BUCYRUS — The saying “There’s no where to go but up” may apply to Brian Seybert as much as anyone in Crawford County, at least from an athletic standpoint.

Seybert was approved at Thursday’s Bucyrus Board of Education meeting as the next head coach of the girls’ basketball program at BHS — the third in three years.

Seybert inherits a program that has gone 4-65 overall and 1-47 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference over the past three seasons. The Lady Redmen have lost their last 20 N10 games.

The new coach was well aware of the situation when he applied for the job. Seybert has been in the Bucyrus system for nine years as a football coach, and recently as a boys’ middle school basketball coach.

Though not anticipating jumping over to girls’ basketball, Seybert has wanted to be a head coach for several years.

“I had thought of throwing my name in for the varsity football job when Coach (Aaron) Eckert left,” Seybert said. “Matt Makeever got it and I worked on his staff. That was when I thought I was ready to be a head coach. It wasn’t really.”

As a 1988 graduate of Colonel Crawford, Seybert was a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball, and baseball. He has also been a basketball official for 21 years, the past 15 at the varsity level.

His coaching career at Bucyrus began when he coached his step grandson and adopted son, Zane, in football at the fifth-grade level. He went on to coach middle school football for six years.

Though Zane graduated in 2019, Seybert has continued in the Bucyrus system, the last three at the varsity level, where he coaches special teams, defensive backs, and wide receivers. He also helps with the junior varsity and freshmen teams.

As busy as he is with football, Seybert was invited to join the boys’ basketball coaching staff a few years ago.

“When Barry Egan got the boys’ job, Mark Sharp, who had been a middle school coach asked if I’d be interested in coaching seventh grade,” Seybert said. “Mark was moving up to junior varsity. So, I have coached middle school for the last two years.”

All this prepared Seybert when the chance to be a head coach presented itself.

“When I got into basketball, I really enjoyed coaching those seventh-grade boys,” Seybert said. “I didn’t see any opportunity for a while on the boys’ side. When the girls’ job unfolded, I thought it was a good opportunity for me.”

Seybert knows that Bucyrus will not instantly begin competing for league titles, but his approach is to see gradual improvement. The core of his team is young, with five or six sophomores likely to contribute at the varsity level.

Back is sophomore Emma Tyrrell, who led the Lady Redmen in scoring last year as a freshman, along with classmates Lily Neumann, Addison Ricker, and Layla Ellis.

Perhaps even more importantly, senior Karmyn Blizzard returns from injury, as does her sister, sophomore Kendra Blizzard.

“Just getting Karmyn Blizzard back as a senior is big,” Seybert said. “She has experience, even though she missed all of last year. Kelsey Grady and Claire Schifer offer senior leadership for the young kids. They have lost the last two summers.”

Also returning is two-year starter, junior Maddie Kimmel, along with junior Leah Sheets.

His goals are simple to start — Get the scores closer, be competitive, have a chance at the end. In Seybert’s estimation, it all starts with defense.

“I want us to cut our turnovers (from last year) in half,” Seybert said. “We averaged close to 30 turnovers. That led to a lot of lopsided scores.”

With numbers up, the Redmen will be able to have a junior varsity team, something that they haven’t had the past two seasons.

Seybert has assembled a solid coaching staff. First-year varsity assistant Nicole Frazier will help with the varsity. Mike Middleton and Kylie Thompson will handle the junior varsity, and veteran Craig Orewiler and his daughter, Kristen, a Bucyrus girls basketball product, will coach at the middle school.

“It’s a very coachable group and they’re going to hustle,” Seybert said of his new charges. “They’re going to work hard. I know that.”

If so, the trip back up may not be quite as steep.