By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Kent Roosevelt High School will honor two of its legendary football coaches on Friday, Sept. 30, as part of the district’s Homecoming festivities.

Longtime historic coaches Tom Campana and John Nemec will be honored during the pregame of the Rough Riders’ scheduled league matchup with Aurora.

Nemec and his family will be in attendance, as well as family members of Tom Campana, who died in 2017 at the age of 93.

TOM CAMPANA

The school will unveil permanent plaques that will be on display along the concourse walkway that leads spectators from the ticket gate to the homestead bleachers inside the newly renovated Roosevelt Stadium.

Both Campana and Nemec have been inducted into the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Nemec is Portage County’s all-time winningest coach with 231 victories.

Campana ranks fourth all-time in Portage County history with 158.

“Growing up and living in Kent my entire life, I am beyond humbled and honored to be a small part of honoring two great coaches,” Kent Roosevelt athletic director Ben Dunlap said. “Their names are synonymous with not only winning football games, but doing it the right way. They were positive role models for every young man they came in contact with.”

Campana graduated from Hubbard High School and played football at Youngstown State University, where he was a standout. His coaching career actually got started in Ravenna in 1952 as an assistant coach, but was eventually named the head coach for the 1956 and 1957 seasons.

JOHN NEMEC

Campana was hired at Kent Roosevelt in 1959, and his coaching career continued for 11 seasons with the Rough Riders. His record was 158-57 for a remarkable winning percentage of .735. Six of those seasons ended with the Riders winning a league championship, and he had eight players make it to the NFL: Greg Boykin, Stan White, Errol Prisby, Mike Adamle, Larry Bowie, Tom DeLeone, Gary Roberts and Tom Campana Jr.

Nemec, 76, was the head coach of the Rough Riders for a total of 29 years, spanning two different stints from 1979-2006 and 2008-14. He coached for four years at Wapakoneta High School before being hired at Kent Roosevelt and holds a career record of 231-113-3. He won a total of 13 league championships, including eight in the Metro League, one in the Western Reserve Conference and four as members of the Portage Trail Conference.