BUCYRUS — Phil Joseph came to town in 1980 to become the head basketball coach at Bucyrus High School.
Though he was head coach just five years, Joseph made Bucyrus his home — not only the city, but BHS as well. Joseph stayed in the Bucyrus basketball program for 42 years in a stint that ended with his retirement at the end of this past basketball season.
After stepping down as head coach, Joseph remained in the school system for a total of 32 years as a full-time teacher and four more as a substitute. But his love for the game of basketball and his commitment to the student athletes kept him going even beyond retiring from teaching.
“I’ve been very fortunate, teaching and coaching at Bucyrus,” Joseph said. “It was a place I enjoyed working, with administrators, teachers, coaches, and student athletes.”
The route that eventually led to Bucyrus was circuitous. Joseph’s academic and athletic career began in Zanesville. He graduated from Rosecrans High School in 1965, where he had played basketball, football, and baseball.
From there, he went on to play at the University of Rio Grande. Joseph played basketball there for four years before graduation in 1969.
His first job was at Maysville in southern Ohio, where he was a varsity assistant on the basketball team, but also coached middle school football and junior varsity baseball.
Joseph then decided to go back to school — at Union College in Kentucky — and secure his master’s degree in health education.
It was while there that he was contacted by then Galion head coach Jim Kirk regarding a job as an assistant coach at Galion High School. Kirk made the six-hour trip from Galion to Kentucky to make the offer.
Kirk’s efforts impressed Joseph so much that he accepted the job. He went to Galion, where he coached under Kirk for two years and taught freshman English. But it was those two years that established his roots in Crawford County.
It was while living in Galion that Phil met the love of his life, Pat, who was working at the Galion YMCA as a receptionist. The two will be celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary this year.
After his stint in Galion, Joseph landed his first head coaching position at Newark Catholic. He coached there for six years, getting to the district once. It was while in Newark that he met current Bucyrus head coach Barry Egan.
In the fall of 1980, Joseph took the Bucyrus job, succeeding John Bean. His odyssey came to an end, as he made Bucyrus his permanent home. He coached for 12 other head coaches at BHS — at varsity assistant, junior varsity, and freshmen levels. His tenure spanned parts of eight U.S. presidential administrations.
His best year as head coach came in 1983-84 when the Redmen finished 12-9, 9-5 in the old Northern Ohio League. The seniors on that team included Rob Matula, who recently coached Mason girls in the Division I state title game.
Matula and classmates Nick Kajca, Steve Kerr, Jon Turner, Ken Tuttle, and Greg Ulmer, won the NOL as freshmen and had a successful year as seniors as well, finishing tied for second with Tiffin Columbian behind undefeated Willard.
“The NOL had outstanding teams,” Joseph said. “You had to play your best every night to compete in that league. And our non-league schedule was against the county teams, like Wynford, Colonel Crawford, and Buckeye Central. We also played teams like Lexington and River Valley.”
The transition later from the NOL to the North Central Conference was a big change, according to Joseph.
“We had a community meeting,” Joseph said. “Some were for staying in the NOL. Some were for the NCC. Eventually, we left for the NCC. We went from being the smallest school in the NOL to one of the bigger schools in the NCC. Later, we transitioned to the (Northern 10 Athletic Conference).”
While in the NCC, the Redmen attained one of the other highlights of Joseph’s career at Bucyrus. Under coach Todd Martin, the Redmen won the league title, their first in 35 years, finishing the season at 18-4.
Joseph’s two children both went through the Bucyrus system. Daughter Missy was a cheerleader for four years and son, Phil, played basketball four years. Between them, he has four grandchildren. Phil lives in Westerville and has two girls. Missy lives in Brunswick and has two boys.
While at Bucyrus, Joseph has coached not only basketball, but middle school and freshmen football, softball, and middle school track.
“I’m still going to be involved,” Joseph said. “I won’t be teaching or coaching, but I’ll still be a big supporter of Bucyrus City Schools.”
Among his duties that will continue is running the clock for football games which he has done for quite a few years, both varsity and junior varsity. He will also assist Coach Egan in some capacity in the basketball program.
“Bucyrus has let me follow my passion for coaching the last 42 years,” Joseph said. “I’ll miss most the relationships between coaches and players — even the media.”
The old ball coach has had the opportunity to coach sons of players. He noted that he had every current member of the school board in class as a teacher.
“I thought about retiring last year,” Joseph said. “I talked to Barry, and he asked me to come back one more year and do what I could. I’m glad I came back one more year.”
Joseph said he was fortunate that Pat was tolerant and indulged him in his passion for basketball, as she spent many Friday and Saturday nights alone at home between December and March.
With his new free time, he plans to make it up to her, spending that time with her at whatever comes to them over the years.
“Even though we didn’t win as many games as we would have liked, the relationships I developed over the years were most important,” Joseph said. “Seeing former players become good citizens is fulfilling.”
Bucyrus has been a better place for Phil Joseph’s presence here.