Gerry Rardin

David Hegler
Jan 31
3 min read

More often than not, a coaching tree is a reflection of a coach. Just a quick peek at New England Patriots Mike Vrabel's resume would suggest that he had all the mental tools necessary to win as he played extensively for Ohio State's John Cooper and won three Super Bowls with Bill Belichick's Patriots two decades ago. However, high school is where the fundamentals of the game are planted in a young person's mind and it is often there, away from the spotlight and money, where you will find the best coaches. For 35 years, Walsh Jesuit's Gerry Rardin molded men while winning 252 games. This is his story.

The Warriors

Located just north of Akron, Ohio, Walsh Jesuit High School began building its esteemed gridiron heritage in 1968. In their first six years of existence, the Warriors lost just four times while going undefeated twice. Butt despite all of their early good fortune, Ohio didn't have a playoff system back in those day, leaving many players to dream about the what-if's. One of those players was Gerry Rardin. The 1972 graduate had lost just once in his varsity career and returned to the school soon after graduating from college.

Once Phil Ricco stepped down after the 1979 season, he suggested to the school board that they hire his old pupil to replace him as head coach. They obliged and were thrilled that the young coach posted three straight winning seasons to kick off his coaching career. Rardin forever remembered what Ricco whispered in his ear when he passed the torch: "You never count out the heart of a warrior". From the very beginning, Rardin treated each of his players like a warrior, instilling within them the belief that they could do anything that they put their minds and hearts into.

Coach Rardin was patient as the team struggled through a 1-9 campaign in 1983, knowing that if he just stayed true to his own principles that they would eventually be champions. Walsh Jesuit finally made the playoffs two years later as the Warriors made it all the way to the second round. By the time Mike Vrabel arrived on campus in the fall of 1989, the Warriors program was humming along, having already been to the playoffs twice and reaching it a third time when he was a freshman.

Mike Vrabel never went to the playoffs as either a sophomore or a junior and by the time his high school career ended with a 24-14 win over St. Vincent-Saint Mary, the Warriors had failed to reach the playoffs each of the past three years. Still, the Warriors were successful during that stretch, respectively going 6-4 and 7-2 in his junior and senior seasons. Thus Mike Vrabel journeyed to Ohio State having never experienced the playoffs at the high school level.

Still, the building blocks were in place for a run at the state championship as the Warriors reached the playoffs in six of the next seven seasons. In 1998, they went 13-0 and reached the program's first state championship game only to lose to Columbus DeSales 21-14.

After losing to powerhouse Cincinnati Elder 35-7 in the opening week of 1999, the Warriors won the next eight games by an average 37-7.6 with three shutouts for good measure. Although they slowed down a bit in the playoffs, they never let their foot off the gas pedal and returned to the state championship with an unquestionable determination. The game was a tough one that could have gone either way, but at the end of the day, the Warriors prevailed over Slyvania Southview 19-18. It was Gerry Rardin's only state championship.

The Legacy Years

Coach Rardin never returned to the state championship but he still flourished in the winning culture that he had cultivated. His teams returned to the playoffs seven more times over the next 15 years and only suffered three losing seasons during that stretch. After battling injuries all of 2014, the Warriors finished with a 7-4 record. Satisfied with the heart and persistence of his players, Gerry Rardin stepped down as the Warriors coach but still remained as the Dean of Students as well as Spanish teacher.

His legacy lived on far past the walls of Walsh Jesuit. More than 250 of his players went on to play in college and in addition to Mike Vrabel, Gerry Rardin aso coached future NFL players such as Connor Cook, Adam Redmond and Tom Loprenksi. He was inducted into the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame in 2018 stating that getting into the Hall of Fame was "never a goal of mine as a coach".

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