BUCYRUS — To say that the position of head basketball coach at Bucyrus High School has been unstable would be an understatement.
Veteran coach Barry Egan was recently approved by the Board of Education to be the 44th basketball coach in the tumultuous 108-year history of the Redmen program.
With the abrupt departure of Justin Mattix in July after just two years at the helm, the administration was fortunate to land a coach with Egan’s experience so late in the summer.
Ironically, Egan was not job hunting even though he did not have a head coaching position at the time. It was his friendship with long-time Bucyrus basketball coach Phil Joseph that attracted him.
“When Phil got a hold of me about this job, I really wasn’t very interested. I wasn’t looking for anything else,” Egan said. “Then, I was able to meet (new Bucyrus athletic director) Kelli (Williams) and (new principal) Kim (Radulovich) and I kind of sensed that they wanted to do something a little bit different.”
Egan had spent the past two seasons as head coach at River Valley after having served as an assistant coach there and remains in the system as the Online Course Coordinator for Meta Credit Recovery, living in Marion. His proximity made taking the Bucyrus job viable.
In total, Egan has been the head man at six schools, starting in Danville for four years from 1987-1991. He went on to Indian Lake, where he guided the Lakers to their first tournament win in school history. From there he went to Troy for nine years, compiling a 102-96 record after a 2-19 start his first year.
From Troy, Egan moved to Marion Harding for four years before taking over at Cleveland Heights. He led the Tigers to an 87-28 record, coaching the likes of current Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce.
With some significant history supporting his confidence, Egan thinks he understands what it takes to turn around a program like Bucyrus, which has struggled mightily for decades.
“I can honestly say I’ve gone my whole coaching career without taking a really good job,” Egan said. “I came from a good program at Newark Catholic, where we were state champs (in 1984).
“Going to Danville, then Indian Lake and then to Troy — these were downtrodden programs,” Egan continued. “And then, certainly, to Marion Harding and Cleveland Heights had won a total of five games in two years combined before we went there.”
Egan inherits a Bucyrus program that has won just 10 games in the past four years. The Redmen have won three league titles in the last 55 seasons and have never won a sectional title under the current tournament format, devised in the mid-1950s.
While he is aware of these negative facts, Egan remains undaunted.
“After (new superintendent) Matt Crispin and I talked — I remember Matt when he was a coach — Matt really wants to change the culture here. I think we were able to do that somewhat at Cleveland Heights, at least from a basketball standpoint because we were able to put a once-proud basketball program back on the map.
“We had to change the culture (there) and I think we need to change the culture here in conjunction with the other sports here at the school,” he added.
The new coach doesn’t plan to make any immediate major changes to his support staff, though specific assignments have yet to be decided upon.
“There are some awfully good people here, starting with Phil Joseph,” Egan said. “I’ve known Phil since he was at Newark Catholic. We’ve known each other a long time and I’ve always had a lot of respect for him.”
The basis for a solid program besides coaches, according to Egan, are supportive parents and kids who commit to improving. He has been impressed so far with the coaches who are teachers. Egan said he can tell just by meeting them that they have “great heart for kids.”
“If you’ve got good parents, chances are you’re going to have a good program,” Egan said. “I want kids who want to be coached, that want to excel, that want to get better. If they’re prepared to put that work in, then I think some good things can happen.”
Egan’s preferred style of play is decidedly different from the Redmen’s offenses of recent years. But he can only use it if the team is willing to prepare for it.
“I certainly like to up-tempo and pressure people,” Egan said. “It’s something that I’ve primarily done — up in Cleveland and certainly down in the Dayton area — It’s a style that’s fun to play and I like to use a lot of players.”
The coaching staff will give players plenty of opportunity to get better as a team, but individual work will also be part of the equation.
“We’re going to play a lot of games in the summer and we’ll expect guys to be there and put a level of commitment in,” Egan said. “And we’re going to expect parents to commit as well.”
Still, Egan stresses the need for individual work.
“It does not take much time to go pick up a basketball and shoot it,” Egan said. “Shooting is a skill we’ve got to find a spot for you to play. The facilities here — it’s a beautiful gym.”
As to overcoming negativity, Egan has seen it before.
“When we took over at Troy, we had the same thing,” Egan said. “There was no emphasis. It was a football school. We have to try to get kids to buy in at the younger levels. This is a game that, if you really want to work hard, you’ll get very lucky at it.”
Egan is eager to get started and is hoping to get the kids excited to get started as well. He recognizes it won’t necessarily be a quick fix.
“We’re going to be challenged, no doubt,” Egan said. “I don’t mind getting beat but I certainly hate to lose. We’ve just got to go out and get better and better. If we keep working and try to knock that door down a little bit, I think we’ve got some guys (to do it). I was told we have some parts here.”
But Egan issued a challenge — being aware that there has never been a boys’ 1,000-point scorer in school history.
“I want to know who’s going to be the first boys’ basketball player’s picture that is going to be in the cafeteria out there,” Eagan said. “I think that’s a challenge we need to put to our underclassmen here. We need to put our emphasis on what we’re going to do, especially in the off-season.”
For Egan and the Bucyrus basketball program, there’s no where to go but up.