Pat Beard wants to bring Chillicothe鈥檚 boys basketball back to success
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — This season, the Chillicothe Cavaliers brought back a familiar face to coach its boys varsity basketball team. Pat Beard coached the Chillicothe girls varsity basketball team for 16 years. Beard left Chillicothe to become an assistant coach at Zane Trace.
The caught up with Beard about his new position as the Chillicothe boys varsity basketball head coach.
鈥淲hen Chillicothe first contacted me about the job, I was dead set on not taking it,鈥� Beard . 鈥淚 felt like I was at a good spot in Zane Trace, especially as the kids and I continued to build a good connection. But the more I thought about it, it just felt right to me return to the place where I got my first opportunity to start coaching.鈥�
Beard mentioned that he鈥檚 excited to tackle the Chillicothe Cavaliers and turn around a team that struggled last season.
鈥淚 have always wanted to be in a position to build a program,鈥� he . 鈥淭here are a lot of coaches who search out the best talent, and I have never wanted to be one of those coaches. Chillicothe, prior to last year, has had great success in basketball. They were just very young after losing so many seniors. I am just looking forward to getting more kids out to play basketball and have the community rally behind that.鈥�
The city of Chillicothe wants its boys and girls basketball programs to be as successful as they were in the past. Hiring Beard was an easy decision for the Cavaliers, and Chillicothe鈥檚 athletic director, Knute Bonner, expressed his excitement about Beard returning to the program.
鈥淲e鈥檙e incredibly excited to have Pat Beard back at Chillicothe High School,鈥� Bonner . 鈥淏etween his drive and experience, combined with the knowledge he has of the program, we鈥檙e sure that he is the best person for this position. Between his experience with not just the four years he had as our varsity girls basketball coach, but also the years he spent with our boys鈥� program as an assistant, I feel that he has both the feel for our program and the drive to get our program in a position to compete at the Division I level.鈥�
Chillicothe is eight games into Beard鈥檚 tenure as head coach and has an overall record of 4-4. The Cavaliers have a 2-2 record in the . Beard鈥檚 team is third in the conference, but they鈥檙e riding a three-game winning streak.
Beard knew it would be challenging to turn around a program that only won one game last season, but he鈥檚 moving in the right direction in his first year.
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