Four more Ursuline Football Games Against Cancelled Amid New Lawsuit, coaches placed on leave

The Ursuline football season faces more challenges as four more games are cancelled, coaches placed on leave

Ursuline football coach Dan Reardon talks to his team during a game in 2023. Reardon has been suspended and two assistants have been placed on leave amid two lawsuits filed against the team. / Jeff Harwell, High School on SI

The story of the 2025 Ursuline football team continues, and it is not in a positive direction.

Just a week after the Fighting Irish canceled their scheduled game against Farrell (Pennsylvania) following the filing of a lawsuit stemming from incidents at a camp this past summer, coaches are gone, a new lawsuit was filed and more games have been canceled.

Coaches suspended, placed on leave

On Monday, the school announced that head coach Dan Reardon agreed to a suspension and assistant coaches Tim McGlynn and Christian Syrianoudis were placed on leave for the rest of the season and Michael Frasco would be the interim head coach.

“Ursuline announces that Michael Frasco, a long-time assistant coach, will be its interim head football coach for the remainder of the football season.

“Coach McGlynn and Coach Syrianoudis were placed on administrative leave on September 8 pending the outcomes of the ongoing investigations and litigation. There have been no decisions regarding renewal of their contracts or future employment.

“Coach Reardon has agreed to an indeterminate suspension on September 8, pending the outcomes of the ongoing investigations and litigation. Likewise, there have been no decisions regarding renewal of Coach Reardon’s contract or future employment.

“Ursuline is unable to share additional information at this time.”

A second lawsuit

The second lawsuit, filed as a federal Title IX civil-rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, alleges that Ursuline failed to protect a female student from a football player’s “alleged sexual harassment, stalking and violent assault.”

Games cancelled

The first domino for the football schedule fell on Wednesday when thegame against Warren G. Harding on Sept.19, which would have been their next game after a scheduled bye this week, was cancelled. The Raiders canceled the game and explained the decision in a press release.

“In light of the recent allegations against the Ursuline Football Program and a second Federal lawsuit filed today, the Warren G. Harding Raiders, respectfully, will not be playing Ursuline in Game 5 scheduled for September 19. The decision was made with careful consideration and the district is confident it is in the best interest of our Warren G. Harding students and our community.”

And then on Thursday, it was their Oct. 3 opponent - St. Vincent-St. Mary - who took Ursuline off the 2025 schedule.

According to Brad Bournival of the Akron Beacon Journal, St. Vincent-St. Mary cited the recent allegations as the reason both the junior varsity and varsity games will not be played as scheduled.

Prior to these games being cancelled, Austintown-Fitch had already announced that it would no longer hold its homecoming ceremonies during the game against Ursuline on Sept. 26. And then on Thursday after STVM announced they had cancelled their game, Fitch did the same.

“Due to the allegations involving the Ursuline Football Program, Austintown Fitch will respectfully not be playing Game 6 against Ursuline on Friday, September 26 at Greenwood Chevrolet Falcon Stadium. This decision was made with careful consideration and in the best interest of our Austintown students and community,” said Fitch’s public relations specialist, Brittany Morrell in a statement.

On Friday, another school backed out of their game against Ursuline, as Chaney cancelled its Oct. 17 game for the same reasons as the other teams.

“Chaney Cowboys will no longer play Ursuline High School on October 17. The decision was made in the best interest of our scholars and school community,” said a statement from the Youngstown City School District.

As of Friday afternoon, there were only two games remaining on the schedule for the Fighting Irish - Oct. 10 vs. Walsh Jesuit and Oct. 24 at Mooney.

Ursuline in the High School on SI Ohio football rankings

Ursuline had started the season 2-0 by defeating Steubenville 37-7 and Bishop Hartley 34-7 after being ranked No. 16 in the High School on SI Ohio football Preseason Top 25. They had made it as high as No. 11 in the rankings following Week 2, but this past week, the decision was made to drop them to No. 25 until more news became available.

Follow High School on SI Ohio for more details as they become available in this story.

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