Coaching moves abound

Scott City coach Lance Amick said it's easy to see how often local schools make coaching changes by reading the Southeast Missourian Christmas basketball tournament program.

"The program always lists the coach and how long they've been at the school," Amick said. "And if you read through that Christmas tournament program, this will be my sixth year as basketball coach. I think I'm the third-longest tenured coach in that program, and I have been since I was at four [years]. It's just an amazing amount of turnover."

When Amick flips through his tournament program next December, he will see that at least seven of the 16 teams in the competition have a first-year coach. Ten of the 37 local programs that the Southeast Missourian covers have announced a coaching change since the season ended in March.

The 10 local basketball coaches — joined by other local high school coaches on the move in other sports — have made for another active offseason in Southeast Missouri.

Statistics reveal that many local high school coaching jobs open on a yearly basis. Twenty-three of the area's 37 basketball programs have made at least one coaching change since the end of the 2004-05 season. If the 2008-09 basketball season was to begin today, 19 of the 37 senior classes would have had at least two varsity coaches during their four-year high school careers.

Similar coaching turnover occurs in other local high school sports. Three of the six area high school football programs have announced a coaching change this offseason, and five of the six programs have made a coaching change since the end of the 2004 season.

"Every year you have this turnover, and at the minimum six to eight positions just open up," Amick said. "It's not just basketball. It's baseball. It's football. It's everything."

Shawn Dugger

Local coaches said large turnover occurs on a yearly basis for multiple reasons.

Paul Hale

• Forced out: Some said school boards have forced coaches to resign because their teams haven't won enough. Also personality conflicts between board members and coaches have led to a coach's ouster.
• Burnt out: Resignations and retirements are common because of the time commitment involved in coaching. Some basketball coaches at smaller schools are responsible for leading the varsity program, as well as the elementary school teams, junior high team and junior varsity team. Coaches often lead offseason camps and weight lifting sessions. Some coaches said that the extensive hours and dealing with difficult parents wear them out, urge them to search for new positions or leave coaching altogether.
• Personal advancement: Some coaches bounce from school to school because they want to advance their careers or find winning athletic programs to lead.

Amick finished his fifth winter as the Rams basketball coach and his second spring as the baseball coach. He is concerned about the large turnover each year, especially when scenarios point to the possibility that schools have forced a young coach to resign after a brief time because of a subpar win/loss record or personality conflicts.

"I think the focus is that we're not giving these younger guys ample opportunity to show what they can do and the support and the backing that they need to be successful," Amick said. "If you're judged on one or two years, then that's awful quick to try to build a program.

"And I know some of the [coaches] around here can give some of it a black eye in the fact that there are some guys who move around a lot."

Forced out

Lawrence Brookins

Briefly after the 2007-08 basketball season ended, Denver Stuckey, the boys basketball coach at Oran at the time, told his family that he was looking forward to his third season as coach next winter because he thought his players finally were becoming accustomed to his system, expectations and terminology.

He said he was taken by surprise when his administration recommended that he resign or the school board would fire him.

Stuckey said he was left without a clear reason as to what he did wrong with the team. He heard that the school board was unhappy with how he treated his players and was displeased with comments he made to his players. He added that he thinks the problem could have existed because of the way he coached the junior varsity team and because he failed to give two freshmen with parents who are school board members enough playing time on the junior varsity.

Oran school board president Will Bucher said Stuckey's departure had to do with his job performance and not his coaching performance. Bucher didn't want to comment further on Stuckey, who also had worked as a physical education teacher at the school. Bucher said the Oran school board doesn't base its decisions on winning and losing. He said the board looks more at how well coaches teach in the classroom and how well they demonstrate the proper techniques as a coach.

Another local school board president, Scott Cooper of Perryville, also said his board examines a coach's ability more as an educator than a coach.

Bell City basketball coach Brian Brandtner said he has seen good coaches be forced out without clear explanations of what they did wrong.

"I've seen it happen to other coaches where stuff just kind of pops up out of nowhere," he said. "If somebody wants to get rid of you, they'll come up with something, and they won't necessarily let you see it coming either. I think a lot of times with coaches and administration or a board it may be a personality conflict."

Meadow Heights boys basketball coach Tom Brown said his return was in question this past spring. He overheard one board member mention the idea of a coaching change. Brown will be with the Panthers for an eighth season after parents and teachers attended a Meadow Heights board meeting to help convince board members to let him keep his job, he said.

Brown was interviewed before and after he knew he would retain his position. During his first interview, he said he could not understand the reason his job was in question, and he thought that some didn't believe he coached properly. He said basketball coaching turnover is frequent in the area because of the high expectations placed on teams.

"I think it's the competitiveness in Southeast Missouri because it's known for being a basketball power," Brown said. "And any team that's not considered to be one of those powers is always under the heat and under the gun."

Brandtner said more coaching turnover will occur in whatever sport a community values the most. He added that board members and administration are members of the community and that getting along well with parents and administration is important to success.

Amick said he thinks good coaches at some local schools are vulnerable to losing their jobs because the people in charge at these schools believe better coaches are available to hire. He said schools with reputations for forcing out coaches only are hurting themselves because eventually no one will want to coach at these schools.

"It seems like everybody is always, 'Well, we'll get rid of this guy and we'll get somebody in here who's better,'" Amick said. "Well, where are these guys coming from?"

Brown said one problem in a small community is that when its team wins one year, the community begins to expect winning seasons every year.

Brown, among other coaches, said expecting winning seasons on a yearly basis is often unrealistic because winning in high school sports typically is centered on the talent level of the athletes. During some years, the talent level is down.

Many coaches said they cannot worry about losing their position because they already put enough pressure on themselves to win. Some added that when talent does decline, they look at it as an opportunity to prove their skills by finding ways to win anyway.

