Berks Catholic’s Joey Polinsky tackles new position, lands coveted Ivy League spot
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When his offensive line coach at Berks Catholic suggested he move from tight end to offensive tackle for his senior season Joey Polinsky showed no interest.
He liked catching the football, limited as his targets were. He liked wearing a single digit, No. 8. He was always tall but never big; he didn’t think of himself as an offensive lineman.
“I was pretty against it,” Polinsky said of the switch.
He had a change of heart after a family friend, Dan Gritti, who coaches at Rice University, told him that such a move could be his ticket to college football and give him a chance to attend an Ivy League school, which had always been a goal.
Polinsky made the commitment to get bigger, tacked on 50 pounds last offseason and by midway through his senior season saw colleges start to take interest, including Cornell.
He was offered by the Big Red in mid-October; a month later, after a visit to the Ithaca school, he committed.
“Last year at this time, Division I football really wasn’t on my radar,” said the 6-5, 270-pound Polinsky. “Being able to see all my work laid out on that table was very satisfying.”
His signed his letter of intent in December, during the NCAA’s early signing period.
Transforming from a 220-pound tight end to a tackle in a few months was no small feat. It took intense training and a dedicated diet. His was helped in that process by a player whom he looked up to as a kid, former Berks Catholic tight end Luke Painton.
Painton, by chance, was going through the same process, moving from tight end to tackle for his senior season at Columbia. Like Polinsky he was a tall and thin as a freshman but with athletic potential.
Painton is now 310 pounds, playing at the University of Massachusetts and drawing looks from pro scouts.
Polinsky was five years behind Painton when they attended St. Ignatius together; he looked up to him as a role model. Last year, as he began his transition to tackle, he talked and worked out with Painton, along with Jasen Esposito, who coached each of them at Berks Catholic. Painton also shared tips on how he went about adding so much weight.
Polinsky heeded his advice. Nine months later Esposito was smiling when he saw Polinsky pull from his spot at tackle, lead a ballcarrier through a hole and flatten a linebacker in the Saints’ season-opener at Loyalsock.
“Not every kid who plays tackle (in high school) is athletic enough to do that,” said Berks Catholic head coach Dave Stahler, “but Joe certainly was.”
After watching Polinsky in BC’s season-opener Esposito was convinced Polinsky could play offensive line in the Patriot or Ivy league.
“I’ve never seen someone (at the high school level) make a transformation like that,” Esposito said. “He put on good weight. He could still move decently. It was pretty impressive. I told (college coaches) you can’t have enough of this type of kid on your team, someone who is just totally self-motivated.”
Polinsky is also a strong student, carrying a 4.1 GPA; he plans to major in economics.
The added size and strength transformed Polinsky’s game.
“It was a completely different world,” he said. “Once I could get my hands on a guy, I had him and could move him where I needed to, to make a gap, make a running lane.”
“When we had to have a first down, Joe is the man we ran behind,” said former Berks Catholic coach Rick Keeley, who retired following last season.
Polinsky received offers from Dartmouth and Colgate and drew interest from Columbia, Brown, Penn, Navy, and Penn State.
He was sold on Cornell on his first visit to Ithaca, N.Y. He loved what he saw and the players and coaches he met.
He was thrown a curve following his December signing when Cornell head coach David Archer and most of his staff were let go. Seeing the coaches who recruited him was unsettling.
“For a week, I was contemplating decommitting,” Polinsky said.
New head coach Dan Swanstrom and his staff reached out to Polinsky and made it clear to him he was still an important part of their program. New offensive line coach Sean Reeder visited him at Berks Catholic shortly after the changeover.
“They got me up for an official visit and made me feel comfortable,” Polinsky said. “They have some really bright guys on the staff. I have a lot of faith that they’ll put the program in the right direction. The change was a bit scary, but there is a lot of support for the program.”
