The Community, Connections & Commerce Podcast, presented by OUE & St. Clairsville Chamber - Community and Connections Season 2 Episode 3 with Manny Matsakis

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

Welcome back to community and connections. I'm your host, Drake Watson, along with Sam, joining me this morning. We are thrilled to have our guest, the head coach of the Ohio Valley Ironmen. We hope you've heard of them. Manny Matt Sackis, coach, it's great to be with you. I've spoken to you a time or two before during the season, and what you guys have brought to the community is really a special thing, and we hope to get deeper into that this morning, Sam and myself.

and we hope to learn a little bit more about you and your vision sort of for this new thing in the community. Yeah, thanks, Drake, excited. It's nice to be, you know, back in the air. I grew up here, so it's fun to just get back and enjoy bringing outdoor NFL rules football to the Ohio Valley. It's getting into a little bit of your background first. So you are, like you said, you're a native of the Ohio Valley

and you went on to do huge things, came back to the Valley. But give us a little bit of your, how do I want to say this, your glory days in uniform. Oh, Lord. Come on. Glory days. Well, I, well, there's a bit of the whole Ironman thing woven into it. I originally, my grandpa there was a coal miner in West Virginia. And my dad went to West Liberties and the Hall of Fame up there. a football player. And he went on to coach in the Ohio Valley. He was, used to be the head coach

of Powell Hatt in high school, which doesn't exist anymore. And as a kid, growing up in the 1960s, he used to take me to the Ironman Games on Wheeling Island. And to the point where in the late 60s, when they became, went from the Wheeling Ironman to the Ohio Valley Ironman, the head coach was a fellow by name of Lou Blumling. And Lou ended up being one of the top NFL scouts afterwards. But Lou was also my father's defensive coordinator, Pahadon. And he was from Warwood as well. So just as a kid, just being around those players, seeing that, it just sort of like

ingrained in my psyche of what that was like to see these guys that, ultimately, a lot of them went, I mean, guys went on and got Super Bowl rings. and, you know, playing the national football league because we were a farm team for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But then when my father moved from Powhatan High School, they merged to River High School. We moved to Shadyside because it was closer drive for him. And so, you know, that's where I really grew up with Shadyside.

So I was fortunate. Had a pretty decent career there as an athlete, a three-sport athlete football wrestling track. was state champion discos thrower and track all state in ohio and football um and then i had opportunities to go into college i went to a small school in columbus ohio called capital university uh was a all-american there as a football player and then and then all of a sudden the ironman thing wove back in because i'm getting um looked at by a lot of NFL teams and uh lu blumwing comes back into my life and uh and at that point he had been the lead scout for an organization

called blesto blesto stands for bears lions eagles saints you know just an acronym oh okay and he would always come by check me out every year it was like this is strange and then uh then i get drafted pretty high uh by the philadelphia eagles and um after after going there i played there was a league in the spring called the u sFL uh so i played down and i was in orleans Then, Jacksonville, and then my last four-A was with the Indianapolis Colts. It was during the strike season back in, goodness, in the 90s, early 90s. So, you know, so that was fun. And then I got into coaching.

And then I've been a college and professional football coach for over 35 years. And I've been fortunate to be a head coach five times. And professionally, I was the offensive coordinator for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers up in the Canada. and just have been at some great places. A lot of every level of football from big time programs like Texas Tech and Kansas State and so forth. And even some small schools are pretty awesome. What is that world like? For a lot of folks, you know, you see it on TV, the pros.

And you kind of have this vision or imagination of what it is, you know, what it is like. But what is it really like? living that lifestyle going from team to team, you know, management, you know, they all have different styles. That's got to be tough to constantly have your world flips upside down, moving from team to team. I've coached, I think last I counted at 16 different places, right? That's 16 different bosses. Well, or I was the boss five times.

