Greg Woodard looks back at long career

NEW CONCORD, Ohio – After a long coaching career that saw him reach the pinicale of high school sports, Greg Woodard is walking away from being a head coach.

Woodard announced last week at a school board meeting that he’d be stepping down as John Glenn’s head basketball coach. It’s a career that started when he was 23 at Crooksville High School. He coached four years there before taking over at his alma mater of John Glenn.

Woodard said that this just felt like that right time to step away.

“You pour your heart and soul into a program and you eventually run out of the gas and energy and passion. And that time has come for me,”

Woodard graduated from John Glenn in 1989. He spent 19 years as their head coach. During that time he won 319 games and nine Muskingum Valley League titles. Of course the crowing achievement of his career came in the 2015-’16 season when John Glenn went 28-1 and won the OHSAA DII state title.

Woodard admitted that reaching that milestone two years ago made stepping away a little easier.

“When you get into high school coaching, that is something every coach dreams of. Once you do that you feel like you’ve checked off that top prize in your mind,” said Woodard.

So what will he do with all the free time on his hands?

“My wife has a 20-something year long ‘honey do’ list for me,” said Woodard.