George School is considering the elimination of football program

George School has fielded a varsity football team since 1923, but the Cougars' 100th anniversary season appears to be in jeopardy.

A letter sent out to the George School community Dec. 13 from head of school Sam Houser and director of athletics Kurt Ruch indicated former head football coach Dom Gregorio said he "can no longer lead the football program as it exists due to concerns for the safety of our student-athletes" and that "injuries resulting from a lack of depth in our roster caused significant challenges this season."

The letter proposed 8-man football in a new league rather than the traditional 11-player game or "not having a program next year" as the two solutions, and that a decision would be made and shared with the community in January. It also said football would be the only sport affected.

Pafootballnews.com listed four schools playing 8-man football in Pennsylvania during 2022 — Perkiomen School, Valley Forge Military Academy, Delco Christian and Mercersburg Academy. Maryland School for the Deaf, Model Secondary School for the Deaf in D.C. and Randolph-Macon Academy (Virginia) also compete with those four in the Keystone 8-man League.

The administrators also sent out a second letter praising the job Gregorio did and saying "the school has determined that the significant annual investment required to (maintain an 11-man football program) does not align with the mission and strategic plan for George School."

In a telephone conversation Monday, Gregorio said he would only have 15 players left going forward once the graduating seniors moved on and told administrators he needed 19 more to raise the roster to a reasonable 34, some of whom should be scholarship players. He said the maximum merit award is $12,000 of the $48,000 annual cost for day students and $70,000 for those who stay at George School.

"I gave them the breakdown of the money we would need for it," said Gregorio, the former defensive coordinator at Abington and Bishop McDevitt. "I said, 'If we don't bring kids in, go to 8-man football or fold the program.'

"I'm a football coach. I was brought there to save this program. I did everything I possibly could … . So a school that costs $70,000 a year doesn't have the money?"

Gregorio, who resigned last week, said he was verbally promised eight full scholarships when hired in July 2019 and repeatedly tried to get those student-athletes accepted, but it typically didn't happen. He said he wanted "to set the record straight."

There has been plenty of activity on the George School Facebook page in recent days, with most — but not all — in support of continuing the football program.

Jung Kim, a 1982 George School graduate and former football player, wrote that "GS football has survived all these years without recruiting players. Why bring this up now as an excuse for terminating football? (Houser) has no idea how important football was for us as a framework to evolve as a productive young man."

Maura Searley, daughter of 1965 George School graduate and former football coach John Gleeson (1985-2015), stressed her dad "kept this program alive for 30 years using the same resources. He coached to include all abilities and backgrounds."

Gleeson guided the 1999 team regarded as perhaps the school's best. That squad went 7-1 playing an independent schedule and had the best point differential (+149) in school history.

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Meanwhile, David Miller wrote, "Under present circumstances, the Houser regime made the right decision the wrong way. We all should breathe a sigh of relief that no one was killed or seriously injured playing probably less than 20 physically fit athletes on the roster."

There were 27 players listed on the Cougars' 2022 season-opening roster. That number dropped to 15 "legitimate players in uniform," Gregorio said, noting five of them were freshmen, by Week 3, which resulted in George School forfeiting to Bristol.

Facing low numbers, Hatboro-Horsham and New Hope-Solebury received two-year exemptions from the Suburban One League enabling them to play independent football schedules in 2022 and '23. George School remains independent in football, with numerous other Cougars sports teams part of the Friends School League.

George School, a private Quaker school in Newtown, finished 4-6 last season, which was Gregorio's fourth as head coach (counting the washed-out 2020 campaign due to COVID-19), after returning 15 starters (eight on offense) from 2021.

Dating back to 2004, the Cougars have compiled a 40-106 record in football. The lone winning season during that span occurred in 2015 (5-3), which was Gleeson's final year.

A savegeorgeschoolfootball Instagram page has been created.

George School parents and other football supporters scheduled a Zoom meeting for Monday night.

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes; @TomMoorePhilly

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: George School is considering the elimination of football program