Image courtesy of the Ohio University Wrestling Facebook Page.
Earlier this month, Ohio University wrestling coach Joel Greenlee made a flashy hire to his coaching staff. Greenlee welcomed two-time 141-pound All-American, three-time NCAA qualifier, and the 2013 141-pound Big Ten Champion for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Hunter Stieber, to the Ohio Bobcats coaching staff as an assistant coach.
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Before joining Greenlee and the 'Cats in Athens, Stieber, a Monroeville, Ohio native, spent five seasons as a volunteer assistant coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. During his time in Norman, the Sooners went 38-32, including the school's first conference championship in 19 years during the 2021 campaign. Stieber assisted in the development of NCAA qualifiers Dom Demas and Justin Thomas.
Earlier this week, The Open Mat caught up with both Ohio Bobcat coaches Greenlee and Stieber for a two-part Q & A series about various topics from Hunter's hiring, his moving back to Ohio, the upcoming 2021-22 season, recruiting, name, image, and likeness, women's college wrestling, and much more.
In Part II, TOM's phone call transcript with Ohio University assistant coach Hunter Stieber can be seen below. The interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: What made you leave the Oklahoma Sooners for the Ohio Bobcats?
HS: "It's hard to leave your guys and everyone you're currently working with, but I had been there for six years as a volunteer, and you can only do that for so long. NCAA rules only allow you to do so much as a volunteer.
I wanted to do a little more get more experience in coaching. I wanted to branch out. I'm really grateful to have been under Lou Rosselli for nine years, both wrestling and coaching, but I wanted to branch out. I want to take the methods that he showed me and teach them to other kids."
Q: How does it feel to be back home in the Buckeye State and coaching on the Ohio U staff?
HS: "It's nice to be back home in Ohio. My parents are excited about it. My bother [Logan] lives about an hour away, so he's happy about it, too."
Q: You've been in Athens a little over a week. What's the job been like so far?
HS: "I got here at the end of last week and watched their practices and took a lot of notes. I watched a lot of wrestling over the years. I'm by no means a genius or anything like that. But you get good at picking out what tendencies these kids have.
My role has been doing a lot of wrestling in the practices, you know, just giving them something new and fresh in practice. It's nothing they haven't done or seen before, but I have a little bit different take on practice. It's still a hard practice, and we're putting a lot of work in.
I'm also doing recruiting stuff and doing a little bit of everything. Mostly, I'm taking care of the wrestling and learning a lot of the administration stuff as I go. There's a lot more to being a wrestling coach than just the wrestling stuff, unfortunately, so I'm taking that in small doses."
Q: With recruiting, do you think it'll be advantageous to recruit back in the state you grew up in and competed collegiately as well?
HS: "It helps, and it's defiantly an advantage in recruiting.
It's pretty cool. When I call kids from Ohio, I hear things like, 'Coach, I remember you and your brother did a camp I went to.' And it's funny because they'll show you a picture when they were like five or six years old and two feet tall.
It is cool to call these kids and find out you already worked with them, or they say, 'I went to watch you wrestle this match in high school or college.' It always brings a smile to my face when I hear stuff like that. It instantly makes me feel like I have a better connection with them. It doesn't make it easier necessarily, but it warms your heart hearing stuff like that."
Q: Has there been any stressful parts to your transition to Ohio U?
HS: "Honestly, the only stress I have is getting someone to lease my apartment in Oklahoma [Stieber said with a laugh]. Besides that, I sold everything. I sold it all or threw it all away except for a couple of clothes and my laptop. I wasn't bringing anything back. It's all like stuff you get from Amazon. I even sold my car and got a new one up here in Ohio.
I try to live a very stress-free life because, you know, stress is not the greatest thing for you."
Q: What are your personal goals as a coach for this season?
HS: At Oklahoma, it was a little easier to set the goals because I worked I only worked a handful of guys around my weight [mostly Dom Demas and Justin Thomas]. They wanted to be All-Americans, so I tried to do everything to help them achieve that.
At Ohio, taking on the more significant role, working with all the athletes, firstly, I want to win the MAC. I have a Big Ten title as a team. I have a Big 12 title as a team. Now, I want to be a part of a MAC title as a team.
More importantly, I want to get all the guys, starters and non-starters, to get them going in the right direction, to where they can start taking off."
Q: How have you seen yourself grow as a coach over the last six seasons?
HS: "I've gotten a lot more patient with the kids and become a lot more understanding. I've learned that every athlete is different.
When you do individual practices, some kids need more conditioning than others. Sometimes kids need to only focus on technique. Other times, kids need to talk to you and vent out whatever is going on with their life. I've learned you have to adjust your approach based on the induvial athlete."
Q: As a coach, how have you handled the name, image, and likeness changes?
HS: "That's a tough one. Wrestlers who are stressing over NIL, they're worried about the wrong things, in my opinion.
You don't want the kids to get taken advantage of. But I tell them to be smart about it. I just say, 'Hey, whatever they give to you, you take the compliance, let the compliance office figure it out.'
But the NIL stuff, that doesn't stress me out as much. I mean, people who are chasing [NIL deals] instead of chasing their national titles, they're not going to go very far in the sport. You have to take care of the wrestling first."
Q: Has it been strange to be back in Ohio and wearing Green and White rather than Scarlet and Gray?
HS: Yeah, it's felt a little strange for sure. When I went from Ohio State to Oklahoma, both schools were very similar colors.
Then when I went from Oklahoma to Ohio, I went from "OU" to "OU." I have a bunch of OU gear from Oklahoma that doesn't say Sooners on it and isn't Crimson colored that I can still wear, so that's fortunate [Stieber said with a laugh]."
Q: What are your thoughts about Iowa adding a women's wrestling team?
HS: "Giving athletes male and female a chance at getting a scholarship and chasing their dreams is always good, in my opinion."
TOM’s Two-Part Question and Answer With Ohio U Wrestling: Joel Greenlee
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