ROCHESTER HILLS >> Coaches came to the podium at Rochester High School and repeatedly heaped praise upon the strength of the conference at Friday’s Oakland Activities Association football media day.

Cliché? Perhaps, but arguably no less true.

“Going into the season, we tell these guys every game it’s going to be a grind, a battle week in and week out,” Clarkston coach Justin Pintar said.

“A lot of coaches have talked about the depth of this league, but just know it’s a grind every single week,” added West Bloomfield coach Zach Hilbers.

Said Oak Park coach Greg Carter, “I’ve been coaching high school football a long time and I can definitely be someone who can validate the fact that this league is so tough … Regular season games are very difficult and it prepares you to go a long way in the tournament.”

Others brought numbers to back up the assessment.

“We say this every single year — and I think it goes because it’s continually true — how great of a league this is,” Rochester coach and emcee Erik Vernon said. “We’re returning two state champions, but it’s not just the top of it, it’s the depth of it. I went back to the year 2000, so 23 seasons, and in (that time) the OAA has had at least one team in the semifinals every single year but two, so 21 of the 23.”

Another veteran coach to the league, Lake Orion’s Chris Bell, provided some stats to reinforce the argument. “The past 15 years, we’ve had 15 teams playing for a state champion, with eight state champions combined in that time. And for the first time in a long time, we’ve got some (different) crossovers in addition to your ordinary crossovers. Playing great teams in this league (sharpens you).”

Vernon made sure to give credit to the quality of the players, but also his peers, saying, “The level of coaching that takes place here in the OAA is top-notch. We have hall of famers, and others, if they’re not hall of famers yet, a lot have coached under them. You really have to be on your game every single week. The potential for a team to pull an upset is really high because of the level of coaching.”

In the annual coaches poll, Lake Orion received one more first-place vote, but West Bloomfield was picked to finish atop the OAA Red.

Birmingham Groves, which took second in the division in 2023, was tabbed to win the OAA White. The Falcons’ rivals, Seaholm got picked atop the OAA Blue, and the Maples, who won it last season, received two first-place votes alongside Oak Park.

Undefeated in the OAA Gold last fall, Avondale remained the favorite in the division in the coaches’ eyes, as the Yellow Jackets took all the first-place nods.

The results of the 2024 OAA preseason coaches poll:

OAA RED

West Bloomfield (1)

Lake Orion (2)

Clarkston

Oxford

Rochester Adams

OAA WHITE

Birmingham Groves (2)

Harper Woods

Rochester

Southfield A&T/Stoney Creek (tie)

OAA BLUE

Birmingham Seaholm (2)

Oak Park (2)

North Farmington

Troy

Farmington

Bloomfield Hills

Troy Athens

OAA GOLD

Auburn Hills Avondale (3)

Ferndale

Royal Oak

Berkley

Pontiac