Valley's New Coach A Familiar Face
November 17, 2017 at 3:47 p.m.
Valley's New Coach A Familiar Face
By Dale [email protected]
The next victory, however, will go in the books attached to his name.
Patrick, a 1990 Whitko High School graduate, will make his head coaching debut Wednesday when the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings host county rival Warsaw.
Patrick spent nearly a quarter of a century, including the past 19 seasons at Valley, on the bench with his dad, Hall of Famer Bill Patrick, and believes he’s prepared for the job.
“I didn’t want him to get out, but, yes, I’ve been ready for my chance for a while,” said Patrick. “My jobs before, I wouldn’t have been able to do this, but the one I have now is perfect for this, and it’s been great.
“I’m very ready for this. I’m excited, and I’ve been going crazy the last several months ... even helping with the football team and being around the kids, it’s just fun to be here at the school and actually get to do it now.”
As a two-year starter for his dad, the younger Patrick helped lead Whitko to a 41-8 overall record and a 12-2 mark in the Three Rivers Conference.
In his junior season, Whitko was 20-4 and lost in overtime to Fort Wayne Concordia in the regional final.
In his senior campaign, the Wildcats went 21-4 and lost to undefeated Concord in the semistate championship game.
Over the past 19 years as an assistant coach at Valley, Patrick was his dad’s right-hand man while the Vikings won 274 games, 13 conference titles, five sectional championships and the only regional crown in program history.
Bill Patrick stepped down as a head coach after 48 seasons – the first 29 in the Whitko corporation – and 765 wins, second-most among boys coaches in state history.
The elder Patrick will now serve as an assistant coach for his son.
“As a father and son, you agree on a lot of things and you disagree on a lot of things. Now it’s my opportunity to do some things that I didn’t want to push on him, or that maybe he didn’t want to do,” Patrick said of the reversal of roles.
“It’s been fun. Dad has always been the teaching coach, and I’ve just been more go, go, go. Practices are more energetic, there’s six or seven coaches here. It’s just been a whole different atmosphere. It’s been fun, and I think the guys like it so far. We’ll just have to wait and see how that transfers over into games.”
Another varsity assistant is 2003 Valley graduate Trey Eaton, the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,682 points.
BJ Walls will coach the JV?team, while Matt Tolson is the C-team coach.
The Vikings were 10-14 overall and 4-5 in the TRC last season.
Of the 52 points per game Valley averaged last year, only 10 were scored by players on the current roster.
Valley has just one senior this season – Dakota Parker.
Others on the roster include juniors Wes Melanson, Jalen Shepherd, Parkur Dalrymple, Alex Morrison, Cameron Parker and Dwight Conley; and sophomores Tanner Trippiedi, Jaydin Conley, Jace Potter, Jalen Potter and Bryce Fisher.
At 6-foot-3, Shepherd is Valley’s tallest player. There are only three others that are 6-2.
“We’ll work hard, and we’ll compete,” said Patrick. We’re very young, very small, but we’ll definitely show up to play.
“We have nine, 10, 11, 12 kids we can play and not really drop off or pick up much. I will probably sub a lot, but the kids will go as hard as they can as long as they can. They know if they go hard and need a break they can go back in as soon as they’re ready.
“We’ve had a very open and honest relationship, as far as the kids and I. We’re very upfront with each other. They’ve bought into everything I’m selling them, but it’s new, so we’ll see what happens.”
After Wednesday’s opener with Warsaw, Valley will play road games against Argos (Nov. 28), Knox (Dec. 1) and Class 1A No. 10 Oregon-Davis (Dec. 5).
The Vikings open TRC play Dec. 12 when they host Peru.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say we’ll be young and no good, or that we’ll struggle to win four or five games. I’d be happy to win half our games. I think that’s an achievable goal,” said Patrick.
“We have a very tough schedule. We picked up NorthWood, we’ve got Warsaw, LaVille, Manchester, Southwood ... there’s some loaded teams in the TRC. Rochester is gonna be good.
