John Magistro has been coaching football for 30 years. To him it’s not all about wins and losses.

“The relationships that you build with kids, their families and your coaching staff are what I cherish the most,” Magistro said in a telephone call from his home in suburban Columbus. “When you’re around kids that long, it’s tough not to get close to them.”

Of course, Magistro has won his fair share of games at Bellaire and Westerville Central. He has also earned various honors during his coaching career.

The honors keep on rolling in for former Bellaire head football coach. On Friday night at the Marriott Inn in Columbus, Magistro will be enshrined in the Ohio State High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame.

“Well, to me this (honor) is top of the line because it comes from your peers … guys that you have coached against or with or from your own conference,” he said. “That’s what makes this honor so special to me.

“It makes me think of how fortunate I’ve been to be surrounded by so many good players and good coaches over the years,” he added. “It is truly special honor.”

Magistro coached at Bellaire from 1984 to 2006 when he moved on to Westerville Central. While with the Big Reds, his teams captured nine Ohio Valley Athletic Conference banners, half-a-dozen regional titles and played for Division IV state championships in 1995 and 1996.

When asked if there was one favorite Bellaire team, he cautiously answered, “the 1995 team that kind of put us on the map, as far as football goes. That team started a stretch of undefeated seasons. They really set the bar.

“The 1995 team was such a determined and special group,” he allowed. “If you go down that list of seniors and look at those kids, they’re all successful now in life. They were good football players and good kids.”

The Big Reds didn’t lose a regular-season gridiron game from 1995-97, a string of 37 consecutive victories before a loss to Wheeling Park in 1998.

Magistro was also fortunate enough to coach four players who went on to play professionally.

They included Joey Galloway, Ben Taylor and the Davis brothers – Jose and Nate.

However, it’s no question who Magistro thought was his best.

“Joey played 16 seasons in the NFL, so it’s a no-brainer,” he said when asked about the best he’s ever coached. “Ben was the toughest guy I coached, while Jose and Nate had a lot of talent.”

When Magistro left Belmont County in 2006, he wasn’t sure if he would ever coach again. He found that niche again a few years later.

“As a head coach, it’s not really what you want to do at that stage of your career, but once I got back into the swing of things, I told myself that I can’t believe what I’m doing.

“Usually, it’s the younger guys that that do stuff like that.”

It wasn’t all a bed of roses for Magistro when he took the job at Westerville Central, a Division I school just outside of Columbus.

“We had to start the program from the ground up,” he explained. “But the kids and coaching staff bought into what we were trying to do, and that was a very good thing.

“Work ethic has a lot to do with good things happening.”

The Warhawks finished 9-1 in the regular season and won a pair of playoff games before losing.

Magistro will be presented by his son, Chad.

“I knew he was one person that could say a lot of good things about me,” Magistro joked.

John, there’s a lot of people out there that could say good things about you, but you made the right choice in your presenter.

Congratulations, John!