The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cardinal hires new coach
Gresko was QB coach for state champion Kenston
The Cardinal Huskies are hiring a new football coach who wears a state championship ring.
George Gresko, 26, will be the Huskies’ next football coach, athletic director Jimmy Soltis confirmed to The News-Herald on March 11.
The move will be official based on board approval on March 13.
Gresko, a former standout quarterback at Eastlake North, comes to Cardinal after a successful five-year stint at Kenston, where he was the quarterbacks coach for the 2018 state champion Kenston Bomber football team.
Gresko succeeds longtime Cardinal coach Eric Cardinal, who stepped down following this past season.
“Oh my gosh, this is a dream come true,” Gresko said. “I’m super excited. I got to work today and hope to have my staff filled out by the weekend. The kids are ready and excited, and so am I.”
Gresko is probably best known for his prowess at quarterback at North where he threw for 4,551 yards and 40 touchdowns over his final two years with the Rangers.
He played one year at John Carroll before a shoulder injury ended his playing days.
He spent the past five years at Kenston. In that time he was head freshman coach, head JV coach and quarterbacks coach. He is not a teacher, but rather has most recently been the Youth Sports Director at the Willoughby YMCA.
Now he’s headed to Middlefield to take over a Cardinal program that went
4-6 in 2018.
“I met with the boys last Thursday,” Gresko said. “Coach Cardinal left a great foundation to build upon. The kids are excited to get into the weight room. We’ll get started on Monday. I can’t wait.”
Gresko comes from a spread offense background that throws the ball around a lot, something he experienced both at North as a player and at Kenston under coach Jeff Grubich’s high-flying offense that featured 2,000-yard passer Jon Tomcufcic and 1,500yard rusher Jack Porter.
“We wish him all the best and know that he will pour his heart into it,” Grubich said of Gresko.
Gresko didn’t commit to how often the Huskies would throw the ball under his tutelage but guessed, “it’ll definitely
be more than Cardinal has done in the past.”
“I know we’ve got some big, strong linemen coming back so you never know,” he said, alluding to the ability to run the ball on offense. “It’ll be based on the personnel we have.”
Soltis said there was a high interest in the job when it was posted. When the original list was trimmed to the top “six or eight,” Gresko separated himself from the pack.
“That’s when George separated himself from the other candidates,” Soltis said. “His enthusiasm... He provides us with a new energy. I think he adds another level to that.”
While Gresko said he still has some work to do in filling out his staff, he does have one solid commit — from former North star
receiver Shawn Richter.
Richter was Gresko’s favorite target at North.
“I’m so excited to have him,” Gresko said. “He’s the best route-runner I’ve ever seen. A phenomenal person. He’ll be the passing game coordinator.”
Gresko thanked everyone who helped him get to this point in his career, from youth coach George Callahan to high school coach George Burich to Grubich’s staff at Kenston.
“Coach Grubich once said, ‘Winning a state championship is easy,’ and I thought he was crazy,” Gresko said. “He said when everyone buys in — the players, the community, the cheerleaders, the band, the majorettes, the administration, everyone — that’s when championships happen. I truly believe that.”