BREAKING NEWS: Coach Schuckman decided over Christmas to step away from ‘grind’

Assistants Nance, Trail talk about their interest in the job

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Coach Alan Schuckman explained his decision to retire from football and what comes next for him to Flyer reporter Suzanne Howey:

FLYER: When did you decide to step down?

SCHUCKMAN: “It’s been ongoing for the last year. Coaching is a grind and a big commitment, especially here at Bishop Carroll with just our high expectations. Over Christmas break, my wife and I had a lot of conversations and I felt like this was a good time to step away and watch the program continue without me.”

FLYER: What do you think you’ll be doing after this?

SCHUCKMAN: “Oh, I have no idea. You know, I’m still here as an administrator at this point, and we’ll see where the Good Lord leads me. We’ve got a great school, a great community here, so giving up coaching is one thing, giving up Bishop Carroll is gonna be another decision. That one will be real tough.”

Reporter Jadin Kaltenbach asked longtime defensive coordinator Jim Nance about his interest in the job:

NANCE: “I don’t know. I don’t want this program to be handed over to someone that’s not in the family.  Alan and I have done this 22 years together, so has Coach Trail. We worked too hard to get this program where it’s at to let some outsider come in and change it all. If it comes down to that, yeah, I’d be interested in the job. I don’t know — it’s a lot of responsibility. It takes you away from your family a lot. I don’t know if it’s the ideal thing I’d want to do, especially following Coach Schuckman. Who wants to follow Coach Schuckman? The next head coach is gonna have a lot of pressure on them to perform at a high level. I don’t know if I want all that pressure or not. Having said that, I don’t want to turn his program over to anybody (outside BC).”

Coach Dusty Trail, also a longtime assistant under Schuckman, spoke to reporter Maddie Beck about the fact that program will stay strong because of “the kids” along with his possible interest in the job:

TRAIL: “I think there are a few of us on the staff who might be interested in continuing the program. Obviously, there are a lot of factors in that decision. How it’s going to affect you personally, how it’s going to affect your family, the type of people you are going to bring in — because not only did we lose Coach Schuckman, who obviously ended an era, but we lost another longtime member of the coaching staff as well, in Coach Bye. So as far as the future of the program goes, those are obviously two huge holes that have been around for a long time that will be tough to fill.”