Home is where the heart is for newly hired Marlington football coach Joe Cardinal
The opportunity was too good to pass up. A historically strong program that was close to home beckoned.
New Marlington head football coach Joe Cardinal decided to answer the call. Cardinal will return to the area he grew up in hopes of returning the Dukes to their former glory this fall.
"The opportunity to come back home to the Alliance-Sebring area was a big factor for me," Cardinal said. "It gives me an opportunity to be close to my family, which was a huge draw. The fact Marlington is a program that has had a lot of success over the years was also intriguing. I know they've had a couple of down years, but I'm hoping we can help get them back to where they used to be."
Cardinal, a Sebring High School grad, is no stranger to filling big shoes or living up to big expectations. He comes to Marlington after one year at the helm of Northwestern where he succeeded Mike Thut, the winningest coach in Husky history. Cardinal responded by guiding Northwestern to a 9-3 record, a Wayne County Athletic League title and a playoff win last season.
"It was a really good year for us," Cardinal said. "It was a great experience and everybody at Northwestern was amazing."
Cardinal will soon get to work implementing a system. He is currently in the process of evaluating team personnel before committing to an offense or defense.
"I build everything around the players on offense," Cardinal said. "The goal with any offense is to get the playmakers in space and let them go to work. I've just gotten access to the game film from last year so I'm not quite sure yet what the best system to do that for this group is going to be. Defensively, we will probably run a 3-4 or 4-3 depending on if we have more depth at defensive line or linebacker. I can tell you the defense will have two safeties on the field. I'm a big believer in that."
Cardinal will look to bring stability to a program on its third head coach in three years. The Dukes also are looking for their first winning season since 2019 this fall.
Cardinal brings with him an exciting history of winning. He began his high school coaching career as co-defensive coordinator at Ravenwood High School in Tennessee. Ravenwood went 38-4 with Cardinal on staff and won a state championship in 2015.
He doesn't believe motivation or work ethic will be a problem for Marlington. He came away impressed after meeting the team for the first time recently.
"They all seem like great kids on first impression," Cardinal said. "I believe I am inheriting a group of high character individuals that were raised right. I'm really excited for the opportunity to work with them."
Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @chickmanREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Marlington football coach Joe Cardinal is excited to return to area
