Browns nominee Matt Dennison up for NFL national high school football coach of the year
Matt Dennison has a chance to be a national high school coach of the year based on a nomination by the Cleveland Browns.
The leader of the Canton South Wildcats is a semifinalist for the NFL’s Don Shula High School Coach of the Year Award, which will name two finalists on Friday.
Dennison piloted South to the OHSAA Division IV state semifinals and a 14-1 finish. He was named a regional coach of the year by the Browns in October.
Dennison, 52, has followed the Browns since he was a little boy, growing up with a dad, Jim Dennison, who became the winningest head coach in two college programs, Akron and Walsh.
Matt Dennison's own 30-year run as a high school football coach includes stops at Norton and Wadsworth (assistant), and Claymont, New Philadelphia and Canton South (head coach).
Dennison has earned a name as a developer of quarterbacks, most recently Poochie Snyder. He has paid close attention to the QB who has led the Browns to the playoffs.
"I love watching Joe Flacco," Dennison said. "Young quarterbacks should watch him. His footwork and his ball handling are as good as it gets. In today's game, that's rare to see, especially in the shotgun world.
"He's really good under center, which makes it tough on defenses. Kevin Stefanski has done such a great job with him and his strengths to make them a tough offense to stop.
"Just watching him, Flacco has so much confidence. The cool thing is the way he hits such tight windows.
"Every once in a while you're going to miss some, and I was mad at him for a screen pass, but usually his mistakes are smart mistakes.
"You can tell he's a student of the game. He's got all the mechanics. To see how fast he got his timing down after joining the Browns has been pretty cool."
Dennison follows the Browns on the fly during his high school season, when much of his Sundays are taken up preparing game plans for the next Friday's game.
"Watching the Browns in the (Marty) Schottenheimer era was pretty neat, except for things like remembering exactly where I was when Earnest Byner fumbled on his way to end end zone," he said. "I spent Sundays watching with my mom. My dad was working, game planning for the next opponent."
Dennison squeezed two trips to Browns games into his 2023 schedule.
One was in conjunction with Canton South vs. Sandy Valley being a Browns regional game of the week.
"It was a pretty awesome day," Dennison said. "We brought a bunch of our kids up. They ran through the tunnel. They were in the locker rooms. The whole experience, the way they got our kids involved, was awesome."
His second trip was to accept the Browns regional coach of the year honor. That set the stage for being a semifinalist for the national award.
The NFL will announce one winner from each conference. Those two will be invited to the Pro Bowl in Orlando, Florida, and be recognized at NFL Honors next month.
"Just to be considered is pretty cool," Dennison said. "You're thinking, shoot, Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning are going to be reading over my information."
A statement explaining the nomination said:
"The Browns chose Dennison not only for his achievements during the 2023 season, but also his overall impact as a coach. His leadership, sportsmanship, character and community involvement can serve as inspiration for those who wish to follow in his coaching footsteps."
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Joe Flacco fan Matt Dennison up for national coach of year award