“We have some tough competition, but I want to test them all year and be ready for the tournament. I want to win the sectional. I want to do good in the tournament, that’s what I want.”
The next victory, however, will go in the books attached to his name.
Patrick, a 1990 Whitko High School graduate, will make his head coaching debut Wednesday when the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings host county rival Warsaw.
Patrick spent nearly a quarter of a century, including the past 19 seasons at Valley, on the bench with his dad, Hall of Famer Bill Patrick, and believes he’s prepared for the job.
“I didn’t want him to get out, but, yes, I’ve been ready for my chance for a while,” said Patrick. “My jobs before, I wouldn’t have been able to do this, but the one I have now is perfect for this, and it’s been great.
“I’m very ready for this. I’m excited, and I’ve been going crazy the last several months ... even helping with the football team and being around the kids, it’s just fun to be here at the school and actually get to do it now.”
As a two-year starter for his dad, the younger Patrick helped lead Whitko to a 41-8 overall record and a 12-2 mark in the Three Rivers Conference.
In his junior season, Whitko was 20-4 and lost in overtime to Fort Wayne Concordia in the regional final.
In his senior campaign, the Wildcats went 21-4 and lost to undefeated Concord in the semistate championship game.
Over the past 19 years as an assistant coach at Valley, Patrick was his dad’s right-hand man while the Vikings won 274 games, 13 conference titles, five sectional championships and the only regional crown in program history.
Bill Patrick stepped down as a head coach after 48 seasons – the first 29 in the Whitko corporation – and 765 wins, second-most among boys coaches in state history.
The elder Patrick will now serve as an assistant coach for his son.
“As a father and son, you agree on a lot of things and you disagree on a lot of things. Now it’s my opportunity to do some things that I didn’t want to push on him, or that maybe he didn’t want to do,” Patrick said of the reversal of roles.
“It’s been fun. Dad has always been the teaching coach, and I’ve just been more go, go, go. Practices are more energetic, there’s six or seven coaches here. It’s just been a whole different atmosphere. It’s been fun, and I think the guys like it so far. We’ll just have to wait and see how that transfers over into games.”
Another varsity assistant is 2003 Valley graduate Trey Eaton, the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,682 points.
BJ Walls will coach the JV?team, while Matt Tolson is the C-team coach.
The Vikings were 10-14 overall and 4-5 in the TRC last season.
Of the 52 points per game Valley averaged last year, only 10 were scored by players on the current roster.
Valley has just one senior this season – Dakota Parker.
Others on the roster include juniors Wes Melanson, Jalen Shepherd, Parkur Dalrymple, Alex Morrison, Cameron Parker and Dwight Conley; and sophomores Tanner Trippiedi, Jaydin Conley, Jace Potter, Jalen Potter and Bryce Fisher.
At 6-foot-3, Shepherd is Valley’s tallest player. There are only three others that are 6-2.
“We’ll work hard, and we’ll compete,” said Patrick. We’re very young, very small, but we’ll definitely show up to play.
“We have nine, 10, 11, 12 kids we can play and not really drop off or pick up much. I will probably sub a lot, but the kids will go as hard as they can as long as they can. They know if they go hard and need a break they can go back in as soon as they’re ready.
“We’ve had a very open and honest relationship, as far as the kids and I. We’re very upfront with each other. They’ve bought into everything I’m selling them, but it’s new, so we’ll see what happens.”
After Wednesday’s opener with Warsaw, Valley will play road games against Argos (Nov. 28), Knox (Dec. 1) and Class 1A No. 10 Oregon-Davis (Dec. 5).
The Vikings open TRC play Dec. 12 when they host Peru.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say we’ll be young and no good, or that we’ll struggle to win four or five games. I’d be happy to win half our games. I think that’s an achievable goal,” said Patrick.
“We have a very tough schedule. We picked up NorthWood, we’ve got Warsaw, LaVille, Manchester, Southwood ... there’s some loaded teams in the TRC. Rochester is gonna be good.
“We have some tough competition, but I want to test them all year and be ready for the tournament. I want to win the sectional. I want to do good in the tournament, that’s what I want.”
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