By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

A lot has changed for Aurora football in Bob Mihalik’s 22 years of coaching.

He entered in 2001 with a program that had a roster of 42 high-school players.

In 2022, the Greenmen roster is 104 deep and the middle school has more on the way, with 71 players between eighth and seventh grades, respectively.

Wins have followed, league titles celebrated and the magical 2008 season that ended with a Division III state championship.

Aurora football and winning have become synonymous.

And so has the tradition of Aurora developing and showcasing prolific quarterbacks.

“We are very proud of our quarterback history,” said Mihalik, who played quarterback at Eastlake North.

Aurora’s quarterback room has long surpassed the idea that they have had a strong senior class, or a string of strong classes, come through the program.

Mihalik and his staff have consistently proven that they can identify the right quarterback, then develop them to the point that they become standout players.

Dating back to 2004, the list of those players is like a who’s who amongst Aurora’s growingly deep football tradition.

Brian Nichols, Josh Myer, Wes Miller, Brendan Gallagher, Tyler Watson, Blake Calcei, George Bollas, Alex Smierciak, Nolan Sotka, Mac Austin, Colin McNamara and Alex Moore.

None finished their careers with a losing record.

And all had a profound impact on Aurora’s success in their respective years on the field, while keeping the position as one that has a pass-the-torch mentality.

In addition to Mihalik, his staff features a number of former quarterbacks, with freshman coach Mark Dingman having played the position at Berkshire.

Middle school coach Jake McCoy played at Kent Roosevelt

Varsity assistant Jay Price played at Solon.

And Gallagher, listed above as a former player, is now also a varsity assistant.

The long list of former QBs on staff was not by design for Mihalik.

He simply wanted quality coaches that were quality people and it just happened to work out that way.

Regardless, he is proud of his team and the way they work together.

“We have a great staff, and I think it is important that we are all on the same page fundamentally,” Mihalik said. “We are all aligned and that plays a huge role in what we do as a program.”

One of those alignments are four criteria that Mihalik uses to identify who the program’s next signal-caller will be.

First, above all else, is toughness.

“Both physically and mentally,” Mihalik said. “When things go wrong, the quarterback is one of the first players to get blamed. Even when it’s not their fault. We want players strong enough to handle that responsibility and to be leaders.”

Second on the list is coachability.

“We want players that are willing to learn and willing to keep learning,” Mihalik said. “Can we challenge them to be better and will they accept that challenge. Ultimately, we are looking for a coach on the field. Someone that can read coverages, identify defenses and make the right calls and to get them there, they have to be willing to learn.”

The third criteria for Mihalik and his staff is accuracy.

“We are not always looking for the player that has the biggest, strongest arm. We have to be able to complete the pass above anything else. We want someone that has good fundamentals, with their feet, hips, shoulders. These are critical.”

The fourth item is athleticism.

“This allows us to identify how we will adapt our offense to our quarterback. Some years you are going to have a dual-threat quarterback and other years you are going to have someone that is more of a pocket passer.”

The criteria has served Aurora well — and largely because of the emphasis Mihalik puts on the first two on the list.

He calls the toughness and coachability characteristics as “non-negotiable.”

And while a lot has changed since Mihalik first took over the program, that is something that simply won’t.

And it has formed a foundation for a winning formula that won’t change either.