Yeah, yeah. It's one of those crazy things. But I'm fortunate. I mean, two of my guys, you know, Bill Snyder at Kansas Day's in the College Football Hall of Fame, you know, Mike Leach at Texas Tech should be in the College Football Hall of Fame here. I think I saw they lowered the win percentage requirement and he should get in here soon. Should. Mike should, yeah.

And, you know, it's just, you know, I've had really good coaches I've worked with. But it is. I mean, Sam, it's about, it's a bit of a gypsy lifestyle. You know, I can't tell you, I mean, I've probably. bought over six homes i can think of thinking i'm going to be there the long term and then a bigger job opens up you know they double your pay and then next thing you're moving on to somewhere else and that's the part i i've never really had a chance to establish roots in any of those communities um however what it did do for me is it gave me a lot of great relationships you know when i've got

guys that I mentored that are, you know, NFL head coaches now or top coordinators in National Football League. They're like, you know, the other day I got a call from a guy that, I'm not to say he's a kid, but he's my graduate assistant at Texas Tech. He's the head coach of Baylor now. He called me, would you come down and help us out? We need some assistance on some consulting and things like that. So it's like, that's the good part.

You know, it's like in the old days we had Rolodexes, well, mine would be really big. Drake, do you know what that is? I'm going to plead the fifth here. You know, people used to give you business cards, Drake, and you would put them in this little thing that spun around by alphabetically instead of on our phone. So, but, you know, so I think that lifestyle, as fun as it is, you know, to do things like coaching some really cool places, to be at a place like Texas A&M and there's 90-some thousand people or play, I coached against Ohio. state when I was in Lubbock and um that those are all cool things you know you get me it's a fun

thing but in the end what I what I've enjoyed about coaching are the relationships you build with your co-workers and the players and when I still hear from players that I coach 30 years ago on a regular basis you know it's hey it's Christmas time coach I want to let's get on the phone let's I'll do a you know some podcast with somebody that's you know I had a magazine that was um and, you know, the trade journal for football coaches internationally. And I've got guys that worked for me as interns at schools, and now they're really high up at Fox Sports or ESPN and these different places. And it's just sort of neat to hear from them.

And they see what we're doing with the Ironman right now. And they're like, hey, this is right up your alley. I love this. I follow you guys. And it's pretty neat. We talk a lot of times about community. And we'll get into that a little bit later as far as what that means for this area and bringing Ironman football back,

but I want to touch on the connections, because that's obviously the other half of the name of the show. And you talked about Coach Snyder, Coach Leach, and some of the other connections that you've made along the way. What's that process like when you're maybe a younger coach and you've got to shake hands and meet some different people, and I'm sure you're about to meet Bill Snyder? What's that like developing that relationship

and then kind of keeping that going later on in life, as you said, the coach at Baylor ended up calling you recently. what's that what's that like in your mind well in retrospect had I know what I know now there's some things I would have done differently sure you know I mean you're a young kid and you're coaching and you think you know everything and I'm I'll tell you what I mean it's like I've I've now I've realized that I've forgot so much you know about all the relationships but but what what I think worked well for me was

really a tireless work ethic that you're superiors you know the people you work for they respect you for that you know I can tell you this Drake there isn't a year that I don't get half a dozen offers to go do something you know like in this industry so

and it's because of that you know they remember oh okay you did this you have a really good I had a pretty strong marketing background not that I majored in it heck I'm majoring biology you know so um so so i think that the relationships were built by um absolutely not social media because that didn't exist back in those days and and even a lot of times i notice there are young interns we have that think they have all these relationships because i've got i've got you know 10,000 followers in social media and i'm like okay how many can you pick up the

phone and talk to and have a meaningful relationship sure and And it doesn't even fill all the fingers in one hand. So I realize the beauty of back then was you had to be able to have conversations with people. You had their relationships. Social media for me later on became great because more people followed where I was and I could connect with people. Maybe I did lose touch with at some point. But, you know, when I can honestly say there's, you know, five or six hundred people over my career that I'm, that I can literally. call they pick up the phone right down in there and I'm not just texting them that's what

connections are and I believe it's a in this day and age because I've got two older kids that are once 27 one's 29 I got a little 13 year old but they don't they don't get on the phone and have conversations anymore and I think that's what's lacking but it's there you know And people love it. I mean, how many times have you been, like, sent a text and it would take you, you know, 15 minutes to text it back, but you have a five-minute meaningful conversation. It's like, and that's what I do. I was like, you ask too much. I'm going to pick up the phone call you.

