The GSBR Coaching Corner Summer Series welcomes a familiar face this week in Shore Conference veteran John Tierney.
Career Record: 85-125 as a head coach, 180-53 as an assistant coach
Schools Coached:Pinelands, Ranney and Mater Dei
Divisional\Sectional Titles Won:
Ranney
Divisional: 2017-2022
Sectional 2018 and 2019
State Championship 2019
TOC 2019
Mater Dei
Divisional: 2002,2003
What inspired you to get involved with coaching high school basketball?
I have always loved the game of basketball from the time I would watch my sister play in the late 80’s. When I got done with college I thought about all the people who helped influence me in sports and that I owed it to them to give back to the kids
What are the most rewarding and challenging aspects of being a high school basketball coach in 2024?
Rewarding has always been watching the kids grow in the sport but more importantly in life. The most challenging is Social Media as the athletes are always trying to live up to this fictional life that isnt true. Also the demands of the parents have be come much more intense.
What are a few of your favorite moments of your coaching career?
Winning the TOC and John Wall in North Carolina.
My first SCT championship and the defense we played.
When at Pinelands we were down 34-19 heading into the 4th and we hit a buzzer beater to beat Manchester who was the number 3 team in the shore at the time.
Beating Barnegat in Football for the first time in 15 years my first year being the head coach
First flag football win ever for the Pinelands GFF(girls flag football) team
Who were some of your key influences early in your coaching career that helped you develop, not only as an “X’s and O’s” strategist, but as a communicator and role model to young men?
Bobby Klatt(Former Mater Dei and current Wall HC) was a huge influence for me, I applied everything from him. Later on it was just about borrowing as much as you can from others and molding it to your team.
You’re assigned to construct NJ Basketball’s Mount Rushmore. Which Coaches are on it?
Bob Hurley
Keith Glass
Ed Wicelinski
Pops Richardson
What advice would you give to young men and women who are interested in becoming high school coaches?
You have two ears and one mouth for a reason,Listen twice as much as you ever want to talk. Never be the smartest person in the room and its never about the money.
As a former player in the Shore Conference at Mater Dei prior to playing college football at Towson, what were the emotions involved with a to return to Memorial Hall as you began your coaching career?
Memorial hall was always about the “kitchen”, “pressure”, seats on the stage and behind the basket. The emotions were always happy ones because of all the memories that place holds. Everytime you walk in you think about the upset of St. Anthony’s, all the great ones that came before you.
With the school now a part of memory lane, as many Catholic schools in the state have unfortunately become, we're trying to preserve those "Magical Moments" that are in everyone's minds from the "days gone by"--Favorite moments as both a player and coach at Mater Dei?
As a fan the win over St. Anthonys, double header sweep in both boys and girls. As a player just all the emotions the fans brought every night. As a coach going in with Ranney and beating the number 1 team in the shore in front of a packed house. The game was sold out at the start of the JV game!!!
You were an assistant coach during Ranney's memorable run and TOC victory, what were some of the brightest moments as a coach during that time, both on the floor and off the floor?
The entire John Wall tournament, the fans in North Carolina as very passionate about high school hoops. We played in front of 4500 people in all 3 games. Getting over the hump vs RC was huge at Brookedale and of course the TOC game. Never have I coached in a game with more emotional swings then that game. Also sitting on the bench down 4 with a minute left and Scottie just fouling out. I thought for a second the last 4 years was all for nothing.
Having been a part of the Ranney program during its highest point, how would you describe the task of the staff, not just yourself, but the collective of Coach Holden and Coach Sherman, whom we all miss dearly, along with yourself, to manage the scoring?
There were several very high profile scorers on the team in that period--How did the staff get everyone to buy in as a unit and how did the young men respond to the roles they were asked to fill?
Coach Tahj and Coach Sherman always preached TEAM, it was always more important for Ranney to win then individual stats. The other easy part was these guys loved each other so it was all about the US.
Coach Sherman did an amazing job coaching every little thing and holding them accountable for it. The athletes were so athletically gifted they didnt have to concentrate on the fundamentals all the time but he did such a great job teaching the little things that when we did need them the team was use to doing it.
With Coach Tahj he played on one of the deepest teams in the history of college basketball so he would go back to stories of how those guys competed all the time in everyway.
You recently stepped away from Ranney with focus on your football opportunities. Let's chat football, as you're also deeply involved as the head football coach and girls flag football coach at Pinelands.
I am going to miss Ranney and especially Coach Tahj very much but it was time for me to go back to school for my masters and also I felt i was cheating both programs sometimes because of overlapping events. Being a head football coach is a 24/7 job.
How have preparations for the 2024 football season gone thusfar for the team, weight room, 7v7, etc?
Football never stops! Right now we are four times a week in the weight room and on the field 3 days a week. We have 65 kids out there every day working hard. When we took the program over we were lucky to get 10-12 kids.
What are the expectations in the dressing room for the 2024 football season at Pinelands?
We want to compete again for a division title, Pinelands has never won an out right division title and only shared it once in 1987. So that is a huge goal, last year we played TR south for the division title and came up a little short. Everyone is working towards that.
You helped spearhead girls flag football at the Shore--Describe what that experience has been like and how building the girls flag program with Pinelands has offered expanded opportunities for young women at the school...
I love it for so many reasons, first I have 80 extra daughters now because of it, We have done so many amazing things with the Giants its like Im a 10 year old again. Also these girls are so talented. I'm just lucky to be the one to be able to coach it. Flag football will be a huge sport in the next 5 years both at the high school level and the college level
Image Credits: Coach Tierney Twitter