Brian Spicer could easily be suffering from automobile lag.
The former Marietta High School football coach has been on the road a lot lately, driving back and forth from Washington County to Albany, N.Y.
Spicer, you see, is the new head football coach at Albany High School. Fact is, the Massillon native was approved by a seven-member search committee to be the next Falcons coach last May. He is succeeding Joe Burke.
Last Thursday, while in Albany, Spicer learned that his 92-year-old grandmother, Margaret "Peg" Mae Porter Schrader, had passed away. After arriving home in Marietta Saturday, he and his family are planning to be back on the road today to Massillon to attend the funeral service, which is scheduled for Tuesday.
A year ago, at this time, Spicer was getting ready for his sixth season at the Marietta Tigers helm. But, as many Washington Countians now know, a lot has happened since then.
In a nutshell, Marietta High made some budget cuts which affected Spicer.
After guiding the Tigers to a 3-7 record in the fall of 2007, he was succceeded in the spring of 2008 by Andy Schob, a former assistant under him.
MHS begins practicing Thursday.
With a wife and three children to support, Spicer needed a position and fast. Surfing the Internet, he discovered an opening at Albany - and the rest is history.
Along with Spicer's football duties, he will also be teaching math at the school.
Albany won the 1996 Section II Class AA Super Bowl but has managed to claim just 23 of 101 games since. The Falcons have had only two winning seasons during that span - a pair of 5-4 campaigns in 2004 and 2005.
Last year, AHS was 3-6 with two of the setbacks coming in the final minute of play.
Until Spicer came aboard, Marietta never had made the Ohio playoffs in the 103-year history of its football program. That streak ended in the West Point graduate's first season in 2002.
AHS - the only comprehensive public high school in the city of Albany, which is also the capital of New York state - has an enrollment of about 2,700. The school is part of the Albany City School District.
The Falcons are affiliated with the Big Ten Conference of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (Section II).
Look for Spicer's Albany team to employ a fast-paced, attacking brand of football, similar to that used by Rich Rodriguez, now the University of Michigan's head coach.
Spicer will be making his debut as the Falcons coach when Albany High plays at Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) of Albany at 7 p.m. Sept. 5. The following Friday against Shenendehowa will be the school's first home game at Bleecker Stadium.
On Oct. 3, AHS is slated to play at Saratoga.
Spicer's wife, Grace, is from Saratoga Springs and attended Saratoga Central Catholic.
Sorry for Spicer's loss of his grandmother and hope he wins many championships at Albany.
He's got a fine football mind.
Ron Johnston is the Marietta Times sports editor, and can be reached at 376-5441, or at rjohnston@mariettatimes
