Stokes Returns To Urbana…To Prove There’s A Difference

Geron Stokes left his alma mater two jobs ago, won two state titles at Minster and learned along the way that being a leader is about developing players for life after football. That’s why he’s back.

Urbana, OH – Geron Stokes enjoyed his year off from coaching football and giving up the chase. He put down the whistle, filed away the play sheets and turned in his keys, ready to devote his boundless energy to speaking and coaching about leadership.

A year later, however, Stokes’ time away from football turned out to be a gap year, one for reflection, rejuvenation and return. He still works for Ryan Hawk’s Learning Leader team of coaches, but he’s back in the lab ready to gather more object lessons and maximize his players as people.

Geron Stokes is back at Urbana.

Stokes returned to his alma mater, the place he played quarterback, the place that gave him his start as a head football coach in 2009 at age 24, the place longing to be relevant again beyond the Central Buckeye Conference.

“This is the only place I would have coached,” he said. “My job is so good we don’t have to coach football, and this job just opened up. I won’t coach anywhere else.”

Over time, Stokes’ journey since he began at Urbana changed how he thinks about coaching and the meaning of championships.

After four seasons, a 29-13 record, three conference titles and two playoff appearances, Stokes left his hometown post. He went to Minster and the Midwest Athletic Conference, a league where success leads to state championships.

In 2014 and 2017, Stokes found what he was looking for. He coached the Wildcats to the program’s second and third state championships. After a 71-31 run, his next move took him to the deep waters of Division I at Dublin Coffman. But after four seasons and a 25-25 record, he resigned in 2024.

“Honest to God, we left [Urbana] to chase winning state titles,” Stokes said. “We won those. Found out there’s more to it.”

Call it full circle or going in circles – Urbana to Minster to Dublin to Urbana – Stokes isn’t lost. He found his way, knows exactly where he’s going and knows exactly why.

“We came back with the right purpose to try to help our kids get better at football, but mostly just get them better at everything that we do,” he said.

For his and his staff’s hometown football descendants, Stokes trusts his vision will succeed because “Urbana kids are tough.”

“They’re like me when I was growing up, they’re a lot like all of our staff when we were growing up,” he said. “We just needed direction. We literally came back with the intent to help kids. That’s it.”

Stokes’ coaching acumen will no doubt steer the Hillclimbers on a winning trajectory. His No. 1 football goal for the players is to get better and maximize themselves. Make no mistake, they still prefer winning to the alternative. But he’s not chasing championships or missing the pressure that comes with that expectation.

“We’re going to try to win every single game, we’re going to try to win every single rep, but the intention is to try to develop,” Stokes said.

When Stokes played at Urbana for Dave Carroll, he quarterbacked a 10-0 season as a senior. He learned to be competitive through intensity and toughness. But there was more.

“He probably changed the trajectory of all of our lives, so it’s kind of a payback situation where we benefited from it,” he said. “It’s just a passion project with all of our staff to be able to serve and help kids just like we needed help. We needed direction.”

When the Hillclimbers scrimmaged West Liberty-Salem last week, the direction was evident. Stokes’ team isn’t blessed with many big bodies, but they dominated the play. And there was more energy in the stadium than is typical for a game that doesn’t count.

Stokes bounced on the sideline as animated as ever. The PA announcer took on a cheerleading role, excitedly reporting on every good play and extolling the virtues of the Hillclimber way of playing football. And senior quarterback Grady Lantz ran an offense that could drive 70 yards or complete the explosive long pass play.

Stokes, of course, has trusted lieutenants on his staff, but he also has a trusted lieutenant at quarterback. Lantz is a third-year starter who has passed for over 2,000 yards twice and totaled 43 touchdowns in 7-4 and 3-7 seasons.

Lantz’s presence helped draw Stokes back to the home team. Lantz and his family told Stokes they were committed to doing football right and they wanted someone who would do it right. Stokes was convinced to come back.

Now that Stokes has spent the past eight months with Lantz, he sees his quarterback’s push for excellence more clearly. Lantz approaches his coach about extra film study, asks questions, and learns at a higher level than Stokes is used to.

“Top one percent,” he said. “He’s a big reason we took this job. The hardest worker, the best passing quarterback I’ve ever been around. He’s always been very talented, but now he has become one of the best leaders. He’s driving, he’s setting the standards, he’s demanding the standards. He’s the best.”

The QB-coach relationship is mutual. Lantz and Stokes agree that his mental approach and comprehension have grown significantly. Stokes said Lantz doesn’t just play quarterback to play it and throw the ball deep. He says Lantz understands the game more and more at higher levels.

“He’s been a great mentor for me just teaching the ins and outs of football since day one,” Lantz said. “We’re constantly in watching film, learning every day, and just trying to get better every day.”

Lantz’s commitment to football doesn’t match the trend of specialization. He’s committed to play baseball at Ohio State as a pitcher. But he plays three sports. He was the basketball team’s leading scorer this past season.

“He’s not a baseball guy – he’s a competitor, and he just happens to throw really hard off the mound,” Stokes said. “He’s a dominant competitor in football and basketball and baseball. He doesn’t shortchange any of them.”

Lantz heard the talk that he should focus on baseball. But he wants none of that. Baseball is No. 1, but he loves all three sports.

“I love to compete, want to win at all costs, and just do my best and give it all I got,” he said. “Growing up in a small town you got less guys. We all grew up playing all of them together. So we all kept doing that through high school.”

Lantz, and others like him who play multiple sports with the competitive edge he has, make Stokes go as a coach. The approach is simple, it’s small town, it’s all they know.

“It’s just pure,” Stokes said. “Those big schools are all miserable. They’re all trying to perform and deal with parents. We don’t deal with parents. We don’t have issues with kids. It’s just pure. It’s back to what coaching and developing should be.”

That’s why the coach who has experienced tough losses and raised championship trophies is focused more on the important lessons that produce results than the results themselves.

Stokes came home to develop players who play harder, who are tougher, who are unselfish. As he says, “Everything that you want from humans.” And he believes if his players are willing to live out those traits to the standard he demands, then maximization will follow. If that means a 5-5 season, OK. If that means a deep playoff run, OK.

Just get better.

“It’s hard – it’s not for everybody,” Stokes said. “But these guys are willing. We may be terrible. We may be good at football. Who cares? But I promise you we’ll get better. … It just feels freeing.”