He won a small-school state title. Now, he takes on the big dogs at a new school.
While Paintsville has been his family’s home for 25 years, Joe Chirico, the new head football coach introduced Wednesday at Clark County’s George Rogers Clark High School, said the timing was right for him, personally and professionally, to take on a new challenge.
“To be a part of that community, I was blessed. And my son, he and I talked about it, and it’s just a piece of the puzzle in our life that we will never forget,” said Chirico, who led the Tigers to back-to-back Class A state finals and a state championship this past season with the help of his son, Brayden, 10, his biggest fan and assistant coach. “And, you know, Clark County is now the other piece, and we’re moving here and building our home here.”
The move also makes sense for Chirico’s day job as a salesman for Consolidated Graphic Communications, he said. And it brings he and his wife, Ashley, closer to their two grown daughters, Sidney at Morehead State, and Presley, a basketball player at Centre College. Daughter Isabella is a high school freshman.
Then there’s the fact that Clark County has a glittering new stadium, field house, weight room and everything a high school football coach could want.
“You look around at these facilities and there are colleges in Division II or NAIA that would love to have this facility,” Chirico said. “Their desire to have something great here was amazing to me.”
Chirico, 50, comes to Clark County after establishing a significant résumé of success at Paintsville, compiling an 86-20 record over eight seasons with a state title, a runner-up, four region titles and six district championships. A college player at Marshall, Chirico originally hails from Logan, W.Va.
Officials at Clark County are hoping Chirico’s Class A success translates to Class 6A where the Cardinals compete with the likes of Madison Central, Bryan Station and Oldham County in District 8.
“His reputation precedes him, and that goes beyond being a football coach — just as a man and a leader of young men,” Clark County Athletic Director Jaime Keene said. “He’s known for doing things the right way and then success follows on the field and off the field.”
Whether coaching 30-40 kids or 70-100, the same principles apply, Chirico said.
“If you want to be successful, you’ve got to be able to run the football, so we’ve got to figure that out,” he said. “Defensively, you’ve just got to run and hit stuff.”
Being able to go two- and three-deep per position will certainly help that effort, Chirico said.
“Short-term goal is to be competitive in the district. The long-term goal — everybody starts out the season wanting to win a state title,” he said. “I don’t have a different plan than that.”
The task might be harder in a class where tradition-rich Louisville juggernauts Trinity, Male and St. Xavier among others likely will stand between the Cardinals and Kroger Field glory, but Clark County has climbed “Mount Everest” before, grabbing a Class 4A state title in 1991 over St. X when that division was the state’s largest.
“I’m not comparing us to them — Trinity, St. X, Male — those types of schools. We’re gonna be the best we can be,” Chirico said. “And it’s our job to control us. I can’t control anyone else. I’m going to work hard to get us to where we feel like we need to be. And ‘in the conversation’ would be great.”
Over the last several years Clark County has been known more for girls’ and boys’ basketball success, perhaps, than football prowess. Chirico sees that only as motivation.
“It just makes me want to work hard,” Chirico said. “They set the standard we’ve got to keep up.”
