George Greenwalt

Richard Dunn

George Greenwalt arrived on the Newport Harbor High varsity with

size and skills, then never stopped getting an earful from walk-on

assistant football coach Mike White.

“His style I really liked. (White) had a real affect on me,”

Greenwalt said of the former Cal and Illinois head coach, who

volunteered at Newport Harbor one season in the fall of 1989, then

later became coach of the Oakland Raiders and is now an assistant

coach with the Kansas City Chiefs.

“He’d always yell at me, but he was always telling me how to get

better as a player. He once said to me, ‘Remember, when I stop

yelling at you, that’s when you want to be concerned, because then I

don’t think you can learn any more.’”

White didn’t bark up the wrong tree. In fact, Greenwalt not only

became one of the best tight ends in Newport-Mesa District history,

but was inspired to become a coach himself.

“It was really interesting to be around someone who knows that

much about football,” Greenwalt said of one of the architects of the

West Coast passing offense in the 1980s. “Coach White and (Newport

Harbor head coach) Jeff Brinkley would be talking about a play, and

he’d come up with three or four different ways to do it. I couldn’t

believe his knowledge of the game, how much he understood. It was

impressive. He really knew the game.”

Greenwalt, a fleet 6-foot-3, 185-pounder who could catch well and

was difficult to cover for opposing prep defenses in 1989 and ‘90,

was a two-time All-CIF Southern Section Division VI selection for

Brinkley’s Sailors, who finished 9-3 and 8-4 in those seasons,

respectively, while reaching the CIF quarterfinals both years.

About a decade ago when the Daily Pilot unveiled its 25-year Dream

Team from the Newport-Mesa District, Greenwalt was a second-team

choice, behind Corona del Mar’s Jeff Thomason, an NFL veteran and

Super Bowl champion.

In Greenwalt’s junior year, Mike White’s son, Matt, played for the

Sailors, who were also led by quarterback Steve Scheck. Greenwalt

caught 54 passes for 433 yards and three touchdowns and was named on

the All-CIF Division VI squad as a receiver with Corona del Mar’s

Jeff Jackson.

The Sailors enjoyed another successful season in 1990 as Greenwalt

and quarterback Steve Walker teamed up on 36 passes for 448 yards and

touchdown catches of 30, 25 and 25 yards.

Greenwalt and Walker continued their playing careers at Golden

West College, where Greenwalt suffered from injury problems,

including a bad knee his first year, which forced him into a

gray-shirt season.

Greenwalt partially tore a knee ligament in the Sailors’ final CIF

game of 1990, but was deemed healthy and able to play in the 1991

Orange County All-Star football game. In a practice for the South

All-Star team leading up to the summer contest, however, Greenwalt

“messed up” his knee and underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair the

injury.

In Greenwalt’s second year at Golden West, he suffered a broken

leg, which required surgery and screws placed in his leg. Then later

he developed Achilles’ tendinitis, but Greenwalt was never the same

after his broken leg. Once a sprinter who could clock a 4.6 40-yard

dash on grass, Greenwalt was also quick off the snap, but found

himself a little slower after the broken leg. Still, he maintained

his love for the game by playing in flag leagues.

Greenwalt, who grew up playing Junior All-American Football in

Newport Beach, starred on an elementary school city championship flag

football team, with the title game played at Davidson Field. “I was

10 years old,” Greenwalt said. “I thought playing there was so cool.”

His favorite prep highlight was when Newport Harbor defeated CdM,

8-7, in the 1989 Battle of the Bay, the year the Sea Kings went on to

capture their second straight CIF Division VI title.

“When we played against those guys, it was lining up against your

friends, because I played Junior All-American with half their team,”

said Greenwalt, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of

Fame.

Greenwalt, 30, spent several years traveling to various corners of

the world and living in Thailand. He’s currently a substitute teacher

in the Newport-Mesa District and coaching football and track and

field at Costa Mesa High. His goal is to become a head high school

football coach.

“Bob Hailey also inspired me to become a teacher and coach,”

Greenwalt said of the former Newport Harbor track coach.

Greenwalt, who is single and lives in Costa Mesa, is expected to

take over for the retired John Carney as head coach of Mesa’s

freshman football team. Last spring, Greenwalt was head coach of the

boys and girls track teams.