Karageorge's HS coach: Buckeye leaves legacy of devout loyalty

When word got out last Wednesday that Ohio State walk-on defensive lineman Kosta Karageorge had been reported missing after not showing up to practice with the Buckeyes earlier in the day, the news hit close to home for Scott Gordon, Karageorge's former football coach at Thomas Worthington High School outside Columbus.

Karageorge played just two years of football for Gordon and the Cardinals before knee surgery after his sophomore year, and a focus on wrestling took him away from the gridiron as a junior and senior. But both on the field and off, Gordon got to know Karageorge as a kid with a personality as massive as his 6-foot-5 frame, and he couldn't help but fear the worst.

"I know there were a lot of people looking for him and praying for him, and that was a difficult time because you really felt kind of helpless while trying to be hopeful," Gordon told FOX Sports in a phone interview Monday morning. "That was a difficult time to go through, almost like we were waiting for bad news while hoping for good news."

Unfortunately, Gordon and countless others received the bad news they were dreading late Sunday. Police received a report of a body in a dumpster near Karageorge's apartment and later identified it as that the 22-year-old senior, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"It was heartbreaking," said Gordon, now an administrative dean at Worthington. "The thing that I remember about him was just his smile and his demeanor, and he was really loyal to his friends. He was loyal to people who were helpful to him, and it was one of those qualities that you really appreciate in a person. He had that, and when we got the news yesterday, and the finality of it all, it created more questions than answers."

Like so many others, Gordon says he had no idea Karageorge was struggling with such internal turmoil before his death. Just a few months earlier, Gordon had been ecstatic to learn that Karageorge had decided to join the football team at Ohio State as a senior after more than five years away from the game and assumed he was in a good place.

In fact, during Karageorge's time at Worthington, Gordon says he went to great lengths to get Karageorge back on the football field, going as far as to introduce him to scouts on campus, some of whom even offered Karageorge scholarships based on his size and reputation alone. Gordon also said he contacted the football coaching staff at Oklahoma, where Karageorge began his collegiate wrestling career, trying to sell the Sooners on his potential.

"He really was an absolute specimen, physically," Gordon said of Karageorge, who was listed at 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds on the Buckeyes roster. "He was a mountain of a man, so strong, and was just a really passionate kid about what he wanted to accomplish. He was just a fun guy to have around."

In his heart, though, Karageorge was a wrestler and had dreams of one day competing in the Olympics, Gordon says.

"He had a big ol' smile and was such a big man," Gordon said. "I remember him wearing his boots around school and his dad's a chef, so he would take in so many calories a day. He would carry with him a huge vat of pasta and grilled chicken every day that he would eat. He would just take in calories on calories trying to build muscle mass and would carry a jug of water, and he was just always working toward his goals.

"I just remember how driven he was about what it was he wanted to accomplish and what he was willing to do to get there. That's going to stick out in my mind."

Sadly, those Olympic goals and so many other dreams were never realized for Karageorge, leaving his family heartbroken and countless others who knew him wishing there was something they could have done to help.

"I think everybody feels that way, that they just wish they would have known more about what was going on right at that moment," Gordon said. "I think most people have probably known others who've been in tough spots where you have had an opportunity to maybe intervene, and it's sad when you can't do that with everybody and every situation.

"It just would have been great if somebody that cared about him would have had a chance to interact with him when it mattered most, and it's kind of an empty feeling when you're not able to do that."

You can follow Sam Gardner on Twitter or email him at samgardnerfox@gmail.com.