Back on the bench
- Updated: November 8, 2020
Schuessler Ware returns to coaching Monday night with Faith Christian; he’s one of three new boys basketball coaches in the county this year
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
1,722 days. 246 weeks. 56½ months.
As hard as it might be to believe because he has always been a part of the county basketball scene, that’s how long it has been since Schuessler Ware last coached a high school game.
But he’ll be back on the floor Monday night to begin Chapter Two as Faith Christian opens its 2020-21 season against Cornerstone.
“It’s kind of exciting,” Ware said Sunday. “Just looking forward to it and hope that everything will work out and go well. I don’t know exactly what we’re in for (against Cornerstone).
“I think I’ve covered the things that need to be covered. I’m hoping the players are where I want them to be.”
For 19 years Ware was the face of the Anniston High School basketball program. His last game before walking into retirement in 2016 was a 45-43 loss to top-ranked J.O. Johnson in the Class 5A Northeast Regional final at Jacksonville State.
He found things to do, but hadn’t been involved in basketball until Faith Christian headmaster Chip Jones reached out to gauge his interest in succeeding Justin Kisor, who was allowed to finish out the season after taking a teaching position at Pell City in December and eventually wound up as the volleyball coach at Fort Payne.
“I never thought I would get back into it with that time off,” Ware said. “I thought if I got back into it, it would have been earlier than now. Nobody ever asked me. It’s not that I was looking either, but I said if somebody did ask I would consider them, but I never did look and nobody asked. It’s like I always tell folks, you never know what a person has on their mind and wouldn’t mind doing again.”
The landscape now is certainly different than what he had when he took over from Brenard Howard as Anniston’s coach in 1997. At Anniston he played in Class 4A and 5A with athletic teams capable of winning area and state championships – he won 15 area crowns and two state titles and had 13 20-win seasons among his 422 victories there. At Faith, he’s playing in Class 1A with a team that has to learn how to play, learn how to win and learn how to work the Ware way.
Did we mention he was coaching both the girls and the boys, one of three coaches in Calhoun County overseeing both varsity teams at their school.
“We’ve been working hard; they ain’t used to work like that,” Ware said. “The ones I had in the past were willing to work. I’m trying to get them on the same page here now because they’re not used to working like the ones I worked with.
“If we work hard, we’ll be OK. I can assure you they are better than what they were. You have some high expectations. I guess I don’t just have the patience of Job. I like things to work out right away and I’m trying to get them to think like me.”
Ware isn’t the only basketball coach in the county getting back in the head coach’s chair this week.
Beau Winn takes over at Weaver. It’s his first head coaching post since 2015, the last of his two years at Wellborn. In between he served as an assistant at Ohatchee and Weaver, and was elevated to the Bearcats’ post after Marcus Herbert left to join former Jacksonville and Pleasant Valley coach Ryan Chambless’ staff at Rome (Ga.).
The Bearcats open their season Friday night against Ashville.
“There’s a lot of anticipation,” Winn said. “I think I’m more nervous than the kids are. It’s been a while, but you don’t forget the basics of what got us there. We didn’t win them all, but we were close and that’s what you hope for. “It’s just special because of the road it’s taken to get back here. It’s just special to get back. These kids are hungry. I don’t know who’s hungrier – me or them.”
Brad Hood makes his return to the Pleasant Valley boys bench next Monday at West End. Hood coached the Raiders for three seasons (2009-2012) and most recently has been the PV girls coach. The Raiders have had three coaches between Hood’s two stints. With the change, Colton Morris will take the girls team.
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