Hall of Fame coach Jack Edison to be honored at PHS

PLYMOUTH — Saturday night, Plymouth High School will honor one of its Hall of Fame coaches as Jack Edison will be recognized before the Pilgrims game with Maconaquah at Plymouth High School.
Like most success stories, Edison’s was one that just as easily might not have happened.
“The last thing I wanted to do was be a teacher,” said Edison of his career choice. “I didn’t like getting in front of people and speaking. Teaching was way back on the order of things that I was considering. I was thinking of business or something along those lines.”
It was the influence in high school at Greene Township of two other Hall of Fame coaches that changed his mind.
“I felt like I wanted to be around sports again,” said Edison. “Coaching was the reason that I got into teaching. I was blessed with coaches in high school — Coach (Jim) Reinbold in baseball and Coach (Dave) Hadaway in basketball — they meant so much to me. They were heroes to me.”
“I only had one job. I had a chance for the junior high in Plymouth and another junior high in South Bend, and I took the one in Plymouth,” he said. “I coached freshman basketball for three or four years and then moved up to JV. My high school coaches had an influence on me, but I had two coaches ahead of me (at Plymouth), Steve Yoder and Bill Nixon, and I was as green as I could be. I was absorbing everything, and to have that kind of foundation the first three or four years was something that I don’t think a lot of young coaches are blessed with.”
Ending up as head coach at Plymouth was just as much of a twist of fate. Yoder had departed to coach in college, and Edison was asked if he would like to be his successor.
“I said I don’t know,” said Edison. “I went home and talked with (wife) Judy for a couple of days, I just thought if I don’t do it now, I might never be a head coach. I was enjoying what I was doing. I think I could have been fine being an assistant coach, a JV coach, or something like that. I had no desire to be a head coach. I thought maybe a couple of years. Try it a few years, and if it doesn’t work out, they fire me, or I quit, and maybe I get back to being an assistant, and here I am 59 years later.”
Like most great coaches, Edison gives credit for his success to another factor.
“I was just blessed with people,” he said. “Blessed with quality people. We had some Division I players, but we had Division I people. So many who had the heart of a champion. And that’s what makes a coach. If you have those kind of people.”
Winning is always fun, but the thing that has kept Edison at it since 1970 is something any athlete can understand.
“The thing I like the most is the preparation part,” said Edison. “The thing a person would miss is going into that locker room after practice or games, and you have that camaraderie. It’s something you can’t have if you are on the outside. You get a one-ness with the guys around you. You won’t have that same feeling like you are in that war together. That’s a neat feeling. As a coach, it’s a little different, but you are still in there with them.”
After retiring at Plymouth nearly 20 years ago, Edison was fine with living the normal retired life, but one thing kept him in the game.
“I will confess it was 100 percent because of (son and LaVille High School head coach) Michael,” said Edison. “He was an assistant of mine for a number of years, and that was enjoyable, and it just sort of evolved. If Michael got out, I would probably be out in the garden.”
Having a chance to watch Michael have the success he’s had is also a big part of it.
“He has such a good understanding of that part of the game that it’s a game of habits,” said Edison. “After a game, he’ll come back to practice with a drill to address any deficiencies we’ve had. He has a way about him; he’s kind of a magnet. He’s hard on the kids, but they know he loves them. He’s got a knack of connecting with young people.”
Another benefit: Edison now gets to watch son Michael carry on the family tradition, coaching his son Lance, a sophomore at LaVille.
“When you’re coaching, you spend so much time away from family, when you’re scouting, and practice and games and trips and coming and going,” said Edison. “It’s extra special to be around him. To be around him and his son now, you just couldn’t ask for more as a grandparent.”