George Whitfield Jr. to be Inducted into the Massillon…
George Whitfield Jr. to be Inducted into the Massillon Wall of Champions
This coming July, in conjunction with the Booster Club’s Reverse Raffle event, George Whitfield Jr. will be inducted into the Massillon Wall of Champions. Whitfield will join 42 other former Tiger athletes in that exclusive group and will be honored along with five others who will find their way into the Massillon Tiger Football Hall of Fame.
The Wall of Champions recognizes those Massillon graduates who have participated in any Massillon High School sport and then beyond at the college and/or professional level as either a player or a coach or in another capacity, such as a sports or civic-related endeavor. Inductees are selected by a committee comprised of designated Booster Club members. Each inductee is honored with a formal public ceremony and receives a plaque that displays his or her achievements. A duplicate plaque is mounted in the WHS Sports Hall. Inductees are welcomed with a formal ceremony and then later presented on the field during the year’s first home football game.
The name “Whitfield” is synonymous with football in Massillon in that three uncles of George Jr., Charlie (1959-61), Tom (1962-64) and Dave (1963-65), each played football for the Tigers, under coaches Leo Strang and and Earl Bruce. Dave moved on after Massillon to Ohio State University under Coach Woody Hayes and was a starter on the 1968 Buckeye team that captured the national title. Then there was George Sr. (1966-68), the father of George Jr., who excelled under Coach Bob Seaman and later played football at Wichita State University. In fact, George Jr. is the sixth of seven Whitfields to play for the Tigers, which also included Dick (1954-56) and Marcus (2011-13).
George Jr. played for Massillon in 1993-95 and became the starting quarterback during his senior year, suiting up at 6’-2”, 209 lbs. Playing under Head Coach Jack Rose, the team finished the season with a record of 7-3, with close losses to Mansfield, Miami Southridge, FL, and Canton McKinley. It was against McKinley that Whitfield had his best game of the year, when he completed 18 of 30 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns. Down 17-7 at the half, he and his teammates nearly pulled off the upset, eventually losing 24-21. The game ended when the Tigers unfortunately fumbled at the Bulldog five yard line with less than a minute remaining. For the season, he completed 71 of 140 passes for 929 yards and 6 touchdowns. Subsequently, he was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and Honorable Mention All-Ohio.
Following high school, Whitfield was recruited by Coach Jim Tressel to play football at Youngstown State University. After one year during which he was red-shirted, George transferred to Tiffin University and enjoyed a successful 4-year career. He departed in 2000 as the 3rd all-time leading passer in yards and touchdowns, with 368 completions for 4,391 yards and 30 touchdowns. He was also named to the All-Mideast League team.
From there, Whitfield began a transition into the coaching arena, serving as a graduate assistant for the University of Iowa in 2001-02. But playing on the field was never off the table. In 2003-07 he was a quarterback in the Arena Football League and then attended training camps held by the Washington Redskins and the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL. His final stop was San Diego, where he served as a coaching intern.
All of the experience Whitfield gained throughout his years with football helped him to establish a solid base of quarterback fundamentals, which led to the creation in 2004 of Whitfield Athletix, a specialized quarterback training academy located in San Diego, California. It began modestly when he was asked by the owner of a San Diego brewing company to tutor her 5th grade son. Suddenly, he found his calling. Soon he was instructing high school quarterbacks. But his career really took off in 2010 when Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hired him to be his personal coach.
Today, Whitfield is sought after by quarterbacks at every level. And he can look back at several high-level QBs that were the beneficiaries of his knowledge, including Can Newton, Andrew Luck, Donovan McNabb, Josh Allen, Johnny Manziel, Vince Young, Brady Quinn and Jameis Winston. He also worked with Ohio State’s Terrell Pryor and Braxton Miller. Three of his students players were NFL No. 1 draft picks. Even former Massillon quarterback Kyle Kempt spent some time with him while in high school.
