Josh Laatsch leaving Arnold for 'indescribable' opportunity to coach college basketball with his brother

For the Laatsch family, coaching is essentially the family business. The son of a coach, Josh Laatsch knew even when he was playing college basketball at West Florida that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, long-time high school coach Chris Laatsch, into the coaching profession.

He wasn't the only Laatsch to do so, with his brother Jason spending the past five seasons as a college basketball assistant, while sisters Mary Elizabeth (University of Alabama-Huntsville) and Allison (Birmingham Southern) coaching college basketball and volleyball, respectively.

Jason Laatsch was recently hired as the top assistant at Division-II Lee University by head coach Bubba Smith. He'll soon be joined by his kid brother and former West Florida teammate Josh, who announced on Wednesday that he was leaving Arnold High School to take a job on the Lee staff.

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Josh has spent the past three seasons as Arnold's head coach after one year as an assistant at Mosley. He also coached girls golf for Arnold. He said his decision to leave the Marlins for Lee had little to do with Arnold and everything to do with the opportunity that was presented to him.

"Obviously I wasn't looking to leave. Arnold has been a really good place for me," Josh Laatsch said. "The chance to coach at Lee with my brother, it intrigued me. I felt at peace about taking it. It's a chance for me to grow my career professionally and getting to work under a coach like Bubba Smith is phenomenal. He's a great coach and a great person.

"The other part obviously is getting the chance to coach college basketball with my brother. It's been a dream of ours just like being able to play college basketball together was a dream. We both knew we would (get into coaching after playing). It's in the genes. It's a family thing, I guess. We always thought it would be really cool to coach together. To get to do it now, it's really indescribable. I can't really put it into words."

Not all of the Laatsches have finished their playing careers, as younger brother Austin recently transferred to Montevallo for his final year of eligibility after spending the past three at Delta State.

Like Lee, Montevallo is in the Gulf South Conference, which means that Josh and Jason will have to coach against their little brother. Josh said he's not sure how he'll feel when he has to face off with Austin. The good thing, however, is he and Jason won't have to work too hard on a scouting report.

"The positive is I know all of his tendencies," Josh said. "From an emotional standpoint, I don't know. It's a unique experience I can't really put into words. Obviously we're all competitors and we all want to win, so it's a pretty cool thing. But to coach against him twice a year or maybe three times, it's pretty crazy, but we'll see what happens."

Josh told his Arnold players on Monday night of his decision to move on, which he described as "the hardest thing I've ever done in my life."

"It's a tough move with leaving my kids," he said. "It's really tough. The thing that makes Arnold so special to me is the students there and how great they are. They gave me everything they had and worked tirelessly to get better. I'll miss those relationships we built the last three years. It was a really cool place to start my career.

"With the leadership they have there with (principal Britt Smith and athletic director Rick Green), I know they'll be in good shape with whatever direction they decide to go. This was just a great opportunity for me to grow as a basketball coach and I'm looking forward to the challenge."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Arnold basketball coach Josh Laatsch leaving for college assistant job