West Geauga High School chose not to renew the contract of football coach Brian Craemer after just one season.
West G athletic director Joe Leonette said Craemer was told on Friday and the job was posted publicly on Monday.
“At the end of each season, we evaluate the entire program,” Leonette said. “We felt it was in our best interest to part ways. There are no hard feelings.
“We’re always evaluating. It took a lot of time and thought and meetings. It was a process.”
The Wolverines went 3-7 this season. They played four playoffs teams and six teams with winning records.
Craemer, a Berkshire graduate, replaced Lou Cirino, a West G alum, who had a record of 46-28 in seven seasons leading the Wolverines including four trips to the playoffs. Cirino left West G to take over at Strongsville.
“The season didn’t go how I wanted it to as far as wins and losses, so it was disappointing in that way,” Craemer said. “As far as coaching, I came in and felt very fortunate to meet such great new families and players. I was very fortunate to be there.”
Craemer said he will remain with the school as a social studies teacher.
“I want to state very clearly how thankful I am to coach football at West Geauga,” Craemer said. “I am thankful to members of the community, who were so kind to us. We met so many great kids and outstanding people.”
Craemer came to West G after coaching Painesville Harvey for two seasons. The Red Raiders went 6-4 and 1-9 in Craemer’s two seasons as coach.
“Obviously, hindsight is 20/20,” Craemer said. “You want to go back and correct mistakes, it’s human nature. Unfortunately, that’s not how life works. You take all the information you gain and try to learn.”
When asked if he plans on coaching again, Craemer said: “It’s November seventh and all my focus is on teaching and family and doing the best job I can in those two areas.”
Cirino left in February for Strongsville and Craemer was not hired until May 1 at West G, which led to an abbreviated offseason program for the new coach.
“Obviously, you want as much time as you can in the offseason, usually you start in December,” Craemer said. “But I went in with my eyes wide open. I worked as hard as I could.”
The timing was not great for Leonette as far as looking for Cirino’s replacement either.
“We’re already ahead of the game compared to last year,” Leonette said.
Leonette said the search for a replacement has already begun as he’s received more then 20 applicants as of Tuesday afternoon. He said a teaching position could also be available for the next football coach.
“We are looking for someone to run with our program and to get it back to where it was,” Leonette said. “We’re looking for a motivator on and off the field.”