Dublin Jerome's fall athletes got a championship-caliber send-off Monday, July 27, when Hall of Fame coach Tony Pusateri addressed the Celtics at the final session of the program's six-week Mental Performance Monday series, days before the 2026 OHSAA fall season got underway.

Pusateri, known around Jerome as "Mr. P," spoke to returning sophomores through seniors about being a great teammate. The session ran from 7 to 8 a.m. in the school library, with athletes told to leave their phones behind and bring paper and a pencil.

The stakes are clear. Jerome is defending three Division I state championships won last fall: boys golf (the program's 10th title), girls golf (its 8th), and boys soccer (its first ever). That triple crown made the 2025 season the most decorated in school history.

Jerome Athletics framed the final workshop around what it called "The Gold Standard Teammate," with topics including energy givers versus energy vampires, role acceptance, and the mantra "WE > ME." The program posted on Instagram on July 24 that championship teams are set apart by selflessness and culture, with athletes locking in on what it means to build that standard together.

Pusateri brought decades of credibility to that message. He led Columbus DeSales to Ohio's first-ever 14-0 state championship football team, earned induction into the coaching Hall of Fame, and received the Central Ohio Lifetime Achievement Award. Jerome's athletics department described him as bringing "six decades of championship wisdom" to the library that morning.

The Celtics have recent results to match the program's ambitions. In the 2025 boys golf state final, then-junior Brady Barnum shot a two-day 137 to earn individual medalist honors. In boys soccer, senior Brady Delmore scored twice in the second half as Jerome defeated six-time defending champion Cleveland St. Ignatius 4-3 on penalty kicks in the Division I final, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

After the session, Dublin Jerome Athletics posted on X that it was time to get the season started, counting down five sleeps until fall sports began.

Golf teams were eligible to begin practice and tournament play Wednesday, July 29. Football and all other fall sports opened preseason practice Saturday, Aug. 1, according to the Dispatch's fall preview. Specific competition dates for Jerome's defending champions have not yet been announced.