WPIAL Coaches Corner – Jeff Ackermann

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, March 27, 2017 | 10:40 PM

In this feature titled “Coach’s Corner”, I will be interviewing a different coach every week and asking them questions about their personal life and about coaching. Hopefully their answers will not only shed some light on how they coach their respective teams, but also allow readers to get to know the men behind the fields/courts.

This week highlights Jeff Ackermann, in his 3^rd year as head coach of Pine Richland boys basketball. He has won back to back titles with the Rams the past two years, which are the first boys basketball WPIAL titles in P-R history and guided the Rams to the PIAA Class 6-A Finals where they lost to Reading this past Weekend in Hershey . He also coached for 13 years at Moon, and won 3 WPIAL championships in a row during his tenure with the Tigers. Let’s take a look inside Coach Ackermann’s corner:

1.       What are some of your pet peeves?

I don’t think I have any pet peeves that I can think of.

2.       What was your favorite TV show growing up?

Definitely Cheers. I remember it was on Thursday nights.

3.       Who was your favorite sports player growing up and why?

I loved Michael Jordan because he is the greatest. When I was really young I loved jack lambert.

4.       What is your favorite movie?

Wedding Crashers

5.       What are some of your hobbies in the offseason?

In the offseason, I try to spend as much time as I can with my family. I miss out on that during the season.

6.       If you were not a basketball coach, what do you think you would be?

If I didn’t coach basketball I would still do something with sports. I have loved sports since I was a little boy.

7.       What is the most important thing you try to preach to your players every year?

I try to preach to my teams how important it is for everyone to accept their roles on this team. I also try to let them understand how important it is to share the basketball on offense.

8.       You have back to back titles with Pine Richland, and also won 3 titles in a row from 2004-2006 with Moon. Describe the feeling as a coach of repeating that success multiple times.

Being able to win back to back was special to me because of our players. Each year is different and has different challenges. I just get happy for the kids.

9.       What is your proudest moment as a high school basketball coach?

My proudest moment would be that I could share these past 2 championships with my family. My son is getting older and he understands a little more now. My family is so supportive of me.

10.   What did it mean to bring Pine Richland their first ever boys basketball title two years ago?

To bring a WPIAL championship to PR for the first time was special. The kids and the community have been amazing. The kids put in so much work to get to this level. 

11.   What was your most embarrassing moment as a high school basketball coach?

Being told by Moon they were opening up the job.

12.   What is it like to coach a top player like Andrew Petcash?

Andrew is a very special player. He is highly skilled and he has worked extra hard to get to this level.

13.   How did you decide you wanted to coach basketball?

I started to coach basketball when I was in college because Sam Kosanovich gave me a chance to be his JV coach at South Park. He took a chance on me and I am forever thankful to him.

14.   Who are some of the best players you have ever coached against?

2 best players that I have coached against are Dejuan Blair. He was so athletic and he was just a beast. TJ McConnell was also amazing. He was so good on defense. He could score but his defense was the best I’ve seen.

15.   How important has your family been throughout your coaching career?

My family and friends means everything to me.  They are all so supportive and it means a lot. Really, at the end of the day, I’m just a kid that grew up in Brentwood loving and playing the game of basketball every day. All my friends loved basketball back when I grew up.