I've actually had that conversation with a lot of people in my industry and radio where not to knock on the younger generation, but the art of communication is suffering because of things like social. media and and like you said the part of our show is connections and you have to have those communication skills to develop those connections and you're you know exactly what you just spoke about is a prime example of how it can carry you within your career it's a bit of a catch 22 I mean because because you get on social media you see these these people like promoting like hey you can live in a basically live in a silo and make you know crazy money you know, doing some online course or something and you never actually see somebody. That,

but what I think is if you do both and you balance it out well and you have meaningful relationships and people genuinely like or even dislike you, it doesn't matter. I mean, it's like sometimes it's better to be dislike because you get a lot of attention from people. That means you stand for something, right? Yeah, exactly. So I think that's,

that's the beauty of it. I mean, there's probably never been a better time to be in this industry. right now if you understand the things we're talking about because if you can if you can actualize what what what the past was and create the future with all of these mediums you know I mean the podcast the you know the social media all this stuff we're talking about if you can whip that together it's a runaway train I mean it and the people that do are actually out there making it happen well you look at your team right now I think is a great example I think we had

40,000 plus watch both of the games so far, and we'd love to have them in the stands. But regardless, they're still being exposed to the organization that you're leading and the team that you're coaching. And I think that's a great thing for the community and almost tying it back to that marketing background that you said you had. And I believe you and Kerry, who handle a lot of that stuff, have done just a phenomenal job of not only the product on the field, in the stands, in the concourse, but also the product on Tuesday and Wednesday when there is no game but you're still hearing about the Ironman

you're updated with the recent player you guys just signed or you know your upcoming game I think you guys have done a great job on that and connecting people through that way well and Greg I appreciate that and I think what's starting to happen what has been happening throughout the summer as we played the season out it's more of a people starting to get the notice it's truly a grassroots approach and then all of a sudden I get a call and it's like Quaker Steak and Lube Hey, we want to feed your team doing meat and greed. Generations.

DeFalice pizza, let's go over here. You know, stuff like that and we get out there and then, oh, wow. And then they meet the players and what I have heard, I mean, if I've heard it once, I've heard it hundreds of times, people meet our players and say,

wow, they're so nice. They're like, they say, you know, a buddy of mine saw him just, and he didn't even say he knew, me and it was like my goodness they say yes sir no sir he goes i felt like they were talking to my dad you know it's like but but they're so respectful and and love the history of the ironmen our players just like anytime i tell them stories they're just like at the edge of their seats so it's like i believe we're going to be around for a long time if we do this right but but this is not a

one-man show or me and carrie doing it or anything like that or just us doing what we're doing I think it's going to take the whole community to make this happen. And there's, you know, there's about 12 counties, I think, are the Ohio Valley. Yeah. I think, and I try to mention it every time. And Audrey does a great job with our sideline interviews. Talking to those players after they made a big play, I mean, they're so invested in answering her question. And their answers always consist of, you know, we're just taking what the defense gives us.

