Home Grown: Eric Glover-Williams Aims To Be Next Star Hailing From Canton McKinley

CANTON, Ohio — Adjacent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, next to the mecca of the sport, sits Fawcett Stadium, one of the most iconic, most prestigious high school football stadiums in the country. Home to the NFL’s annual Hall of Fame Game every August and, up until this past season, Ohio’s high school state championship games, Fawcett Stadium has seen some of the Buckeye State's greatest players and greatest games.

But the stadium is also home to one of Ohio’s most celebrated high school football programs, Canton McKinley High School. The Bulldogs own three state championships (1981, 1997, 1998), are second all-time in Ohio history in wins with 806 and have qualified for the state playoffs 22 times. Canton McKinley’s annual game with nearby Massillon Washington is also one of the most historic high school football rivalries in the country.

The Bulldogs have plenty of famous athletic alumni, too, in a number of different sports. Former Ohio State legend Mike Doss, former Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Eric Snow, former Pro Bowl linebacker John Grimsley, former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Joe Morgan and current offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots Josh McDaniels, among others, all donned the Canton McKinley uniform during their high school playing days.

Perhaps another one is well on his way.

Eric Glover-Williams was a confident, talented standout player throughout his career for the Bulldogs. He was rated as a four-star athlete and a top-100 player nationally by 247Sports. But there was also controversy surrounding Glover-Williams due to his involvement in a fight at school and, as a result, had questions come up about his character. His future became cloudy and there was speculation his scholarship offer from Ohio State could be revoked.

Ultimately, though, after a change in attitude, a tumultuous journey and the ability to get back in the good graces of the Buckeyes' coaching staff, Glover-Williams achieved his dream of playing football for Ohio State when he signed on the dotted line on National Signing Day. 

“It’s been rough,” Glover-Williams said back on that day. “But hey, we made it.”

When the Canton McKinley head coaching job opened following an injury-riddled 3-7 season in 2014 — simply unacceptable at a place like McKinley — hiring a coach who was accustomed to winning was essential. The man for the job was Dan Reardon.

Reardon, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, is one of the more well-respected coaches in the state. He won three consecutive state championships from 2008-10 at Youngstown Ursuline — one of the state's top small-division programs — and compiled a 72-29 record over his eight seasons.

He spent the previous three seasons coaching in Colorado, but the opportunity to lead a program like McKinley was too great to pass up.

An overhead view of Fawcett Stadium.

“It’s such a special situation just in Ohio high school history so certainly the tradition drew me to the job and just all of the things that come along with it," Reardon told Eleven Warriors. "I’m the type of person, I want to be in a situation where there’s pressure, where there’s high expectations and things like that and McKinley is certainly one of those.”

There were high expectations to win at Ursuline, Reardon says, but there's certainly something a bit different at a place like McKinley. 

"Because of all of the success that has gone on in this building, you certainly know what the expectation is when you get hired here," Reardon said. "The great thing about McKinley is it’s a situation that, because they have high expectations, they give you what you need to be successful and from that perspective all the excuses are removed. It comes down to coaching, teaching and developing your players and putting them in good positions to be successful.”

Reardon learned his winning ways from one of Ohio's finest coaches. Back in the mid-90s, he spent three years on Jim Tressel's staff as a graduate assistant at Youngstown State. Being around the former Penguins and Ohio State coach on a day-to-day basis taught Reardon a lot about the game of football and all that goes into running a successful program.

“I think one of the biggest things with Coach Tressel was that he came to work with the same mentality every single day. Just like everybody, he had good days and bad days and everything in between, but his approach, you didn’t see it waver," Reardon said. "Whatever phase you’re talking about, he never wavered in his approach. As a young coach, that was something that was a very, very valuable lesson."

There's always been talent at Canton McKinley. That's just the way things are at one of Ohio's most prestigious high school programs.

“I think it’s just an expectation. It’s an expectation going back to the 1800s that if you play football here you’re going to be tough, you’re going to be successful and you’re going to represent the city the right way," Reardon said. "There’s so many kids in our program that fathers, uncles, grandfathers came up through Fawcett Stadium, played on the same field, practiced on Don Scott and all those different things. There’s just that expectation and it’s enhanced when they go home because they hear about what all of their family members went through because they played in this program.”

Glover-Williams was a standout on the field during his playing days as a Bulldog and he has a chance to be the next great McKinley athlete turned college star.

Reardon never had the opportunity to coach Glover-Williams, but in his viewing of last year's game films, the coach said it's easy to see why head coach Urban Meyer and staff coveted Glover-Williams.

“He’s an explosive athlete and that’s the thing that just jumps out when you watch him perform," Reardon said. "The first time I met him, I was actually a little bit surprised at his size and was expecting him to be bigger. That right there tells you how explosive he is because to get recruited by Urban Meyer in this day and age, he’s not the biggest guy in the world, so I think that speaks volumes to his speed, quickness, competitiveness and things like that.”

It wasn't easy for Glover-Williams to get to Columbus. There were ups and there were downs. But, at the end of the day, his drastic turnaround allowed him to achieve his dream of playing college football.

Now, he has an opportunity to represent one of Ohio's finest high school programs at Ohio State.

"You always got eyes looking at you, there’s a lot of things that you don’t really see, there’s a lot of stuff that you’ve got to grow up and mature as early as you can,” Glover-Williams said. "I’ve grown up so much, it’s kind of surprised myself.”