TIFFIN – Mark Vass finds the Ohio Athletic Conference to be very comfortable.

Thursday, June 21, 2001

TIFFIN – Mark Vass finds the Ohio Athletic Conference to be very comfortable. After spending the past two years in the OAC at Otterbein, Vass has taken an assistant football coaching position at Heidelberg College which also belongs to the OAC.

Vass, an Ironton native, has had a couple of other stops during his coaching career, but he likes being in the OAC.

"Goal-wise, sure, if a Division I or head coaching opportunity came along, I’ll check it out. But I’m really comfortable with this league and this level," said Vass.

"For this level, this is one of the most competitive leagues in the country. Mount Union has dominated pretty much lately. They broke Oklahoma’s win streak record and have won like five national titles in the last six years."

Vass was hired as the wide receivers coach, a position he held a Otterbein, and he will also serve as assistant equipment coordinator. Vass said he liked Otterbein, but Heidelberg had more to offer.

"They just had the opening and it was fulltime and that was the key. It’s the same league that I’ve been in and they had a wide receiver opening," said Vass.

Besides coaching wide receivers, Vass also coached quarterbacks at Iona College in New York prior to his position at Otterbein. Vass has spent four years as a college assistant after serving one season as an assistant coach at Cuyahoga Heights High School in the Cleveland area.

"I enjoy coaching the wide receivers and quarterbacks because I enjoy the passing aspects," said Vass who was an All-Ohio quarterback for the Ironton Fighting Tigers and later played for Baldwin-Wallace.

At Baldwin Wallace, Vass set a single-game completion record and helped the team to an OAC title.

"When I played, I didn’t know what to expect. I was surprised at the talent level when I played. This is a very good league and very competitive. I really enjoy this league," said Vass.

Heidelberg returns 17 starters and 49 lettermen from last season’s team. Vass hopes the experience will pay off this season.

"Traditionally, Heidelberg has had a good program. They were down last year, but they were really young. They had just a handful of seniors, so they have a lot returning. We’ll still be young for the most part, but with a year under their belts, hopefully they’ll be improved," said Vass.

Heidelberg College

2001 Football Schedule

September

8 at Wittenberg 7:00

15 at Capital 1:30

22 MARIETTA 4:00

29 JOHN CARROLL U. 1:30

October

6 at Baldwin-Wallace 1:30

13 at Ohio Northern 1:30

20 WILMINGTON 1:30

27 at Otterbein 1:30

November

3 MUSKINGUM 7:30

10 MOUNT UNION 1:00