A legacy of greatness: the history of Massillon football
MASSILLON, Ohio — For over a century, northeastern Ohio has had their football scene dominated by the Massillon Tigers. Some of their top players and coaches even continued on to the NFL, including perhaps the greatest coach in NFL history. Every year brings the possibility of new heroes to be born and new legends to be made.
The high school team is named after a professional team that existed in Massillon, Ohio prior to the NFL era began. In 1923, Massillon High School took over the Tiger name and that’s where this story begins.
The Tigers were a solid team in the early years of their high school existence. They consistently had a winning record and developed solid players to go on to the college level. But they were missing something that was keeping them from being the best. That’s when football legend Paul Brown entered the picture and began his journey toward stardom. Brown coached the Tigers for nine years before making the jump to the college level at Ohio State University. From there, he went on to the NFL to be one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, earning him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
During his nine-year tenure at Massillon from 1932 to 1940, Brown led the Tigers to six state championships and four national championships. His overall record was an astounding 80-8-2. After his departure to the college level, many of his assistant coaches made the jump with him, leaving the coaching seat at Massillon wide open.
Since Paul Brown left in 1940, the Massillon Tigers have enjoyed varying levels of success. Incredibly, however, no coach in their history has ever left with a losing record. They have had 20 different head coaches since the Paul Brown era, and most of them went on to coach at the college level. In total, 11 coaches have gone on to be either head coaches or assistant coaches on college football teams.
In their history, the Tigers have an incredible overall record of 842-273-36 to go along with 24 state championships and nine national championships. They have sent 23 players on to the pros, have produced three NFL coaches, and 14 collegiate All-Americans to go along with hundreds of college players. Massillon truly does have a legacy of greatness that looks to be continued in 2021.
The Tigers have been back-to-back runner-ups at state and look to put an end to second-place finishes this year. Despite losing their season opener to juggernaut Pickerington Central, Massillon has won their last three games including a memorable 49-46 victory on Friday against rival school Warren Harding.
Opposing coach Tom Lombardo describes the Tigers team like this, “They’re really your typical Massillon team, it starts with the running game. He’s one of the best in the state.”
He’s talking about standout junior Willtrell Hartson. Through just four games, Hartson has had 98 carries going for 736 yards and eight touchdowns, including a 287 yard four-touchdown game against Warren Harding.
Hartson doesn’t take all the credit for Massillon’s success, however.
“My line’s starting to pick it up. From the first game to this game, everything’s starting to budge. They’re helping me a lot by opening up the holes for me to see.”
The “line” he’s referring to is an offensive line with only two returning starters from a year ago.
Massillon is marked this year by a ton of young, talented players looking to make their name in high school sports. Whether or not they will be able to mesh these young players with their veterans will determine the outcome of the 2021 season.
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