Back on the bench (11/23/05)

The face of the coach at the end of the Patriot bench remains a familiar one, but there will be some changes with the Jay County boys basketball coaching staff this year.

Craig Teagle is heading into his eighth season leading the JCHS program, and when the Patriots take to the court for tonight’s season opener against the Elwood Panthers a former assistant will be helping him out.

“He had to hit the court running and he’s doing a pretty good job of getting into all of our stuff,” said Teagle of Ted Habegger, who is now assisting under his fourth different Patriot head coach. “There’s a lot of stuff, a lot of new information for him to learn and he’s doing a great job.”

Habegger is stepping in this season to help the JCHS staff after junior varsity coach Chris Krieg was forced to take a year off for health reasons.

Krieg had a major scare this summer. He was at home with his children on the morning of Aug. 10, just days before the start of the school year, when he suffered what was later diagnosed as a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA).

A TIA is a stroke which lasts only a few minutes and occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is briefly interrupted. Symptoms include numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body; confusion or difficulty in talking or understanding speech; trouble seeing in one or both eyes; and difficulty with walking, dizziness, or loss of balance and coordination.

Krieg’s son, Garrett, called 911, and he spent the next four days in the hospital. That was followed by a period of time at home when he was to “do nothing”, and then he was allowed to attempt to return to teaching at JCHS on a limited basis.

“I got through the half days very, very tired,” Krieg said. “Then I tried to do the full days. That didn’t work at all.”

So Krieg’s doctors told him he would need to take eight to 12 weeks off, the standard for those recovering from TIA. He would need rest, relaxation and no stress.

Those doctors orders meant he wouldn’t be back to work until mid-December, and basketball practice begins in mid-November with conditioning even before that.

After talking with Teagle and JCHS athletics director Phil Ford, the decision was made for Krieg to take a one-year leave of absence.

“For one, it wasn’t fair for the kids (for me) to not be there,” said Krieg. “And I don’t think it was fair for the corporation to pay me for not being there.

“It was a hard thing to do. (But) there’s a point in your life when your health is more important than anything. Without that, you don’t have a life. Living is much more important.”

Teagle, Krieg and Ford then thought about who might make a good replacement on a single-season basis. They came up with Habegger.

And, after thinking about it and discussing it with his wife, former JCHS athletics secretary Jeannie Habegger, he agreed to take the spot.

“He seems to be happy,” said Krieg, who played under Habegger during his previous stint as an assistant coach at Jay County. “I was at practice the other day and he’s the same old Mr. Habegger ... He’s just a little pit bull.”

“He’s very, very knowledgeable about the game of basketball. He understands the fundamentals of it as well as anybody. He’s been around the game, observes the game. He studies the game. People don’t realize, you may watch basketball all the time, but as coaches you study the game.

“He’s always been part of our program because he talks to us all the time. I think he misses it. We’re glad to have him back for a year. I’m glad he’s back,” Krieg said.

While Krieg has been the junior varsity coach with Teagle’s staff, Habegger will step into the varsity assistant role while regular varsity assistant Chuck Phillips will take over the JV team.

Habegger said his role will be the same as Phillip’s — taking care of substitutions, keeping track of time outs, and conferring with the players as they enter and exit the game to make sure they know what is happening in every situation.

Habegger said his role will also be to “make suggestions. I think that’s the job of a varsity assistant coach ... Coach Teagle can either think they’re good suggestions or they’ll go in one ear and out the other, and that’s fine with me. I’m just supposed to give him a viewpoint of what I see ... then he can evaluate and see what needs to be done.”

Habegger has plenty of coaching experience.

He started his basketball coaching career as a student assistant for one season under Keith Spahr at Huntington College (now Huntington University). After that he coached in the junior high program in Jay County in 1975 and became the freshman coach in 1976. He was a varsity assistant for four seasons.

Habegger is also one of just three men who have headed the baseball team in the 30-year history of JCHS. He compiled a 131-91 record in eight seasons, including a 26-6 mark in 1983 and a sectional title in 1987.

Habegger is also one of just three men who have headed the baseball team in the 30-year history of JCHS. He compiled a 131-91 record in eight seasons, including a 26-6 mark in 1983 and a sectional title in 1987.

He was also an assistant football coach for one season.

“I have a lot of respect for coach Teagle’s program and for coach Teagle and the way that they go about doing things,” Habegger said. “I saw this as an opportunity to help in a difficult situation. I was hoping that it would be a smooth transition. Coach Krieg was a player when I was coaching and I have the utmost respect for him and I thought it was the right thing to do.”

Teagle, whose teams have won 15 games in each of the last three seasons and sectional titles in 2003 and 2004, said Jay County is lucky to have someone like Habegger who was willing and capable to help.

“I think we’re very, very fortunate,” he said. “I can’t think of a better situation for us or for the players — to have someone that knowledgeable and someone so loyal to Jay County and Jay County basketball ... This is my eighth year, and I cannot hardly remember if there has been a game that Ted Habegger hasn’t been to, at home or on the road. He’s been a loyal fan and a supporter of what we’re doing. He’s the type of guy who fits right in, and the kids love him.”

As for Krieg, his players won’t be without him for the whole season.

He said he’s been exercising a lot in an effort to build his stamina, which remains his biggest obstacle.

He was lucky enough to come through the TIA with no permanent damage, and plans to return to the team on a limited basis if he is able to return to the classroom in mid-December as planned.

He’ll be seeing a neurologist today to make sure he’s making progress and those plans are still on track.

Krieg said he won’t be able to handle the late nights and the 15-plus-hour coaching days, but he wants to come back as a volunteer and help Phillips with his junior varsity squad.

“I’m very pleased with their progress,” he said. “We had a very exceptional summer. That’s probably what hurt the most, because all of our programs had a great summer. I was really looking forward to this year.”

He said the other most painful thing about not being able to participate in the season in his normal capacity is that he won’t be able to enjoy the time with his players every day.

“You don’t really get into education and not want to be around kids,” Krieg said. “In the winter time I tell them, ‘I spend more time around you guys than with my own kids.’ And that’s a true statement.

“I just wish the boys good luck. I’ll be there with them.”[[In-content Ad]]