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Joe Loth
Joe Loth begins his fourth season as head football coach at Otterbein
College.
Loth, a 1991 Otterbein graduate, served as head football coach at Kean University, Union, N.J., for three seasons before coming to Otterbein in 2003.
The Painesville, Ohio, native has taken part in rebuilding programs throughout his 14-year coaching career. As head coach at Otterbein and Kean, Loth sports six consecutive seasons of improving the team from the previous season.
In 2005, Loth guided the Cardinals to their first winning season since 1999 and only their second since 1982. The Cardinals finished the year at 7-3 overall, and 6-3 in the OAC. Included in the win column—a 17-14 decision over cross-town rival Capital—who made the NCAA Division III playoffs. Loth was selected “OAC Football Coach of the Year” by his peers.
“To me, the award is a team accomplishment for the Otterbein football program,” Loth said after receiving the award. “Our players, my assistant coaches and the support staff here at Otterbein are as responsible as myself in earning this award.
“Without everyone’s commitment toward our plan,” Loth continued, “we would not have had the success of this past season. So it is a great honor for our program.”
At Kean, Loth inherited a program with about 30 players on the active roster and a 4-34 record, which included a 16-game losing streak. He left Kean after posting the school’s best record in eight years and a roster well over 100.
The 39-year-old coach has assembled a coaching staff that, including himself, features five former Cardinals.
“If you look at the great NCAA Division III programs and the staffs they have, most of their coaches have gone through their program,” Loth said. “I think that’s important.”
Loth and his staff have employed a four-step approach in the recent turnaround of the Otterbein football program.
“The first step is to recruit,” Loth said. “We want to recruit as well as anyone in the OAC. The second is retain our student-athletes. It is not always how many student-athletes you bring to campus, it is how many student-athletes you have retained. Thirdly, we look to develop our players mentally and physically, and create a great feeling of team.
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