COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Colerain senior wide receiver/cornerback Donovan Chambers isn’t dwelling on the past two winless seasons for the Cardinals.
“It’s been rough; a lot of long nights,” Chambers said. “I didn’t know if I really wanted to do this anymore. But, I think I made the right decision by continuing playing football.”
Colerain enters the season opener at La Salle Aug. 22 with a 22-game losing streak. The Cardinals haven’t won a game since Oct. 14, 2022 (21-0 over visiting Hamilton).
And yet this is a new era in Colerain football. The Cardinals are led by head coach Jordan Stevens, who was named to lead the program this past December after three seasons at Mount Healthy.
Stevens, who led Mount Healthy to 23 wins in three seasons, has invested a great deal of time in helping to transform the Colerain program this offseason.
“I really believe that when I’ve gotten the job until today we’ve grown,” Stevens said in July. “To be honest with you we always say that we’re not looking for perfection – we’re just looking for progress. So if we progress every day that’s all we can really ask for here.”
Hear from Coach Stevens and other members of the team below:
Stevens has connected with the Colerain community including former longtime head coach Kerry Coombs this summer. Stevens spoke with Coombs for more than two hours during a July day. Coombs, the former NFL and college assistant coach, led Colerain to the 2004 Division I state championship.
“Coach Coombs has been a mentor for so long,” Stevens said. “It was a blessing that he came back home to meet. It was really cool to hear him talk about how he did things. How things ran. And how the community and the district runs when it revolves around football. He believed in me and the things that we have going on now which is a huge part.”
Chambers also believes in the program mission. Chambers said he would love nothing more than to win his senior season.
But, he also likes what Stevens has done to help student-athletes beyond the game, too.
“He’s making us not just better football players but better men as well,” Chambers said. “Keeping God first. We’re learning every day we just want to be better.”
Colerain experienced a good deal of success at the freshmen and junior varsity levels last season. With that potential, the future looks bright. Stevens is clear on how he views a successful season, too.
“Progress,” Stevens said. “I don’t think we put a number on it. I think we just want to progress. We want to progress on and off the field. I feel like we’ve done a really good job of making sure God is the center of this program. Every day after practice we pray. We have really good kids. We’ll make sure the field takes care of itself.”
