O’Hara principal named to PSFCA hall of fame

By John Knebels

When George Stratts started in Catholic education, he brought with him a swagger that made it clear he was in charge.

More than four decades later, that swagger is still alive and well. But to many of the hundreds of students who have been taught by him in the classroom or coached by him on the football field, it might come as a slight surprise that Stratts’ bulldog veneer hides a gentle demeanor described by more than a few as a “teddy bear in disguise.”

A caring teddy bear at that.

At no time was that more evident than after a football game in 1983 that could simply be defined as a “classic.”

It was the Catholic League Northern Division championship and Cardinal Dougherty, the defending league champ, was facing a football dogfight with Father Judge at Veterans Stadium.

With 23 seconds left in regulation, quarterback Richard Ashby tossed a three-yard touchdown pass to Andy Garczynski to cap an amazing 86-yard scoring drive and send the contest into overtime.

After Judge scored in its first possession on a four-yard run by Mike Elentrio to go up 27-21, Dougherty faced a fourth and 11 at the 16-yard line. Ashby dropped back, moved around a bit, and found Garczynski about four yards deep in the end zone.

When Garczynski reached out and caught the pass before falling on the turf, Dougherty’s sideline went crazy. But in a moment that they would love to forget, the Cardinals’ faithful suddenly became numb when the umpire overruled the back judge’s original call and said Garczynski didn’t maintain possession.

While Father Judge celebrated its advancement to the league final, Cardinal Dougherty head coach Stratts and his assistants pleaded their case to the officials, but to no avail.

As Dougherty’s players assembled in the fateful end zone still in a state of disbelief, Stratts did his best to console the confused and emotional teenagers.

It was so readily apparent from any angle that, despite what must have been excruciating disappointment from a coach’s point of view, Stratts was first and foremost concerned with his players’ well being.

“It was a tough ending to a game,” said Stratts, recalling the experience with a hint of remaining pain. “Let’s put it that way.”

A quarter century later brings us to 2008, and Dougherty’s former head coach is still going strong. While the three-time Coach of the Year retired from the gridiron after the 2003 season with a career total of 147 victories at three different venues (Bishop McDevitt, Cardinal Dougherty and Cardinal O’Hara) and the distinction of becoming the first coach to win Catholic League titles at two different schools (Dougherty in 1982 and O’Hara in 2000), Stratts moved from the classroom to administration 35 years ago. After serving as long-time assistant principal at O’Hara, Stratts recently finished his first year as school principal.

According to Jim Arnold, O’Hara’s director of institutional advancement, Stratts has performed in an “amazing” capacity since joining O’Hara’s administration.
“He has a presence about him,” said Arnold. “It’s why this place runs as smoothly as it does. He is a great man to work for and he is respected by faculty and students alike. We’re as structured a school as a school could be, and it’s mostly due to him.”

Not a person to seek the limelight, Stratts admitted that being a principal involves so many behind-the-scene necessities that it’s difficult to put into words how taxing it can be.

But when you believe in Catholic education and believe in teenagers, you persevere.

“Kids are not held accountable as much as they were 15, 20 years ago,” said Stratts, a 1959 graduate of since-closed St. James High School in Chester and former football player at both the University of Notre Dame and Widener University, which was known as Pennsylvania Military College when he graduated. “Parents are working hard and come home exhausted. The discipline in the home isn’t what it used to be.”

Now 66, Stratts said while he misses the bonding relationship with assistant coaches and players and will “always miss game day,” Stratts entertains no desire to return to coaching.

But if he ever did return, he’d do so as a Hall of Famer.

In a defining achievement, Stratts last month was named to the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. At the PSFCA dinner before the annual Big 33 Game in Hershey, Stratts was presented by his coaching successor at O’Hara, Dan Algeo.

Later, Stratts received a commemorative ring from Penn State University football coaching legend Joe Paterno.

“The entire thing was a big thrill,” said Stratts. “Everything associated with it. My two sons and daughters-in-law were there. It meant a lot to me.”

And Stratts means a whole lot to countless people he has mentored for more than four decades.

“I do have a sense of humor,” he said, gently mocking himself. “I do have a laugh.”

Indeed.

John Knebels can be reached at jknebs@aol.com.