"From a coaching standpoint, all coaches put as much pressure on themselves as anybody can to want to win," Jackson boys basketball coach Darrin Scott said. "That's why coaches want to coach: they want to win. They're competitive. ... As a coach, if you start thinking about that kind of stuff [losing job], that's going to affect your performance."

Burnt out

Tyson Moyers said he decided to step down as the Chaffee boys basketball coach for multiple reasons, including the time commitment to build a winner.

He said coaches spend a great deal of time helping athletes raise enough money to attend offseason camps, assisting with weight lifting during the summer, hosting preseason workouts and watching film as early as 6 a.m. and as late as 11 p.m.

"The school doesn't require those things," Moyers said. "But I expect that out of myself if we're going to be competitive in our area, which our area is very good."

Paul Hale, who retired recently as Notre Dame boys basketball coach after coaching at the high school level for 30 years, said coaches can burn out because of the long hours.

"Coaching is a hard profession, especially if you do it right," he said. "It's getting where you have to go 12 months a year."

Brown coaches the third- through eighth-grade basketball teams in addition to his duties leading the high school team — all of which he did without an assistant coach this year.

Stuckey said before he was forced out, he coached seventh grade, junior high, junior varsity and varsity. He also put together a seven-game freshman schedule on his own without any extra pay so that the members of the junior varsity who didn't play much still could receive court time in games.

"I don't see the sun much during basketball season because of all the time you put in," Stuckey said. "Do parents and people understand that? Some do and some think you're just supposed to give individualized instruction to their sons at all times."

Stuckey said some parents wear down coaches because they think they can say anything they want to coaches during and after games, and even yell at coaches during games. He added that one of the top concerns many coaches have when they consider accepting a position at a school is how the parents at the school act.

"I had a parent tell his son not to go into the game if I tried to check him in because we were doing like an offensive, defensive switch," Stuckey said. "Stuff like that, I mean, it's just the way, I guess, parents in general treat coaches. There's no wonder why there's so much turnover because after a couple of years of the place, you just get worn out."

Central baseball coach and assistant football coach Steve Williams said he's sure that some coaches have become so tired of dealing with parents that they decide to change jobs. He's had issues with parents, but he's been able to work past these problems because he thinks it's more about the players, team and school than a disgruntled parent.

"In my 20 years, I've had a number of issues where parents either disagree with playing time, or disagree with their son being cut, disagree with [their son[']s] role on the team, disagree with coaching decisions," Williams said. "You're going to get that no matter where you go and no matter what sport you coach. ... Sometimes parents have a tendency to see things with their child as the main concern, whereas the coach, you have the concerns of every person on the team as well as the welfare of the team."

Williams added that coaches have to do what is best for the team to put it in the best position to succeed.

Brandtner said there will be people in the community who disagree with coaches as well as parents and board members who think they hold more power than others. He said his strategy is to stay away from these people as much as possible. He said coaches cannot be worried with parents and administration, but rather need to keep their focus on the players.

Personal advancement

Not all coaches are forced to find a new job.

"A lot of those coaches leaving are on their own accord," Hale said. "Advancement. Some people think they advance by going to a different situation."

Amick has a nickname for coaches who frequently move from school to school.

"I call them pirates," Amick said. "They just kind of move around just looking for those buried treasures. And that kind of gives a black eye on the whole thing about it. I feel like part of coaching is that when you sign up for it, you're there to build a program and you're trying to work with what you've got."

Amick said he doesn't see anything wrong with coaches working their way up from Class 1 to Class 5 schools. But he doesn't agree with coaches who move down to smaller schools because they see a good opportunity: a team loaded with talented players. Amick said coaches should be more willing to stay at the schools that hire them and show loyalty, although he admitted some differences eventually might arise between a coach and a school resulting in the two heading in separate directions.

"You may have an ugly year here and there, but again it comes down to kids and that's what you're there for," Amick said. "Whether or not you've got top-10 talent every year, you're there to work with those kids. And you work with what you've got. That's just the way it is. When one or two things happen bad, you've just got to try to weather the storm."

Moyers said he accepted the job as the Chaffee boys coach to give some stability to the program. He said no coach had stayed longer than a couple of years with the boys team since he was in school. He said it's important for coaches to implement a system and build a program for the benefit of the players.

St. Vincent boys basketball coach and athletic director Bruce Valleroy said students respond well when they are familiar with the coaching staff and they know expectations.

Valleroy has coached for 15 years. Girls coach Terry Wengert has been in her position for 16 years. Football coach Keith Winkler has completed eight years.

"I think that's why we've had some success is because the kids know once the season is over, they know what to expect before next season comes around," Valleroy said. "And when next season comes around, they know who their coaches are. They know what kind of system we're going to run. They know our loyalty. They know our dedication. They know the expectations of themselves, too."

A pattern seems to be forming. In basketball, an average of six local coaching positions have opened each year for the past five years.

Other reasons have been given for all the openings: Shawn Dugger said he left the Leopold boys team because of his long commute.

John Daniel said he left Saxony Lutheran to spend more time with his family, start a hedge fund and spend more time on a biodiesel investment.

Sam Sides retired after the 2007-08 basketball season from his position as Jackson girls basketball coach. It didn't take him long to find a new job across town coaching the Saxony Lutheran boys team. He said after 31 years of teaching in the public school system, he decided to take his retirement at Jackson and teach part time at a private school. That way he could work without it affecting his retirement pay. Jackson policy would not let him stay as a coach without him teaching, he said.

Sides was not too surprised that he was able to find a new position so quickly.

"Usually every year there are job opportunities somewhere," Sides said. "It just depends on whether you're willing to move or how far you want to drive to go to work every day. Usually with the coaching profession there's usually turnover every year somewhere."