Sitting on the bench next to Chardon’s Memorial Field, Coach Mitch Hewitt looked up at the southwestern sky.

Sitting next to him was his son Caleb, the Hilltoppers’ two-way senior starter.

“I don’t think being a son is very fun,” Hewitt said. “I don’t know if I did this right, especially at first. “I was probably too harsh on him.”

The longtime Chardon coach, who played for the Hilltoppers in the 1990s, gripped the bench with his hands and continued.

“It was probably a terrible situation. It probably made me a bad parent in some ways. “If anyone is reading this, they should do the opposite of what I did.”

As Hewitt spoke, his son wiped tears from his eyes and patted his father reassuringly on the shoulder.

“Playing for my father will be a great memory that I will cherish until the day I die. I will always be grateful for this time we spent together. “It wasn’t just good, it was great.”

—Caleb Hewitt

“No hit. No way. “Not at all,” Caleb said. “There were times when I obviously resisted, saying things I probably shouldn’t have said. But there’s no way he’s a bad father or parent; not AT ALL.”

The challenge of being a father who is also the head coach of his child’s team is not everyone’s cup of tea. The trials and tribulations of being a player when your parent is your coach can be overwhelming.

How can a coach and player turn that switch off when they go home and just be father and son?

How does a coach narrow down the perception of favoritism for having his son play too early or too often?

How can a coach risk losing his life and blood and not being able to leave the field with an ambulance and go to the hospital with his child?

Then, of course, there’s bound to be a final match eventually; a player and coach walking off the field for the last time and going back to “just” being father and son.

“This is going to be an emotional day,” Caleb Hewitt said.

Mitch and Caleb Hewitt aren’t the only father-son duo experiencing these scenarios, as the 2024 regular season is coming to an end, bringing them to the brink of one last tournament.

Don Shymske is the head coach at Geneva, where his son Donnie is the Eagles’ starting linebacker. A handful of Geneva assistants also have sons who are members of the 9-1 Eagles.

Although Hawken coach Mark Iammarino and Kirtland coach Tiger LaVerde are without their older sons this season, they have gone this route before. While Iammarino coached sons Tommy and Matt at Chagrin Falls a decade ago, LaVerde’s oldest son Phil graduated two years ago and his youngest son Jake is a junior with the Hornets this season.

Everyone agrees that coaching their sons is one of the greatest blessings; This starts years before they hit the college field. But they all agree that there are challenges and difficulties in this process.

But is there any regret?

There are none.

“I started coaching Donnie when he was 7 years old,” Shymske said. “When we started this journey, I look back and remember thinking: ‘I can’t wait until I get to high school. It’ll be a lot of fun.’ It’s slowly coming to an end now and it’s really affecting me. I can’t believe it’s almost over.”

Shymske’s roster is full of players coached by their fathers, including Bryce Peet (his father, Matt Peet, is the offensive coordinator), Jacob Clemens (his father, Chris Clemens, is the line coach) and Luke Barbo (his father, John Barbo, is the freshman coach). Assistants Jay Corlew and Russ Brown recently had sons who played for the Eagles and graduated.

“It’s not always easy,” said Donnie Shymske, who also runs cross country in Geneva. “If I mess up, sometimes I feel like it gets worse. If I have bad practice, I hear about it. But mostly it’s great to play for my dad.”

His father/coach agreed.

“The biggest microscope is on him,” he said of his son. “I’m trying to separate football from home. When I was little, he would come home and ask if we won. I can separate it. Now it’s not that easy. It’s a different situation.”

Hewitt will confirm this.

“The person who says he can leave it on the field or in the car is (BS),” Hewitt said. “You come home and he’s still on your mind, at least in my house. “I wish it wasn’t, but it is.”

Both Hewitts smile thinking about their journey together. It all started when Caleb was old enough to pick up a ball and throw it into the family’s yard.

“I remember playing catch with him all the time and outtapping him,” Caleb said. “He was often chasing the ball as it rolled down the street.”

While his father was a punishing running back and linebacker during his time with the Hilltoppers, Caleb is somewhat the opposite. He has elite speed and ball skills that his father admits he never had. My dad said coaching was a fun skill set.

“He is so much more talented than I am,” the proud father/coach said. “He can do things I could never do.”

Kirtland Coach Tiger LaVerde also knows what it’s like to coach his sons. His oldest son, Phil, was a starting linebacker and running back for the Hornets and graduated in 2023. His younger son, Jake, is the Hornets’ three-year starting point guard, but he missed most of this season after breaking his arm in Week 7. Beat Fairview.

Kirtland quarterback Jake LaVerde is recovering from surgery on a broken arm

The highlight for the LaVerde family, obviously, is sharing state championships every year. The hard part is seeing a career together come to an end, as Phil LaVerde played his final game in a 14-6 loss to Marion Local in the 2022 Division VI state championship game, thus ending the only season in which LaVerde coached both of his sons. in the same team.

“You take pride in how dedicated they are to something and how hard they work,” he said. “Then all of a sudden it’s over. It’s over. And it’s emotional. Coaching Phil was a dream come true. He got to play in four state championship games. But you know when it’s over, you’ll never get that. The time has come back.”

LaVerde has also had the misfortune of seeing both of his sons suffer serious injuries during games and have to be hospitalized, such as when Jake broke his arm this year.