted for 20 days and he expects plenty of applicants, from inside the school district and out.“There are a bunch of qualified assistant coaches on our staff right now — some more experienced than others — who could step up and take that job,” he said.Conto will be among those involved in the interview process to find his replacement.“The whole process should take two months or so,” Markle said. “I'm sure we'll have somebody in place before the (school) year is out.”