We're just doing what we're coached to do. you know we're we're letting it go you know as it happens and they're very respect you know like you said very great people uh outside of being great athletes yeah they are drake and and you know as you mention that just the concept it's like yeah they're grateful and because they know the history and i've been ingraining that in them because you know these guys aren't all from here we've got a handful of players we got chance night do some bridgeboard played at Lindsay and he's a fantastic football player and he even he has like an idea because he'll see old shirts right retro wheeling ironman shirts you know it's so cool you know it's like oh okay

i'm joining something bigger than me yeah right and i and i think we have a team of guys that are generally um very not just appreciative but also uh understand that they have to be spokespeople for this and it's important as opposed to sometimes in certain pro sports or even other things these guys they they want to point the finger at them it's all me me me it's our guys are very very team oriented we want to represent the Ohio Valley and I don't think a single one of them has failed to mention the community and kind of their overall sentiment is that's why they're doing it is for the people in the stands you know there's it's great that there's a bunch of houses right around the stadium that they could point up to and say it's for the

these folks, the folks that live here and the folks that have been wanting Ironman football for so long. Yeah, absolutely. So it's a, it's a process now. I mean, it's something that, you know, my goal is as we head into the 2006 season, we really are ramping things up in the fall to make things happen from season ticket sales to just appearances, as much media as we can get out there, and also just, you know, get as many people excited about. what's going to happen in the summer of 26, which I think will really start blowing it up. You talked about relationships and building relationships, and that is a huge factor when it comes to talent acquisition, particularly at the college level of the game. But you've got to do

that, I'd imagine to a certain extent in this as well, you've got to make sure these guys feel like they're welcome here and that, you know, there's something that you guys have to offer and there's something that they have to offer and really building that relationship. that like and you've gone all over the country and found some really talented players what's that like when you're developing that relationship for a guy that's going to play for you for at least a season hopefully more yeah you know part of it drake is we have to get the 40 players on our roster i've watched video on well over three or 400 players so we had to taper down then i'm calling their high school or college coaches or where they played and and that's why i believe we have a

good fit here and they understand that hey you know what i'm i'm very fortunate because look at how many guys i in essence beat out as the of the funnel of all the players to get who the ironmen are so i think that that's a piece of it um you mentioned relationships and connections it's like knowing a lot of agents uh knowing knowing many many college coaches that will call me say hey i got a guy for you yeah this guy would fit what we want because they know i don't say but there's a relationship with you so they know what you would want and they know the player as well absolutely yeah so it that that i love about this i think that's why um people are always just like man you guys are so good how in the world did you get those players here to the Ohio valley and uh well you know i can't control

the other teams out there but i can control how we've prepared yeah And even though we were the very last team that entered into this, you know, minor league of football, you know, which is basically what it is. I mean, it's not like semi-pro or indoor ball, you know, it's, you know, these guys get paid. We put them up in a hotel and a really nice situation for them. But, I mean, we didn't start this thing until last November. Most every team we played has been around for years. Yeah.

And even the ones that are newer to the game had 12 over two years to prepare and get their marketing up. And I think the broadcast that we do, you know, that you obviously do with Channel 7 has been really strong. And I think it's the best at this level. And I'm looking forward to making even better. And it's like I keep telling, you know, Audrey and I say, don't be afraid. Get out here on the field. to get out here and talk to people in that regard. She's really sharp, you know.

So I like the experience that she's getting, and I know she'll be super successful down the road. Well, and you mentioned community a little bit earlier. How has the community embraced you? Because when you think of the Upper Ohio Valley, we're a proud area. And there's so many different things historically that weave the fabric of who we are.

you mentioned the coal mine industry in your father we have a you know huge history with that industry but then you talk about the the ironmen they're part of that fabric also so have you had folks reach out to you past players family members all of that yeah quite a few i mean it's interesting you know i've gone to so many different places one of the more unique stories i can tell you andria i mean Sam. Sam, one of the most unique stories I can tell you is, you know, one day I'm a buddy of mine, Dr. Angelo Georges, who's been in the area, we both grew up together in Shadyside. And he calls me on a Sunday and it says, hey, all right, I'm taking you to the Elks Club. It's one of the oldest Elks Clubs in the United States. It's number 75. It's called the Panhandle

