After winning titles at Cardinal Newman and Windsor, Cronin leaves new job in Ohio

“Right now, at this point, just kind of let things settle down a little bit and think about it and what’s best for our family and stuff like that...” Paul Cronin said|

Six weeks into his tenure at Newark Catholic in Ohio, former Cardinal Newman and Windsor head football coach Paul Cronin has resigned from his position and is returning to Sonoma County.

Cronin confirmed his exit on Tuesday after Newark Catholic issued a statement late Monday announcing the resignation.

The second-winningest coach in Sonoma County history, who stunned many in the local prep sports world when he took the Ohio job in March after just one season at Windsor, would only say that the position at Newark Catholic “didn’t work out.”

He would not address Newark Catholic’s statement that said his resignation came after the school “was made aware of an incident involving conduct by Mr. Cronin that constituted a violation of Mr. Cronin’s employment contract.”

“The conduct did not involve any students at Newark Catholic High School, nor to our knowledge involve any illegal conduct,” the statement continued. “After confronting Mr. Cronin on the matter, Mr. Cronin decided to resign.

Further request for comment from Newark Catholic was not immediately available.

Cronin has already returned to Sonoma County from Ohio. He told The Press Democrat that he hopes to coach next season but wants to spend time with his family before making a decision.

Windsor has not yet hired his replacement for the fall 2022 season.

“It just happened. I left a week ago,” he said Tuesday. “Right now, at this point, just kind of let things settle down a little bit and think about it and what’s best for our family and stuff like that, and we’ll move forward from there. But I’m not looking to make a decision tomorrow on anything.

“I obviously love coaching, been coaching my whole life and I will continue to coach as long as I can coach, and that’s something that I’ll be involved with when I get back to a normal world after dealing with all this transition in life,” he said. “I think I’ll be coaching next year and I just don’t want to jump into something and mislead someone.”

Cronin added that the move to Ohio, which he announced March 18, was stressful for his family.

“We’re definitely not going to leave Sonoma County as a family until my son graduates,” he said. “So, we’ve got four, five years here at least, if not more. We’re just figuring out what we’re going to do.”

Cronin coached at Cardinal Newman from 2003 to 2020, leading the program to five North Coast Section titles, three state title game appearances and one state title in 2019.

In his one year at the helm of the Windsor program this past fall, he led the Jaguars to an 11-2 season, a second-place finish in the North Bay League Oak division and the program’s second section title in school history.

The Jaguars won the NCS Division III title, earning their first-ever trip to the CIF NorCal playoffs, where they fell to eventual state champion Vanden-Fairfield in the opening round.

During his career in Sonoma County, Cronin amassed a 222-68-2 overall record, according to records kept by CalHi Sports. His total career wins are second in county history behind longtime Montgomery head coach Jason Franci, who won 232 games.

You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @JustGusPD.

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