Gregg Schaffer steps down at St. Joe
As reported by the Herald Palladium on Wednesday morning, St. Joseph Boys Basketball Coach Gregg Schaffer resigned as the Bears head coach. Schaffer joins Cassopolis' Josh Hood and Coloma's Brent Nate as coaching casualties so far this season.
Schaffer's reason for stepping down was he wanted to spend time with his family. His two sons are around school age now and it's understandable to be there when your kids come home from school and watch them grow up, something that he really hasn't been able to do much serving as the Bears head coach.
Let's face it, being a head coach is a year round job, even though the seasons on the court are from December to March. But you deal with summer camps, skill camps, team camps, summer leagues, not to mention daily practices, games, tournaments. It does tend to become a bit of a grind. Schaffer spent 11 years at St. Joe after spending 8 years at Otsego. Not to mention he is the son of the Legendary River Valley Coach Jerry Schaffer.
The Schaffer family is synonymous with basketball in Southwest Michigan, their legacy around the area is for fundamentally strong and defensive intensive basketball. They work the passing game on the offense looking for the open shot, as well as a high free throw percentage.
The Schaffer legacy hasn't really brought the type of success that Bears fans have desired, the Bears have won three district titles in Schaffer's 11 years, but those three came in the last 5 years and in none of those district title years did the Bears advance past the next game, losing in the Regional semifinals in each of those seasons. The last Regional took place on the Bears home floor at the Bear Den at St. Joe High School.
When you want to rank the coaches in the history of the Bears program, Ray Haack is still probably the standard when it comes to the Bears. He won 2 of the Bears 8 state championships. I can't say if Schaffer is in the top 5, but he's in the top 10 easily.
So the search for the next Bears head coach will begin. The Bears spot should draw a lot of attention, a very attractive program in a talented heavy league. St. Joe Athletic Director Kevin Guzzo just got done with finding a new Head Volleyball Coach, now he has to fill another coaching vacancy.
Schaffer will remain at the high school as a teacher.
