McNicholas head football coach Mike Orlando wins Paul Brown coaching award
McNicholas head football coach Mike Orlando is the latest from Greater Cincinnati to be honored by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Orlando, entering his 12th season as the Rockets' head coach, was named Monday as the winner of the Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award for the 2021 season, according to a Cincinnati Bengals' press release.
Orlando is the 21st winner of the Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award and the first from McNicholas.
More: Greater Cincinnati, NKY high school football: Preseason 10 best linebackers to watch
More: Elder football back with new pack of Panthers, same rigid schedule
The award, given annually by the Bengals since 2002, honors outstanding high school football coaches in the region. It will include a $10,000 donation from the Bengals to the McNicholas High School athletic department.
Orlando was presented with the award at the Bengals' annual pre-training camp luncheon Monday afternoon. Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin, who has had two sons play for Orlando at McNicholas, was also in attendance.
"I've seen firsthand the incredibly positive impact the McNicholas football program has on the student involved, as well as the broader community," Tobin said in the press release. "This is a testament to Mike Orlando, the fantastic coaches he's assembled as well as school leadership. The development of character in his student-athletes makes Mike a great example of what the Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award stands for."
Orlando is the second-winningest coach in school history. Last season, he led the Rockets to their most wins since 2010, finishing 11-2. McNicholas won a trio of postseason games and fell by a point to Clinton-Massie in the regional championship game.
During his tenure, Orlando has steadily increased the team's participation to over 100 players, according to the press release. Orlando has also served as a member of the McNicholas faculty for over a decade, beginning as a business teacher for seven years before being elevated to Director of Student Life and then his current position as Coordinator of Student Leadership Programs and Facilities.
Orlando was a 1999 graduate of Ohio University, where he was a three-year letter winner for the Bobcats' football team. He later earned a teaching certificate from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2001 and was inducted into the school's Baron Club in 2014. Orlando and his wife, Michelle, have three children.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Prep football: McNick's Mike Orlando wins Paul Brown coaching award
