The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Rotsky steps down at Euclid
At 54, Jeff Rotsky said he intends to continue as a high school football coach.
It won’t be at Euclid. Nov. 9, Rotsky announced he was stepping down as football coach at Euclid, ending a successful sixyear run with the Panthers.
“All I’ll say is sometimes change is required, and change is good,” Rotsky told The News-Herald of his reason for stepping down. “I’ll tell you I love my kids, and I loved my six years at Euclid.”
Rotsky sent a letter of resignation early Nov. 9 to current and former players, parents and media about his decision.
“What a blessing it has been to coach and mentor our young men for the last six years,” wrote Rotsky. “We arrived to a program of young men hungry for success and looking for hope and guidance.”
Rotsky delivered on creating a winning environment, and as important — perhaps more important — helped a large number of his players earn college scholarships.
“There are two ways I judge myself as a coach: No. 1 is do my kids go to college? Second is do they come back and share their experiences?” Jeff Rotsky
According to Rotsky, 71 of his former players since 2016 went on to play in college, with a large majority earning scholarships.
“It’s great to win football games, but that becomes just a memory,” said Rotsky. “There are two ways I judge myself as a coach: No. 1 is do my kids go to college? Second is do they come back and share their experiences? Do they come back on Fridays to see us? The overwhelming answer to those questions is yes.”
Under Rotsky, Euclid was 49-19, which included a winning record and a Division I playoff appearance every season. The high-water mark was in his first season in 2015, when the Panthers were 10-3, won two playoff games and advanced to the third round.
Euclid was 5-3 in the coronavirus-shortened season this fall and lost in the second round of the D-I state playoffs to St. Ignatius.
“When I came to Euclid, I was told everything these kids couldn’t do,” said Rotsky. “Every last one of them proved them wrong.”
The 2020 was a difficult one for the football program. Euclid was one of many Cuyahoga County schools to follow the recommendation of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health and put fall sports on the back burner in an attempt to curb the potential further spread of the novel coronavirus.
Thanks in part to a Euclid petition, the Euclid board of education announced Aug. 10 practices would be reinstated as of Aug. 11.
“These kids and their families, a group of young Black men found their voice, and it was one of the greatest things I’ve seen,” said Rotsky.
Rotsky noted of the large number of players he helped secure college scholarships, they included ones to West Point, the Air Force Academy, Michigan State, the Southeastern Conference, the Mid-American Conference, plus multiple ones at the FCS and D-II levels.
Of his 23 senior football players this past fall, Rotsky said 13 of them have already been offered a football scholarship either at the FCS, FBS or D-II levels.
Euclid was Rotsky’s fourth stop on his high school head coaching career. It began in 1997 at now-closed Chanel, where he was 33-12, then at Maple Heights, where he compiled a 45-11 mark.
At Cleveland Heights, Rotsky was 45-36 in eight seasons. His career record now stands at 172-79.