Elks Club, right? And I'm going in there. I'm talking, meeting people, and it was, one, the food was fabulous, by the way. It was, you know, it was a, back, it was a Father's Day thing that they did. And I'm meeting these guys, and it's like, hey, my dad played for the Ironman. I sit down for well over an hour talking to a gentleman that's 89 years old that, you know, grew up here in Wheeling and went to, there was like a Lincoln High School maybe or something. out of they were not in wheeling it's like is that warwood i want to see that was downtown

downtown oh okay okay lincoln school he called it right and and and he's telling about the iron men and and how cool it was but when when i start looking back they're giving me stories that just like gave me chills you know one guy who's going to be we have a ironman ring of honor right so we're bringing the retro the stuff in the 60s back here and we'll we honor them you know at our games um and uh one guy's name is john Embry, okay, and John Embry played for the Ironman, 67, 68, 69, went on to play for the Denver

Broncos, was a great receiver, you know, about a six, four, 200-pound guy, man, it was just dominant, you know, and it's like, you know, so he's, he's a member of the Ironman, and, and, you know, that's a ring of honor guy, obviously, but, I mean, I think that those types of stories, when I get out and talk to people, it never stops. I mean, it's constant. Once they hear like, hey, this is the coach and all that,

I get something. Like, you know, one time, you know, this lady met me. I was at an indoor game where the miners, the indoor team that plays. I was there and then I shot up and these ladies were like ushers at the game. And I go, oh, yeah, my dad had this farm

up in Marshall County. and the iron they used to clear the field and the ironmen could practice there I mean stuff like that and then where I grew up in Shadyside there used to be a community pool up there at the top of the hill right and then the baseball field is right below it

so the Ironman used to there was a couple years they practice on out the outfield of the baseball field and they dressed in the swimming pool locker rooms you know it's like those are the things that's like what you know but just those random I mean what are the chances

you're running into those two women at the usher, you know, the ushers that, what are the chances of that happening? I don't know. It's like, I think there must be some energetic force that brings these people together. And I feel blessed for that because there's dozens of situations like that,

you know, that you see. Well, those are the stories you don't find in the record books. Yeah. You know, those are the, you know, the feel-good stories. Yeah. And, you know, along, the fellow that flipped the first

coined for our opening game against Cincinnati, Doug Huff, you know, long-time sports writer here in the Sports Writers' Hall of Fame, you know, and he gave me a stack of old newspaper clippings that were writing about the Ironmen and the stories, and it's just, you know, it was always front page back in those days. And then I'm visiting with, there's so many, but I'm going to tell you one other really good one that I really enjoyed. I'm visiting with, it was Nick Sparshane, right? And Nick is talking to me. We're at the alpha. And he's telling a story. Like, you know, he used to sell game programs at the Iron Man Games. But, but he said then later on, he is, he's riding coach on an airplane, right? And of all people, this is not in the first class session. This is

coach, Art Rooney is sitting across the aisle from him, you know, the chief. I mean, the Steelers. Like the Art Rooney. The, right. So he tells him he's from Wheeling, you know, he goes, you know, arts like conversation of that, you know, and I think it was he was smoking a cigar on a plane, which you could do in the 60s, you know, stuff like that. And, and he goes, he goes, you're from Wheeling.

He goes, how are my Ironman doing? Wow. You know, stuff like that. It tells you that we have something, something special to, to bring. for it so you know it's going to be awesome seeing our guys make it to that next level maybe we'll get some guys playing for the Steelers be pretty cool well football's so huge in the in the valley whether it's you know Pittsburgh Cleveland on Sundays you've got Ohio State WVU pit and then you can't say that come on me you know how many times I'll bring up pit like I know Audrey's

going to pit for sports right yeah so I like I used to say she'll say hail Pitt like quietly because she knows there it's all WU Ohio State fans but go ahead well there's a couple there's a couple outliers Audrey included but yeah I mean you got Patriot football red devil football big red football tigers and huskies of course and the Ironman are so woven into that and every time you hear stories like that that's got to be so much more validating that they are really a strong piece of the of the football foundation in the area well and as you say that Drake one of the things that resonate with me to

