Copley High School boys basketball head coach Nate Moran resigns
Copley High School is seeking a boys basketball head coach for the second consecutive season.
Nate Moran resigned as head coach, effective immediately, according to a press release sent out Tuesday morning by Copley Athletics Director Andy Jalwan.
According to the release, Moran met with Copley players to tell them he was stepping down to accept a men's basketball assistant coaching position at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee. Moran, 27, had been coaching in college prior to accepting the Copley job.
"This was not something I was looking for," Moran said by telephone Tuesday. "I have been super happy at Copley. My wife's family is here. I have gotten to spend a ton of time with my family and I have gotten to spend a ton of time with my son. I absoultely love working at Copley. This was never a do I love Copley or not decision, because I do love Copley. This decision brought a lot of tears. The decision basically came to wanting to focus on basketball full time.
"When I got offered a position at Trevecca, I didn't put my name in with an application. The head coach Kevin Carroll called me and asked if I would be interested in the position. We walked through the opportunity for about a month. At first, it was really hard to fathom leaving. The more I went through it, this was an opportunity to be at a school in Nashville around my family and where I played high school basketball and college basketball in that area. It was a very unique opportunity, and Trevecca is in a conference with Ashland, Walsh, Malone and Ohio Dominican - a bunch of Ohio schools near where my wife's family lives. ... This was a tough decision."
Carroll was hired as Trevecca Nazarene's men's basketball coach on March 31.
Prior to coming to Copley, Moran spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Lee University in Tennessee after being a graduate assistant at Missouri Western State following his own playing career at Lipscomb.
“Throughout the interview process last year, Coach Moran spoke repeatedly regarding his desire to coach in Copley for years to come," Jalwan said in a statement. "He assured us he was comfortable leaving the collegiate coaching ranks behind and we were convinced that Copley had found a long-term fit for our boys basketball program. So, weare disappointed to accept Coach Moran’s resignation. Despite all of that, I believe this a great opportunity for someone to step into and the future is bright for our basketball program.”
Copley posted a 12-12 overall record this past season and went 9-5 in the Suburban League American Conference to finish tied for third. Revere won the SLAC title.
Moran replaced Mark Dente at Copley after the latter was removed as head coach last May. Dente was removed amidst what became more than 90 people being named in dozens of lawsuits accusing Dente of defrauding investors through his property flipping or wholesale real estate business.
Copley administrators will begin the search for a new head boys basketball coach immediately.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Nate Moran resigns as Copley High School boys basketball coach
