Teagle the same despite new digs

In the northeast corner of the gym, about 20 feet from his locker room door, stands the coach.
It’s the first half of the junior varsity game, and he’s chatting with some friends while keeping an eye on the players who will eventually make up his varsity roster. Soon, he’ll head into the locker room to review a whiteboard full of notes with his team as it prepares to take the floor.
At the end of warm ups, his players will gather in a bunch on the far side of the court, each slapping the floor as they complete a final defensive-stance drill.
It’s all so … familiar.
And yet, for the first time in nearly two decades, it’s different.
Craig Teagle is the same guy, the same coach. He follows the same patterns he did for 17 years at Jay County High School.
But now his players where red, white and black instead of red, white and blue. The fans in his home gym cheer for the Vikings, not the Patriots.
It’s been a change, for Jay County and its sectional rival 50 miles to the northwest.
But both have been able to make a successful transition so far. The Patriots are 14-4 and in the midst of a nine-game winning streak. And after a 10-13 season a year ago that included an 88-45 blowout loss to Homestead in the sectional, the Vikings are 13-7.
“It’s been a great challenge for me,” said Teagle following his team’s 62-44 defeat Wednesday to Class 4A No. 8 Carroll — just its third loss since Dec. 19. “We knew we were going to be pretty solid at Jay County for the next few years, and that’s the best time to leave — while I think the program is still running pretty well. Coach (Chris) Krieg took it over and he’ll do a great job.
“I needed something different. I think sometimes you get a little stale. … It’s an opportunity to grow as a coach and as a person. And it’s been great for me.”
It’s not the first coaching change for Teagle, who led programs and Knox and Caston before taking over at Jay County in 1998. But it’s different to start over after 17 years at the same place than it is to make a move after just a few.
The move was not something Teagle planned.
He had been approached with opportunities to coach at other places over the years. He was an especially hot commodity after leading the Patriots to the Class 3A state championship game in 2006, and the respect for him statewide was clear when he was selected to coach the Indiana All-Stars in 2012.
But he planned on retiring at Jay County. None of the opportunities presented made him think about leaving.
“In the pit of my stomach, I couldn’t do it. It just didn’t feel like the right thing,” he said. “This one, I didn’t have that. It was like, this is where I need to go. I need to be there. Maybe we can change the culture a little bit.”
It was the similarities to Jay County that drew Teagle’s attention.
The players are “tough, hard-nosed,” just like his Patriot teams over the years. The community loves basketball.
Watching the Vikings play late in his first season is a bit surreal.
They’re trying to play Craig Teagle basketball. It’s just not quite there yet.
The offensive sets don’t run quite as smoothly as they did with the Patriots, who curled, flared and back-cut like it was second nature. The defense doesn’t move as fluidly to the help side.
Huntington North has show flashes of what Teagle would like his team to be, especially during a 7-1 run Dec. 29 through Jan. 12 in which its only loss was 65-63 to a 16-4 South Bend Riley squad.
It’s a work in progress. Change always is.
“They’re just really nice kids, but they’ve played a different way for the last three years,” said Teagle. “And it’s not that it was the wrong way. It’s a different way.
“And it takes a while to change.”