Blog

While many Warren fans anticipated and praised Paul Trina’s choice of Steve Arnold as the next Harding head football coach in the winter of 2011, the timing was horrible. The announcement was made in late November, shortly after the end of the 2011 football season and just weeks before the launch of the 2011-12 basketball campaign. As usual, Steve and his coaches showed up for afternoon basketball practice, but got a big surprise. It went something like this:

After a long day of media demands,...

Steve Arnold spent almost forty years guiding the lives of student-athletes in Warren, Ohio. He had won 190 games in ten seasons as Warren G. Harding High School’s head basketball coach. Meanwhile, the football team was struggling. Athletic Director Paul Trina asked him to cross over and take the reins of the Raiders’ gridiron fortunes in 2012. It wasn’t an easy transition. The autumn warriors lacked discipline, respect, and commitment. That changed the first time Arnold met with the team.

...

When I received a cold call from Steve Arnold in July of 2025 and agreed to assist him in writing this autobiography, I had no idea what lay ahead. How hard could it be? I had been writing stories my entire adult life as a sportswriter, sports editor, managing editor, and editor-in-chief.

Since retiring from the newspaper industry with failing eyesight in 2004, I remained active, writing hundreds of short stories and commentaries on a variety of subjects. I had authored more than thirty...

WARREN, Ohio — A compelling new autobiography, Born to Lead, tells the remarkable story of Coach Steve Arnold — a trailblazer, mentor, and life coach whose legacy extends far beyond the playing field.

In Born to Lead, readers are taken inside the life of a man who made history as the first African American head basketball coach for Warren City Schools in 2002. He topped that in 2012 by becoming the first minority head football coach. He guided both programs to extraordinary success. But this...

I had the privilege of assisting Coach Steve Arnold, a trailblazer in athletics at Warren G. Harding High School, in writing his autobiography. The process has taken almost one year. Today, I am happy to announce that the novel, BORN TO LEAD, will debut on May 30. Watch for it at Amazon and for more information in the days to come. It is an amazing story.

https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lead-Trailblazer-Mentor-Coach-ebook/dp/B0GXXPLXFC