Damion Creel is a 1994 graduate of BHS. During his high school career, Creel excelled at multiple sports including baseball, basketball and football. Creel even earned 1st team all-Ohioan honors in baseball and football. Today, he remains the sole Beachwood athlete to earn 1st team all-Ohio honors in multiple sports.

After high school, Creel attended Hiram College. He continued to play baseball and football for the Terriers of Hiram while earning his bachelor’s degree in education. Creel wrapped up his collegiate career by earning the Moses Fleetwood Walker award. This award is presented to a Hiram athlete who has achieved remarkable success in athletics.

Creel has also spent periods of coaching at Bedford, Cleveland Heights, Richmond Heights and St. Edward before returning to his high school alma mater.

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How is the team looking this year?

This weekend is going to be a big test for us. … So we’ll know where we stand after Saturday. The team is looking pretty good. The kids are working hard.

What are your thoughts of working at your alma mater? I heard you were a graduate from here.

It is true, I feel great about it. I’m comfortable, and I consider it a blessing to be able to come back to the school where I played, and to be able to teach these young men… [using] the things I learned here.

So what are the strengths of this year’s team?

I think our biggest strength is our offensive line. And I think our strength is also that the kids are playing together, playing as one.

We also have some skilled players that are pretty good that will be able to make plays when the opportunity is presented.

How about their weaknesses?

Being young… We have a lot of first year players and young players. And the number of players we have…  we only have about 35 players. So, we don’t have that much depth… so that will be a weakness.

How do you motivate your players?

Our biggest thing as coaches is trying to build a relationship with the kids… to provide a sense of togetherness so the kids are willing to fight for me and the rest of the coaching staff because the relationship piece is so important. And it’s not about just football; it’s about their life. We’re in the kids’ lives… The biggest thing in building a relationship — once you build a positive relationship with a kid, they’ll be willing to do anything you’re needing them to do.

Where did you work previously?

The last six years I spent at Glenville High School in Cleveland, which is a nationally-ranked team and is well known around the city. I was an offensive coordinator there.