Greg Barrett steps down at North Putnam

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

South Vermillion-bound after 8 years, 57 wins, state finals appearance

Greg Barrett wasn’t necessarily looking to leave North Putnam, considering he thinks the Cougars are primed for an excellent football season this fall.

Greg Barrett

But when South Vermillion approached him this winter about its vacant football position, the 43-year-old Barrett listened, liked what he heard and chose to make the move for many reasons – most family-related – taking over a Wildcat program that has had seven straight losing seasons.

The Cougars, meanwhile, have gone 16-7 over the past two years and return a strong crop of veterans including Banner Graphic Defensive Player of the Year Ethan Christy and quarterback Hayden Rudes.

So why make this move?

“I have daughters [in seventh and ninth grades] who go to school in Terre Haute, and this will allow me to get to more of their activities,” he said. “This was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

“It was a tough decision, but it was the right one,” said Barrett, who came to North Putnam in 2008 and has coached the football team every year since then – except for a one-year departure to coach at Indiana State in 2011. “I’m really appreciative of all the things North Putnam has done for my family and me. I have had a great experience here.”

Barrett compiled a 57-34 record in his eight seasons at North Putnam, highlighted by a state runner-up finish in 2010. Barrett lives in Terre Haute, an hour drive from North Putnam, and admits the shorter commute to South Vermillion from his eastside home (25 to 30 minutes) played a part in his decision.

Barrett said on Tuesday that he leaves home at 6:30 a.m. in the spring semester, and gets home at a decent hour. Once track season starts – he’s also the school’s boys’ track coach – his return time approaches that of the fall.

“It’s a lot different in the football season,” Barrett said. “I leave a lot earlier, and on nights when we have junior varsity or middle school games I can get home pretty late [about 10 or 11].”

One of the worst parts of such transitions for a coach is telling his players, and that task was no exception for Barrett.

“This is a great group of kids and parents,” he said. “We have good football support and good community support. They will have an extremely talented group of guys for the next several years, and it was a tough decision to leave that.”

Barrett took over in 2008 and went 10-1 in his first season at the school, following up that with a 9-3 mark in 2009 and then 14-1 in the state finals season. He departed after that season to join Indiana State’s program as an assistant coach.

Brian Crabtree coached the Cougars to an 11-1 record in Barrett’s absence, but when he departed after that season Barrett was eager to return.

He said the respect he has for North Putnam was exemplified in the school taking him back a year after he left.

“That was a big deal,” he said. “We had a great relationship, and I was very thankful they welcomed me back after I had left.”

Barrett had three straight losing seasons upon his return (3-7 in 2012, 1-9 in 2013 and 4-6 in 2014) before taking his 2015 team (with a 9-3 mark) to the sectional finals against eventual state champion Monrovia.

Last fall, the Cougars went 7-4 and lost to Monrovia again in the sectional semifinals.

Barrett is no stranger to South Vermillion’s situation, having attended school in Rockville – also a member of the Wabash River Conference – through seventh grade when his father (Hall of Famer Jay Barrett) was head coach of the Rox.

South Vermillion’s last two coaches have come from much larger programs at Indianapolis Pike and Marion, and Barrett knows the kinds of kids he will have and how to turn things around.

“It’s probably not a really enticing job to some people,” he said. “It’s a chance to go work with a good group of administrators over there that I know. I’ve always thought that would be a good community that can be successful. I’m very familiar with South Vermillion.”

Barrett is still formulating a plan on when and how often he will start making the trip to Clinton to conduct off-season workouts.

“I definitely want to get things going as quickly as I can,” he said. “There are a lot of things I have to get cleared up on both ends. It’s never an easy transition, especially when you’ve been somewhere for quite a bit.”

Barrett is still considering the extent of his role in the North Putnam track program this spring.

“I don’t want to leave these guys hanging out to dry,” he said. “I may not be the head coach, but I will be helping in some capacity. I need a couple more days to think on that.”

Barrett is excited for the new opportunity, and would hardly be the first coach ever to leave a solid situation with hopes of turning around a struggling program.

“If you’re a competitive person, I think you look at this as a challenge to turn something around,” he said “It’s in your blood, and you feel like you can do it. That’s how I am approaching that.”

North Putnam principal Jason Chew is appreciative of Barrett’s contributions and knows he’s going to be hard to replace.

“We are very fortunate to have had Greg as our coach for the last eight years,” Chew said. “He’s built a strong program and kept it going while he has been there.

“There have bene a lot of values that he has instilled in his student-athletes that you don’t see on the scoresheets – he taught a lot more than the Xs and Os of football,” he added. “Those qualities are ones we hope to also have in our next coach.”

Chew said the process and timeline of hiring a new coach began Tuesday, but the specifics are hindered by the fact that the school does not currently have an athletic director after the resignation of Tim Garver earlier this year.

“We have no doubt that our student-athletes will respond as they have under his direction, regardless of who the coach will be,” he said. “We feel very strong about the future of our football program because of the excellent student-athletes we have.”

Ideally, Chew would like to have an AD on board before the new coach is hired.

“We will work with the administrators to work on a timeline,” he said. “We would like to have an athletic director first who would obviously have a major role in that process.”

Barrett has filled a number of roles during his time at North Putnam. Chew noted that he was in charge of bus transportation at one point.

“He’s been successful wherever he has been placed,” he said. “This year, as an advanced physical conditioning teacher, he has pushed our student-athletes to be bigger, faster and stronger.”

South Vermillion has gone 13-58 over the past seven seasons under three different coaches, winning just one sectional game during that time.

Principal Mark Schimmel, a Terre Haute native, has known Barrett for many years and knew where his search was going to start when Will Porter resigned earlier this year.

“I had a couple of names in mind, but he was right there at the top,” Schimmel said. “I didn’t know if he would have any interest at all, but I thought I’d call him and find out.

“I knew one thing we had on our side was that it would be a little bit closer to home,” he added. “I know that community embraced him and he did a great job up there. I’m just excited that we have a chance to work with him now.”

Schimmel thought he knew Barrett well, but there were some aspects about him and his methodology that he did not fully realize.

“He’s very organized and very detailed,” Schimmel said. “I knew those things about him, but when we interviewed him I was just blown away by how detail-oriented he was about everything in the program.

“I’ve always known about his passion for the game of football, and helping young men,” he added. “That’s what we want here is to get someone in who can turn the program around and get it going in the right direction. We want to develop a good strong culture of character.”

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  • Thanks for the memories Coach-best of luck at S Vermillion.

    -- Posted by nphs92 on Wed, Feb 22, 2017, at 7:57 AM
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