Tiger Boys Hoops Coach Doug Ogle Stepping Down
March 3, 2020 at 3:15 a.m.
Tiger Boys Hoops Coach Doug Ogle Stepping Down
By Mark Howe-
The Tigers open postseason play in the Class 4A Elkhart Central Sectional against Goshen at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Just before the meeting with his team, Ogle submitted a letter to Roger Grossman, who serves as the Warsaw Community High School sports information director as well as the sports director at News Now Warsaw, a reporting partner with the Times-Union. The letter was released and the news announced over social media once practice began.
“I let Mr. Akers (Troy, the WCHS principal) know earlier today that I have decided to retire from coaching effective at the end of this season,” the letter began.
“I have greatly enjoyed the many relationships I have had over the past thirty-five years with the players, managers, support staff, assistant coaches, athletic office staff, WCHS administration, media and, certainly Tiger Nation. I look forward to personally thanking many people in the next weeks and months for how much they have meant to me during my time as a coach.
“Coaching is hard, and it is not getting any easier. I do feel good about the successes of Tiger Basketball during my tenure ... both on the court and with what our team members have done moving forward in their lives.
“I have been competing hard for 35 years, and I look forward to a less stressful, less busy life. That said, I also look forward to competing with our players for one more stretch as we go up to Elkhart on Wednesday night to begin sectional play.
“Finally, my deepest thanks to (wife) Melissa, (daughters) Courtney, Cendall and Creigh for their constant love and support. The Lord blessed me with four strong and courageous women to encourage me along the way. I am eagerly anticipating the next chapter in my life with a full heart and my head held high.”
The Tiger head man will leave the Tiger Den with the second-most wins as a coach Warsaw history. Going to the sectional, Ogle has a career record of 273-140 in 18 years at the helm. Ogle’s predecessor and mentor, current Penn head coach Al Rhodes, leads with 405 wins in 22 seasons.
Before taking over from Rhodes, Ogle had great success coaching Tiger junior varsity teams, and had a winning streak that spanned multiple seasons. As head coach, Ogle has six sectional, two regional and a semistate title to his credit.
When he left in 2002, Rhodes’ plan was to retire (he changed his mind a season later) and he knew his protege’ was well-prepared for the head coaching job.
“Due to family responsibilities and Coach (Doug) Ogle being ready, I decided it was best at that time for him to take over,” Rhodes said in a Times-Union story published in a 2018 series on Warsaw’s coaching tree.
In the same story Ogle said “‘I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was, but I was probably as ready as you could be.”
The story said “Ogle didn’t try to fix what was already working. The only major difference was that Ogle primarily used one defense, as opposed to the multiple sets run by Rhodes. Ogle maintained many facets of Rhodes’ program, even keeping the names of the plays – like ‘Push Down’ and ‘Carolina’ – the same (terminology).”
Ogle said “Al was just very good offensively at getting the ball inside, and I like to think that’s one of the things that we are trying to do all the time.”
That respect carries on into Ogle’s retirement. Ogle has said on many occasions he’d rather not compete against friends and mentors, but it’s possible for Rhodes and Ogle to have one more game; both Warsaw and Penn would have to advance to the sectional title game in Warsaw Saturday.
Ogle’s successor will be just the third Tiger head coach since 1980.
The Tigers open postseason play in the Class 4A Elkhart Central Sectional against Goshen at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Just before the meeting with his team, Ogle submitted a letter to Roger Grossman, who serves as the Warsaw Community High School sports information director as well as the sports director at News Now Warsaw, a reporting partner with the Times-Union. The letter was released and the news announced over social media once practice began.
“I let Mr. Akers (Troy, the WCHS principal) know earlier today that I have decided to retire from coaching effective at the end of this season,” the letter began.
“I have greatly enjoyed the many relationships I have had over the past thirty-five years with the players, managers, support staff, assistant coaches, athletic office staff, WCHS administration, media and, certainly Tiger Nation. I look forward to personally thanking many people in the next weeks and months for how much they have meant to me during my time as a coach.
“Coaching is hard, and it is not getting any easier. I do feel good about the successes of Tiger Basketball during my tenure ... both on the court and with what our team members have done moving forward in their lives.
“I have been competing hard for 35 years, and I look forward to a less stressful, less busy life. That said, I also look forward to competing with our players for one more stretch as we go up to Elkhart on Wednesday night to begin sectional play.
“Finally, my deepest thanks to (wife) Melissa, (daughters) Courtney, Cendall and Creigh for their constant love and support. The Lord blessed me with four strong and courageous women to encourage me along the way. I am eagerly anticipating the next chapter in my life with a full heart and my head held high.”
The Tiger head man will leave the Tiger Den with the second-most wins as a coach Warsaw history. Going to the sectional, Ogle has a career record of 273-140 in 18 years at the helm. Ogle’s predecessor and mentor, current Penn head coach Al Rhodes, leads with 405 wins in 22 seasons.
Before taking over from Rhodes, Ogle had great success coaching Tiger junior varsity teams, and had a winning streak that spanned multiple seasons. As head coach, Ogle has six sectional, two regional and a semistate title to his credit.
When he left in 2002, Rhodes’ plan was to retire (he changed his mind a season later) and he knew his protege’ was well-prepared for the head coaching job.
“Due to family responsibilities and Coach (Doug) Ogle being ready, I decided it was best at that time for him to take over,” Rhodes said in a Times-Union story published in a 2018 series on Warsaw’s coaching tree.
In the same story Ogle said “‘I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was, but I was probably as ready as you could be.”
The story said “Ogle didn’t try to fix what was already working. The only major difference was that Ogle primarily used one defense, as opposed to the multiple sets run by Rhodes. Ogle maintained many facets of Rhodes’ program, even keeping the names of the plays – like ‘Push Down’ and ‘Carolina’ – the same (terminology).”
Ogle said “Al was just very good offensively at getting the ball inside, and I like to think that’s one of the things that we are trying to do all the time.”
That respect carries on into Ogle’s retirement. Ogle has said on many occasions he’d rather not compete against friends and mentors, but it’s possible for Rhodes and Ogle to have one more game; both Warsaw and Penn would have to advance to the sectional title game in Warsaw Saturday.
Ogle’s successor will be just the third Tiger head coach since 1980.
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