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44 December 29 • 2016
sports »
Technology Helps Groves
To Best-Ever Season
Steve Stein | Contributing Writer
J
osh Lebovic played a big role this
fall in the best season in the his-
tory of Birmingham Groves High
School football.
Lebovic is the team’s director of football
operations.
Translated, that means he’s in charge
of the technology that helps coaches and
players prepare for a game and make stra-
tegic adjustments during a game.
Lebovic made sure
his team’s cameras,
iPads, a big-screen
television and headsets
were working, got to
the stadium on game
day, and were packed
up and put away after
the game.
During the week,
he made sure coaches
Josh Lebovic
and players had access
to game and practice
films on a hosting website.
This was the first season Lebovic, 32,
was the director of football operations.
He was an assistant coach at Groves the
previous five seasons.
Groves coach Brendan Flaherty said
Lebovic’s behind-the-scenes work was
crucial to the Falcons’ unprecedented suc-
cess in 2016, calling him a tremendous
asset to the team.
“Teenage boys are visual learners,”
Flaherty said. “As coaches, if we can show
these guys what they’re doing right and
wrong on the field, that builds confidence
in our relationships.”
Flaherty said technology came into
play early in the season when Groves
had tough games against Oak Park and
Southfield.
“We were the underdog in both games,
but we won,” he said. “One reason is we
changed how we covered their receivers,
thanks to our technology.”
Groves finished 11-2. The Falcons
made their deepest run ever into the
state playoffs, advancing to the Division 2
semifinals before losing 14-7 to eventual
state champion Detroit King on Nov. 19.
After being bumped up to the Oakland
Activities Association White Division
from the OAA Blue Division following a
three-year run that saw the Falcons go
24-8 overall and win the OAA Blue title in
2015, Groves won the White Division title
with a 6-0 record.
There’s more.
Groves beat rival Birmingham Brother
Rice 24-0 on Nov. 4 in a district cham-
pionship game. Besides being only the
second district title in team history, it was
just the third ever win for Groves over
Brother Rice in 11 games.
The last time Groves defeated Brother
Rice was 1963. Brother Rice had beaten
Groves eight straight times since then
including twice in district title games.
A 44-10 win over Grosse Pointe South
on Nov. 11 gave Groves its first regional
championship. The Falcons had played
for a regional title only once prior to this
season, losing 32-6 to Orchard Lake St.
Mary’s in 2004.
“Our motto this season was ‘14 in 16,’“
Lebovic said. “That meant we wanted to
play 14 games and play for a state cham-
pionship. This was a special group of kids
who loved competing. They had a chip
on their shoulder because nobody outside
our program thought we’d do well in the
OAA White.”
Lebovic made the switch from assistant
coach to director of football operations
for personal reasons.
He got married July 9. He and his wife,
Laura, live in Berkley.
And he was a student teacher this fall
at Groves, completing his requirements
for a bachelor’s degree in social stud-
ies/secondary education from Eastern
Michigan University. He graduated Dec.
17.
Being the director of football opera-
tions meant Lebovic attended Groves
games, but did not need to be at practice.
The West Bloomfield High School
graduate didn’t play football in high
school. He was an avid hockey player
when he was younger, competing with
the Southfield Hockey Club from ages
6-18.
But he loved football and wanted to
coach in the sport someday.
“Josh had a football bug,” Flaherty said.
A chance meeting with a fellow student
in a coaching theory class at Oakland
Community College led to Lebovic get-
ting a volunteer job working with Groves
football players in the weight room.
Flaherty liked Lebovic’s work ethic and
how he communicated with players and
hired him for the coaching staff.
“Being at Groves has been a great expe-
rience for me,” Lebovic said. “Brendan
[Flaherty] is a great person and this is a
great staff. They’ve taught me so much.”
Lebovic is looking for a full-time teach-
ing job, preferably at the high school level.
Where he lands that job will determine
whether he’ll return to the Groves football
staff next season.
*
Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.