With Grayson County High School boys basketball coach Kelly Carwile resigning with just over two weeks before the start of school, Principal Todd Johnston — the decision-maker in hiring a new coach — has precious little time to find a new head coach to lead the Cougars.
“It was horrible timing,” Johnston said about the abrupt and unexpected resignation of Carwile. “With school starting on August 8, coaches (currently employed at schools) will probably not want to leave.”
The timing of Carwile’s departure has caused Johnston to shift his head coach search into overdrive, as he said he would like to have someone hired soon … very soon.
“I would like for the search to be completed by the beginning of August,” Johnston stated. “Workouts are starting soon, and I don’t want our student-athletes to fall behind.”
But because the search must be expedited does not mean Johnston will make a decision without knowing what he’s looking for. And Johnston isn’t limiting himself to only considering coaches with head coaching experience.
“Head coaching experience is not that important,” Johnston said. “Every (current) head coach began his career as an assistant coach. The most important aspect (in selecting a new coach) is style of play.”
(One only has consider former Lady Cougars head coach Daniel Pharris, who, in his first head coaching job, posted a 64-30 three-year record while leading the program to its first ever Sweet 16 appearance.)
Johnston, who coached the Cougars for 12 seasons, leading Grayson County to two of its three trips to the Sweet 16 (2001, 2009), realizes that in order to be successful at the high school level, a coach must be flexible in his philosophy.
Altering or massaging one’s philosophy to fit personnel, instead of forcing a round hole into a square peg, is one key to experiencing success at the high school stage. And in high school basketball in the state of Kentucky, an active defense, competent rebounding, smartly controlling pace, and being fundamentally sound on both ends of the floor will, most nights, translate into victories, even if the squad is not God-gifted with un-teachable attributes such as speed, size and quickness.
“We’re never going to be more athletic (than most of the teams we play), (so) I expect the new coach to be strong in (teaching) fundamentals and defense,” Johnston said.
Johnston knows all too well that last year’s 14-16 squad was tantalizingly close to winning 20-plus games, regardless of its thin roster and even thinner front line, as the Cougars lost 11 games by single-digits and seven contests by five points or less.
More excruciating for Cougars fans — On the season, Grayson County gave up 52.4 points per game (certainly a number worthy of more than 14 victories), but managed to score only 51.7 points per game. While the team’s overall shooting percentage was a an acceptable 44.2 percent (Hancock County, who won a region-leading 27 games last year, shot 46.1 percent from the field), rebounding is where the squad suffered most profoundly.
Although the Cougars lost to graduation last year’s leading scorer, guard Trey Goff (12.8 points per game), and third top scorer in guard Conner Schultz (8.9 ppg), the team returns senior guard Bailey Logsdon, who accounted for 10.8 points per contest, and two junior sharpshooters in Caleb Ray (41.7 percent from 3) and Spencer Sharp (39.0 percent from distance).
Size, or a lack thereof, though, will continue to be an issue for the Cougars. But a lack of size can be mitigated by being strong in other areas (defense, valuing possession) and by aggressiveness, solid positioning and the use of leverage on the low blocks.
“I want someone who understands what it takes to win at Grayson County,” Johnston said, “and be able to utilize the type of talent we have here.”
The coaching search, while being conducted in a time frame that’s been run through a dryer cycle, is being led by a man that knows what it takes to win, and win at Grayson County. For the 12 years Johnston led the Cougars he won a program-best 225 games (against 130 defeats), nine district titles and the aforementioned two region championships.
Over Johnston’s final five years (2008-2012) at the helm of the GC basketball program, the Cougars’ record was 103-48, a .682 winning percentage. He won 25-plus games twice, and posted a winning record over every one of his final five seasons.
Conversely, in the five years since Johnston stepped down as head coach, the Cougars have posted a 65-81 mark (.445 winning percentage), with only one winning season (2015’s 18-11 mark).
Johnston can coach. About that there is no debate. But his job, presently, is to find a leader capable of returning the Cougars to hardwood prominence. A task made much more difficult by circumstances beyond Johnston’s control. But that has not dissuaded him from remaining steadfast in what he demands from the next man to roam the Cougar sideline.
“I have very high expectations for our coach,” Johnston said flatly. “I expect to compete for district and region championships.”
Something the Cougar faithful surely expect, and will embrace with full-throated approval.
