top public school coaches

I think Kevin Kelly (Atholton) and Tom Thrasher (Glenelg) and Paul Ecker (Marriotts Ridge) are the class of Howard County. Mike is doing a good job, but he needs to get a deep playoff run or two before he can be mentioned with these gentlemen.

I was also impressed with the coaches at Hammond. Sons team played them the first scrimmaged game this year. Not sure who the third base coach was but I liked his interaction with his players.


Banditsbb

I agree with Larry. Not saying all the coaches mentioned do not deserve praise for what they have accomplished to this point in their careers. In the short term these coaches are gaining a good reputation. Each of the coaches mentioned that are in this category have a good chance of doing this over the long haul as well. There coaches such as Kevin Kelly who ranks up there with the all-time top coaches in the state, not only Howard county. He has always run a great program with long-term consistant success. Also do not forget Dennis Ahern at Centennial. He has to be mentioned for his quality teams and several deep runs in the playoffs with one state championship.

Kevin Kelly is a class act and a fantastic coach - no doubt about it. My personal criteria for rating a coach is:
1. Are they prepared or are they surprised by different situations?
2. Do they play hard?
3. Is the coach getting the best out of his players?
4. How does the coach interact with the players and are they responsive?
5. Is there respect for the game showed by the coaches and the players?

While wins, losses, and titles certainly do matter, certain teams do not get the level of talent it takes to get there year in and year out. Hammond, for example is not a hot bed of talent - they usually get a good crop every so often, but not like some of the other schools. Some coaches get so much talent, it just seems like there biggest job is to just not to over coach. Coach Lerner's teams meet my criteria year in and year out. While he certainly lacks the longevity of Coach Kelly - I feel he has earned his way into the conversation. I certainly mean no disrespect to any of the other coaches mentioned by Larry or anyone else - they all do a fine job and for just about nothing!

I was fortunate to have Mike Lerner play on my summer team back in the early/mid 90's. I'm very proud to see how well he has done as a coach, and figure the best is yet ahead for him.

I agree you can't measure the quality of coaching by wins/losses. I've seen many a good coach not do well when he didn't have much talent to work with.

Rich Jenkins was another top notch coach. He had terrific talent back in the early 80's, and he won. The talent the last few years he coached was spotty, and it was reflected in Howard's record.

It is tough for the average fan to understand what it means to be a top notch coach in public high school. You need to be at practice, see the team from beginning to end of the season to see how the players progress...so many factors to consider.

Well said Larry. Rich Jenkins has been the Dean of Howard County baseball for many years and that title, in my eyes has been passed to Kevin Kelly. Don VanDeusen was about as good as I have ever seen in Howard County, although he has been retired for a few years.

I played my high school ball for Coach Van many, many, many years ago.

His son Brian played for me.