Changing of the guard: Area boys soccer teams will have new coaches
The coaching carousel spun wild for Bloomington-area high school boys soccer programs this offseason.
Two longtime head coaches — Bloomington South's Kevin Sparks and Bloomington North's Hsiung Marler — stepped down after the 2021 season. And then, in January, North hired Edgewood's Gonzalo Sanchez to take over the Cougars. That created an opening for the Mustangs.
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Those roles have since been filled. South promoted assistant coach Corbin Calvert to the head coach job, while Edgewood tabbed 2017 alum Elijah Coatney as its new leader.
Panther pressure
Calvert knows there are high expectations for Bloomington South athletic programs. That's particularly the case for boys soccer, in which the Panthers have captured nine sectional titles in 10 years.
Calvert is nervous to take the reins of the program from Sparks. But he's excited.
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"It's a good nervous," Calvert said. "I'm not changing anything. I'm doing the same stuff I've always done. But it is exciting, and I'm excited for the season and for this group of guys."
Calvert was Sparks' assistant at South, and the pair worked together at Cutters. This is his first head coaching position at the high school level, but he's led some teams with Cutters.
Given the success Sparks had — the longest-tenured and winningest coach in program history — Calvert just wants to keep things rolling. He knows he's inheriting a winning program.
"Sparks just did an amazing job of laying down the concrete for us and he had a very successful run here, the best that any head coach has ever had. He taught me everything," Calvert said. "I don't want to change any of that because we've had so much success. But I'm just adding my own flavor to it."
That flavor has the potential to produce some captivating soccer this fall. While Sparks typically set up more defensively, Calvert is planning to roll out a high-powered offensive system. He likes to play a 3-5-2, with wings that can get up the field and join the attack.
Sparks did have some highly productive offenses at times at South, but Calvert's formation will be more intentionally attack-minded than his predecessor's.
"I always liked a high-powered offense and lots of possession," Calver said. "It's not new, but it will be a little different from what we've been playing lately."
Calvert doesn't want to look too far ahead, wanting the players to focus on one game at a time. Long term, though, he knows it won't be easy to keep the sectional run going now that Center Grove is in South's sectional. But he's thinking big picture already, about what it would take to pull it out against the Trojans or any other tough opponent in a sectional or even a regional. And he wants to win another Conference Indiana championship.
Personally, Calvert wants to establish himself among the top coaches at Bloomington South. He sees how coaches like J.R. Holmes, Mo Moriarity, and Larry Williams are revered in the area, and is hoping to put himself in that conversation someday.
He said it will take consistency to get there.
"I like to say to the guys, 'We don't rebuild, we just reload.' So every year it's just a new group coming in and we keep it consistent and keep progressing, and then whatever happens," Calvert said. "I think just to develop that consistency is what leads to success."
Mustangs go with a young coach
Nearly five years after graduating from Edgewood as a student, Coatney is back. He'll take over the Mustangs program he played for from 2013 to 2016.
He's young for a head coach, not far removed from graduating from the University of Southern Indiana. And he knows that inexperience will present some challenges.
But he doesn't think his youth will be a hindrance to building a strong program.
"I know there's a lot of weight on my shoulders as head coach at this level. I'm confident in myself and my coaching abilities," Coatney said. "I want to get (Edgewood) back to what it was like when I was playing: always competitive, always winning, a good team mentality, making friends, and having fun. That's our goal."
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Coatney grew up playing for Cutters before he played at Edgewood. He got into coaching through Cutters, and he also did some assistant coaching at Edgewood under Gonzalo Sanchez.
After Sanchez left to fill the vacancy at Bloomington North, Edgewood athletic director Mick Hammett called Coatney. Someone had passed along his name as a possible coaching candidate, and Hammett asked if Coatney wanted to interview for the job.
After the interview, Coatney realized he was the only candidate the Mustangs brought in. He got the job.
Early on, he's not as focused on results. Coatney will be happier if his team wins than he will if they lose, but he's more interested in implementing his tactics. He wants to see the Mustangs play the game his way.
"I'm just happy when we play soccer the right way — the way I'm telling them to play — because if they play the way I'm telling them to play, results are going to go in our favor," Coatney said. "It's just trying to get them to understand that I want them to play a certain way because it'll give us the results down the road."
Coatney's preferred style is more defensive, as he was a more defensive-minded player himself. He plans to set up defensively with a team that can strike quickly on the counterattack.
He's spent the few months he's had the job starting to get to know his players, though he still has more to learn as the season approaches. The Mustangs' roster will be younger this year. But he likes what he has.
"It's a really strong team of guys that want to be out there," Coatney said. "They want to do the work. They want to win. I have all the confidence in my guys."
Follow Herald-Times sports reporter Seth Tow on Twitter @SethTow, or email him at stow@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Changing of the guard: Area boys soccer teams will have new coaches
