St. Thomas Aquinas' football program is under new direction.

The school announced the hiring of longtime area assistant Troy Burick as head coach on Tuesday. He replaces Mike Cook, who has taken a different position at another school.

Burick was an assistant coach at Central Catholic in 2016 when the Crusaders won the Division V state championship. He also was an assistant varsity coach, freshman head coach and junior high head coach during his 15 years at Massillon.

This will be Burick's first high school varsity head coaching job.

"It has been something that has been a dream of mine since I was a kid," Burick said. "As a three-sport athlete, I always loved football, basketball and baseball. I always kind of envisioned myself as leading a program one day.

"I had opportunities at Massillon and Central to be a head coach at every level ... from being a JV head coach all the way down to running the youth leagues. I think those things really helped prepare me for this moment. To finally get my shot, I'm humbled, honored and ready to go."