make this happen in the first place was goodness gracious uh years ago who had to been oh my goodness in the mid early 2000 mid mid 2000s so i moved back to the area and um i started a football magazine okay because i've been in that industry so i started a local football magazine um now what were you covering in that was that high school was that you know you see like uh in the summertime anything with non long ball well it was all football but it was all ohio valley football and pro teams that people follow around here and college okay you know so it was a about a 196 page magazine really big like as nice as if not better than an aathlons or street and smiths that comes out in the summertime it was really nice

and they sold out everywhere in the Ohio valley and i would do color commentary on games of the week and I have my own show on a couple TV stations in the area. And so what I noticed was if you drop a pin on, let's say, wheeling is, let's say the hub of the area. And you say, here's the Ohio Valley. They're back, you know, there's over 50 teams in the OVAC. Sure. And on a weekend, Friday nights, Saturday afternoons or whenever they're playing at

Bel Air, they always used to play Saturday afternoons. and there were well over 120,000 people that attended high school football games. On any given weekend. And every weekend. I mean, little town like Shadyside. Oh, yeah. Right?

I mean, I'll go there. I mean, good or if not good? I mean, they'll have 2,500 people to gain. And that Shadyside Bridgeport game gets pretty, you know, that draws a crowd. Yeah. And it's one of those things like, ah, so no one of these things sells out,

you know, because the High Valley football is huge. so we would tie it all in it was really amazing and even one year I had like a weekly magazine that was going out you know like a sports illustrated type thing yeah and it was like and I think the newspapers around I got a little upset at me because they were everybody was like grabbing ours and they couldn't compete with it because it was color and it was nice and all that so you know but in the end I think the market is is always going to be strong here for football because of the history and and what you You mentioned earlier, Drake, our players love to engage the young fans.

They sign autographs after the games. They get out and they meet people. They're very gracious with all that because they realize that they look up to them. You know, the way when I was a kid, I looked up to the great players of my era, right? One way I look at it sometimes is when you see all those little boys on the sidelines or in the stands or wherever they may be. in cadis we had a big grass patch behind the home stands you're always throwing football with your buddies and everything and you know you're worried that you trip over them sometimes but also those are potentially the most important people in the stands because those are the future yeah

and it's so important to get that to get that exposure well it's funny i was asked like well who's coming to your games how's this work you know i mean what are your demographics and it is remarkably the one demographic that blows me away are the grandparents that come and bring their grandkids I mean it's like two extremes right and they just tell stories and I think that I mean think about it let's say you're seven

eight years old you come to an Ironman game and your grandpa's talking about it pretty cool yeah no doubt about it well Sam do you have anything well I was just going to add when it comes to football I mean just myself personally it's been a part of my life since the day I was born. I was born on a Sunday. Like, I had no choice.

My dad literally rolled a TV into the room. And by God, I was going to be a football fan. But it's become, it's a set date, whether you're in a high state fan on Saturday, you're a Browns fan on Sunday, and it's family. It's the backdrop of family gatherings. And I think, you know, it's about the teams

and it's about the game. But it's a coming together of people, community. Some of my best football memories, you know, the first thing I think about, I think of the play, and then I think of the people I saw the play with in my uncle's basement because we're all there watching the game, and it's such a community thing. My grandparents' house up on the farm, being a Browns fan, where they weren't carried around here. But I remember we used to make my brother go stand outside and turn the antenna.

I mean, it'd be December. My brother doesn't care for football, by the way. way, and I think it's because of this, but so we could pick up a Youngstown station to be able to watch a Browns game. So, you know, those memories tie in, and that's with bringing back the Ironman. Yeah. You know, it's bringing those stories back for folks. Yeah, I love it. I'm excited about it and we just feel fortunate to have the opportunity and, you know, have a great time moving forward. Well, we feel fortunate to have you on. We appreciate your time and being so generous with it.

This is Coach Mani, Matt Sackas, of the Ohio Valley Ironman, here to stay in the Ohio Valley. For Sam, I'm Drake Watson on Community and Connections. Thank you for listening, and have a good one.