New AD, football coach fostering new era at Stritch

Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com

When Allan Thompson was a junior at Libbey High School in 2010, probably the furthest thing from his mind would be that he’d wind up as the head football coach at Cardinal Stritch one day.
But 12 years later, he finds himself doing just that.
The Toledo native attended Stritch for his senior year after Libbey was closed by Toledo Public Schools and enjoyed his experience so much that he’s now come full circle. Last month, Thompson was named the Cardinals football coach, and he’s excited about the possibilities.
Stritch did not field a team this past fall due to low numbers.
“Stritch football is back and we’re looking to bring a new life and energy to it. We’re trying to revitalize everything,” said Thompson, who was also an assistant with the team five years ago. “I think our AD is doing a heck of a job and we’ve gotten great support from the community. We’re on a positive upswing, and there are good things on the horizon for us.”
“It was one of those things, it felt like it was too good to be true (to get hired). Going into Stritch as a senior after Libbey closed down, people looked out for me and took me under their wing, and I want to be able to come back and try and do the same,” said Thompson. “It’s about knowing there is going to be someone in the building that is going to be like me in their senior year, so I’m ready to bring excitement to everything.
“There was a little bit of a culture shock coming to Stritch as a senior, but it was one of my most enjoyable years in school that I had,” he said.
Thompson, who was hired by new Stritch athletic director Denny Shoemaker, played football for Joe Gutilla on the offensive line, and considers former teammates Dave Szymanski and Andy and Joe Geiermann to be close friends.
“I know we had one of the better years in the span,” said Thompson. “I had some good teammates; we played together and for each other, and my head coach had a huge impact on me.”
Thompson is already working to recruit players so they can have the same experiences he had.
“A lot of it is rapport, being there, showing your face and just communicating with anyone. We could have a kid in the building that has never played football and we’ve talked to him, and he feels included and now he wants to play,” he said. “A little rapport-building goes so much farther; we’re communicating with parents. We had a couple of kids talk about Christmas caroling and we’re going to a group home to sing, pass out cookies and ornaments and just be involved.”
Last year, Thompson was the football coach at Woodward, and previously worked as an assistant at Waite, too. He talked about coaching the Polar Bears in 2021.
“It was learning how to get through adversity. We told our kids that no matter what, if you do good, it will come back to you — that became my mantra,” Thompson said. “As long as you carry yourself as a young man and do the right things, it will eventually pay off; you may not see it soon, but it will pay off. If we can get through this, we can get through whatever comes next.”
Shoemaker took over in October for Dick Cromwell, who was the AD at Stritch for nearly six years. (Cromwell is known for being one of Ohio’s great football coaches — he went 208-85-1 with St. Francis de Sales, won two state championships and is the winningest coach in City League history.)
Shoemaker is known to many in the area for his work at Northview. He coached the Wildcats boys basketball team from 1994-08 and was the assistant athletic director for 10 years before retiring last year. He finished with a 148-119 record in 14 years and won three Northern Lakes League titles and one Great Lakes League title.
“Allan is already getting kids interested in playing football. I gave him about a month to figure out if we can play 8-man or 11-man, and he said, ‘I’m going to make sure we have enough to play 11-man.’ He said he has about 35 kids ready to play football,” Shoemaker said. “He was able to build numbers in a quick way (at Woodward). His first workout, he had two players show up. By the time the season began, he had 34 kids playing. That just shows me that he can get kids interested in playing football.
“He graduated from Stritch in 2011, played football, and he knows what it’s been in the past and knows what it takes (to be successful) again,” Shoemaker said. “He has good football knowledge, and the biggest thing is that he’s able to talk to kids. He has a way with them; they’re getting interested in playing football. He not only graduated from there, but he has also been an assistant coach at Stritch.”
Shoemaker also hired Tim Yenrick, also a Stritch alum, to coach the girls basketball team less than two weeks before the season began.
“I had about 11 days to get one in place. Tim Yenrick, he graduated from Stritch in ’81, and he’s coached in the area for a long time, but never been a head coach,” said Shoemaker. “He’s been involved in girls basketball for a long time. He was willing to come on board; he knew he had a job to rebuild the program, and he was accepting of that. We’re looking for good things — it might not happen this year, but he knows what it takes.”
Shoemaker also wants to hire a strength and conditioning coach.
“I think that is a very big part of athletics, and it can help all of our programs. I feel like that is a necessity,” he said. “I have an alum who does this as his job, I’m just about ready to hire him and get that program going.”
Shoemaker says he’s happy with how things have gone thus far.
“It’s going pretty well. We’re just trying to get the enthusiasm back up for Stritch athletics,” he said. “When I came to town in 1994 at Northview as the head boys basketball coach, my first game was coaching against Cardinal Stritch, and they beat us. Their athletic programs have been good in the past and I want them to get them back to that.
“Athletics teaches life lessons as in working hard will pay off, teamwork, cooperating with others and getting along with your teammates, (and) it transfers over to the real-life situations. Plus, if we have a good athletic program, that will draw students and increase our enrollment, which we need right now,” Shoemaker said.