One of the draws of his coaching expertise is his unique approach to instruction. A broom may be used to simulate contact, or the quarterback may be working out in the sand or water at the beach, or he might be dodging sandbags, or he may even be throwing blindfolded while reacting to the sound of a hand clap. But ultimately, all of the students believe that Whitfield has made them better field generals.
As an aside to this, Whitfield has been a member of the Elite 11 coaching staff and also worked as an ESPN college gameday analyst, having won four Emmy Awards in that position.
In 2016 Whitfield was inducted into the Tiffin University Hall of Fame and now he will be a member of the Massillon Wall of Champions. The induction ceremony will be held on July 18 at the Eagles 190 in conjunction with the Reverse Raffle event.
Congratulations to George Whitfield Jr.
David was an acclaimed and accomplished actor, starring on TV, in dinner theater, and on and off Broadway. But he first starred as an acclaimed Massillon Tiger. Born in Elwood, Indiana, he moved to Massillon at age five and grew up there. As a Tiger, he played both ways, at offensive and defensive end, and was awarded 2nd Team All-Ohio honors following his senior year, in 1955, on a team that finished second on the state. He attributed his success to his work ethic, which he learned while traversing through the city’s various schools. He always gave 120 percent every time the ball was snapped. He said he wasn’t very fast or big. But he was a good student of the game because he had to be. He just did what the coaches said and learned the fundamentals and tried as hard as possible on every play. He said, “I owe a lot to football!” He also played baseball for the Tigers. High school friends called him “A nice guy, a humble guy.”
After graduating, David continued his athletic career at The University of Cincinnati on a football scholarship. There, he continued to play both ways. In spite of having a small stature for a lineman (5’-11”, 172 lbs.) he was good enough to be named All-Conference. He was also a fine student and was recognized as a Pop Warner Academic All-American. At the end of this time at Cincinnati, Canary graduated with a degree in Voice, and was then selected in the second round of the American Football League draft by Denver. Only, tired of football, he instead joined the Army, where he was also a member of the theater group. He even won an All-Army entertainment contest.
The Massillon Tigers continue to reap rewards for the success of their 2023 football campaign, which culminated in winning the Division II State Championship. Recently, Head Coach Nate Moore (99-22) was named by Maxpreps.com as their 
Chase Bond – “First and foremost, I would like to thank God and my family. Without them none of this would be possible. I would like to give a few words to my teammates and coaches. You guys helped me to build memories that will last a lifetime. And the coaches, to develop where I am today. There are two things I learned about being a Tiger. Everything earned; nothing really given. That’s a great life lesson. Not just football or golf. That’s everywhere in life. I will be enrolling in North Carolina State University to continue my athletic and academic career. The reason why I chose NC State is that it felt like home. It was the closest thing to Massillon. I love what they’re doing with me on the defensive side of the ball. It’s very similar to what Coach Leno does. It was a no-brainer to me. It felt like nothing else.”
Cody Fair – “First, I would like to thank my parents and God. Without them I wouldn’t be as successful as I am today. I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Next, I would like to thank my teammates for being my brothers to me. Throughout all the thick and thin. Throughout all the years. Next, I would like to thank my coaches for turning me into the player and person I am today. And I would like to thank the City of Massillon for all the constant support throughout my career. What I learned from being a Tiger is you can’t just be successful on the field. You need to also be successful in the classroom and have a presence in the community. I will be enrolling in the United States Naval Academy. I chose the Naval Academy because it felt like home and have the opportunity to serve my country. Go Navy, Beat Army!”
Dorian Pringle – “First, I would like to thank God and my family for pushing me to be the best that I can be every day, on and off the field. And my dad, especially, for being there every step of the way and showing me that life is hard. I would like to thank my coaches and my teammates for pushing me at practice every day. I wouldn’t be this far without them. What stuck out for me for Bowling Green is that it just felt like home to me. I went on three visits there and it feels like they support me all the way and all the decisions came from the heart and I just can’t go wrong.”
