Veteran City basketball coach Burich dies in Fla.

He was the head coach at four different City Schools over his career.

Vindicator staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — George Burich had the distinction of serving as head boys basketball coach at four city high schools: North, Chaney, South and Wilson.

Starting Nov. 10, he was prepared to return as a second-year assistant at the new East High under Mark Cherol. Burich was in his mid-60s.

“It’s a shock,” Cherol said back home after learning that the veteran had died Monday in Sarasota in the company of friends.

“He was an important part of our staff right now,” said Cherol, East’s head boys coach. “He was hard-working. I enjoyed coaching with him.”

Bob Patton, who coached several area schools including Struthers and Liberty and the Youngstown Pride of the WBL before moving to the Cleveland area, was with Burich when he collapsed in front of a restaurant while visiting in Florida this week.

“He just came down to visit for a couple days,” he said. “We guys always come down to clear our minds before the season. That was the reason George was there. We’ve been doing this since the late 1980s.”

Patton described the last minutes of Burich’s life.

“We were walking across the street to lunch,” he said of leaving their condo. “He had been complaining about what he called indigestion. It looked like he tripped because he tried to grab onto a pole. I called 9-1-1 while Rich [Coppola], Dean [Worsencroft] and another guy gave him CPR in the parking lot, about five feet from the front door of the restaurant.”

Former North High coach George Ritz knew Burich from his early days. “He cared about kids and had a good work ethic and he loved basketball,” he said. “That’s how he got into coaching.”

After serving in the military, Burich, a Campbell Memorial graduate, did his student teaching at Science Hill Junior High, which was next to North.

After Wilson, Burich was an assistant at Kennedy Christian. He also assisted Patton with the Pride during the WBL years.

Patton put Burich’s devotion to basketball in game terms.

“There was no time clock with him. Whether it was 5 or 10 hours, he did it — breaking down film, working extra with the kids or driving across the state for a game. George wanted to be the best basketball coach he could be,” he said.

East’s ex-athletic director, Marco Marinucci was also shocked.

“It’s sad. He was a great guy, not just a basketball coach,” he said. “The kids will be upset because he cared about them.”

Marinucci, Cherol and Burich gathered in Cherol’s office early last week.

“He seemed to be in pretty good health,” said Marinucci. “The three of us sat down and talked about the schedule, the kids and the future.”

Cherol expected Burich back for the start of East’s opening practice.

“He wanted to get away for a week or so. I said, ‘OK, enjoy yourself and see you when you come back,’” he said. “Basically, he was my defensive coach last year. I was very fond of him and respected him highly as a coach and person. He pushed the kids and got them to play hard together.”

Steve Rohan, now 38, played for Patton and Burich at Liberty.

“I was recruited by Florida Atlantic, and they were willing to fly me down for a weekend workout,” he said. “Here’s a guy [coach Burich] who bought his own ticket for a kid who played for him four years. He watched me in open gym, then flies back. He had a wife and family, yet he put them on the backburner to help an 18-year-old kid. When I heard he died, it was like someone kicked me right in the gut.”