When Beaver Local head coach Mike McKenzie was invited to coach the Ohio squad at the annual OVAC Rudy Mumley All-Star Football Game, the first thing he had to do was make sure his coaching staff was on board.
It didn’t take long for the beavers’ staff to agree.
“It will be a great experience for us” said McKenzie. “We are a very tight group. We hang together outside of football and it’s a fun group of guys to be around. I consider myself lucky to have such employees.”
McKenzie and his staff will officially meet their players on Sunday, July 17 when camp opens at Wheeling University in preparation for the game scheduled for Saturday, July 23 at Wheeling Island Stadium.
The full coaching staff includes: Shane O’Brien, Derrick Stickles, Nick Sesonsky, Josh Weese and Aaron West.
Here’s a capsule look at the Ohio coaching staff:
MIKE MCKENZIE – This Beaver Local head coach has an impressive resume spanning a 28-year coaching career.
McKenzie, who has been with the Beavers for five seasons, was a 17-season head coach with stints at Edison, Indian Valley and Swanton High Schools. He was an assistant to Weir, Clyde and Hopewell-Louden.
In addition to his duties as a football coach, he has also spent time coaching track and field, softball, baseball, and basketball.
The 1989 Edison North graduate, who went to Heidelberg, was District 9 Coach of the Year and was on the 1995 Clyde State Championships coaching staff.
Mike and his wife Nicole have two sons – Michael and Nicolas.
SHANE O’BRIEN – This former Edison head coach joined Beavers’ team ahead of the 2021 campaign.
All told, O’Brien has eight years of coaching experience. He was the Wildcats head coach from 2018-20 and an assistant for four seasons before that.
In addition to his football experience, O’Brien has coached wrestling and track and field.
The 2012 Edison graduate graduated from West Liberty in 2015.
DERRICK STICKLES — This former West Virginia OVAC All-Star has worked with McKenzie at Beaver for the past five seasons.
All told, Stickles – a former Oak Glen and West Liberty standout – has 14 years of coaching experience. He was the head football and wrestling coach at Edison. He also worked as an assistant at Edison and Oak Glen before joining the Beavers.
Stickles is also a highly respected wrestling official, having been named OVAC Official of the Year.
Derrick and his wife Tonya have five children (Maisy, Marlee, Landon, Blaine and Brandon) and one grandson, Joshua
NICK SESONSKY – This Beaver assistant started coaching five seasons ago under McKenzie and has stayed with the team ever since.
Sesonsky also oversees the strength and conditioning program.
Sesonsky is a graduate of Poland High School and Youngstown State University.
JOSH WEESE – Weese was a standout player at Beaver Local and has returned to join the coaching staff.
He has been with the Beavers for six seasons, but his tenure spanned from 2007 to 2011 and then the final season at McKenzie. Weese has additional coaching experience in baseball and basketball.
Weese graduated from Westminster College.
Josh and his wife Kara have three children – Easton, Maci and Jordyn Yanni.
AARON WEST – This current assistant has worked with McKenzie throughout his tenure with the Beavers.
Overall, West has over 15 years of experience as a football coach. He worked as an assistant for 12 years. he also trained at Leetonia. Along with soccer, he coached boys’ and girls’ basketball.
West is a graduate of Leetonia High School and was previously on the Ohio team for the OVAC game.
Aaron and his wife Arianne have three children Austin, Noah and Aubre.
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