Trevor George is returning to the football sidelines at Blackhawk while ending a six-year tenure as head coach at Riverview.
It was a busy week for George, who met with the Raiders players last Monday and informed them he would not be returning. He was officially hired to head up the Cougars program three days later.
“I will be handing the reins off to someone else,” said George, who noted a lot of thought was put into his decision.
George, a Carlynton graduate, was a Blackhawk assistant coach under Zack Hayward when he was hired at Riverview in the winter of 2020. The Cougars were coming off a 7-5 season in 2019 when they reached the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals before falling to Thomas Jefferson.
“I enjoyed my time at Blackhawk when I was there,” George said. “The opportunity was presented to me, so I went through the process. At the end of the day, there were a lot of great candidates. My wife and I talked about it. It wasn’t easy to step down as coach at Riverview. The memories that I made and the kids that I coached, with all they have given over the past six years, it was unparalleled. My staff at Riverview is part of my family.”
George hit the ground running at Riverview with winter workouts, but the covid pandemic soon created headaches and roadblocks to progress. But through all of that, George said the work together with the players, coaches, the school’s athletic administration and the community at large helped establish a strong foundation.
George was 17-39 in six seasons as coach. After Riverview won just one game in his first two years, the Raiders went 4-6 in 2022 and 5-5 in 2023, finishing one game away from their first trip to the WPIAL playoffs since 2016.
Riverview went 4-6 overall in 2025 and was 2-5 in a challenging Eastern Conference. George said he regretted not being able to get the Raiders to the WPIAL playoffs during his six years.
“I can’t thank the kids and the coaches enough for what we were able to accomplish,” said George, who amassed rosters of 50-plus players the past several seasons, numbers almost unseen at a Class A school.
“It doesn’t seem like a big thing with the overall win-loss record, but we won more games (16) in four years there than close to the previous eight to 10 years prior. There were multiple school records broken, and there were some unbelievable teams there in the ’90s.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t make the playoffs during my time here, but what our kids were able to accomplish given certain circumstances and things of that nature, they still can be very proud. I just wanted the kids to be proud of the program they came from. They worked as hard as they possibly could, and I think they accomplished that. They were able to win games and be competitive in a very strong conference.”
George, who plans to continue teaching seventh-, ninth- and 10th-grade history at Riverview, said the meeting with the Riverview players was pretty emotional.
“I didn’t bring up Blackhawk at all because I didn’t know what was certain yet,” George said.
“I just told the kids during the meeting how much I appreciated them for all they gave me. They are truly like family to me. We got to share in a lot of highs together, and we grew through our lows and some of the challenging times. I saw many of them grow from the elementary and junior high to become well-respected young adults.
“I think the program is on the right track and pointed in the right direction. I have firm belief that whoever steps in, the kids will rally around, and the program will continue to build towards good things.”
Riverview athletic director Andre Carter thanked George for his dedicated service to the football program and said plans are taking shape to find the next coach.
“From when I came in last year, I quickly could see how Trevor had the program built as a well-oiled machine, from offseason workouts to the summer camps, 7-on-7s, to his approach to the season,” Carter said.
“You could tell how smart he was in the game. He would have a ‘coach’s corner’ at the Elks on Wednesdays during the season where he would invite parents and any fans to come down. He would go through the strategy and the approach of the offense and defense for that week’s opponent. It was fun to see him be as engaging as he was.
“We would talk on a regular basis. He would often ask for advice and make sure we were on the same page. We got along very well.”