With little fanfare and minus a press release, word came out of Mason High School about the retirement of veteran head basketball coach Greg Richards last Friday. By the end of the day, Mason had the job posted.
On Saturday, the news was posted on Twitter. Not long after, Richards and his wife, b1977 Mason graduates, were parked on a beach in Florida.
The move was his call. He had contemplated retiring as coach a few times recently (he's been retired as a teacher) but a new crop of Comets would fuel the competitive fire and he'd return.
Even now, given the youth of last year's team, he thought he would see them through.
"But then I thought, 62 years old, I've been doing it 27 years, it's probably time for somebody else to take the reins," Richards said.
That Richards was a head coach in today's challenging times for 27 years at one school is amazing. That he leaves the Mason Arena at 399 career wins might be even more amazing given the fixation of sports fans on records.
Some even speculated he'd come back for a one-win victory lap before saddling up and riding into the sunset.
"It was never about wins," Richards said from the Gulf Coast this week. "I didn't get into this business for wins. It was more about the kids and teaching them life-long lessons like I was taught by other coaches through sports."
Leaving one win short
He notes that he usually played just 20 games per year when the OHSAA allows 22. A 400th win and likely more could have been secured there. However, he thought two nights per week was plenty and never wanted to have weeks late in the year where they were playing four nights per week due to snow make-ups.
That said, the Comets most recent season of 10-13 was just their fourth losing season since joining the Greater Miami Conference for the 2007-08 season. They were twice league champions (2015, 2016) and won a Division I district title in 2017. Prior to the GMC, Mason played in the old Fort Ancient Valley Conference.
Richards had hoped his assistant, Kyle Peters, would be next in line. But, Peters wasn't sure he was up to the time commitment given his family situation with his kids. He resigned July 15 as well.
"Believe me, he would have been a heck of a good coach," Richards said.
Who's on deck is anybody's guess.
"They've told me every year that they couldn't guarantee any assistant I had would be the next head coach," Richards said. "That's the business, I get it."
Richards had seven assistants go on to head coaching jobs: Scott Kerr (Clark Montessori, Purcell Marian, Colerain), Casey Popplewell (Monroe), Chris DeLotell (Anderson, Bethel-Tate), Andy Keimer (CHCA), Mike Arlinghaus (Waynesville), Rob Reis (Loveland) and current Mason girls coach Rob Matula. For good measure, you can throw in Mason head baseball coach Curt Bly who also spent some time on the Mason bench with Richards.
From country land to a suburban sprawl
Richards has seen the area grow from farmland and a AA school to its current status as the biggest public school in the state. He's old enough to have played pick-up basketball with 1974 grad Dan Pugh, who went on to become Dan Patrick on ESPN before getting his own syndicated show and guest spots in Adam Sandler movies.
On a recent visit, Richards gifted Patrick with a piece of the hardwood floor he used to play on prompting Patrick to reference it on his nationwide show.
It's a fond Mason memory for a guy that not only played and coached basketball at his alma mater but also in the football records as a quarterback and in the baseball records of the OHSAA.
In his senior season of '77, Richards won 15 games and had a microscopic 1.10 ERA. He went on briefly to Wilmington, then to Austin Peay. From there, he went pro going 15-12 in the Montreal Expos organization with a 3.51 ERA at minor league stops in Calgary, Gastonia and Jamestown.
His last baseball appearance was 1983. He then finished his schooling and took up teaching at coaching, first at Clinton-Massie, then for the hometown Comets.
Living the dream
"A lot of people can't say they were able to fulfill a lifelong job opportunity," Richards said. "When I came back to Mason, I was able to coach with people that coached me. Ken Gray was still the baseball coach and Gary Popplewell (basketball) hired me on as an assistant."
Still undecided on his future in early summer, Richards was making the rounds at his basketball camp in early June. Mason has multiple gyms in two different buildings, but he wanted to thank each and every camper from attending.
From those camps have come many future Comets.
"Most have come through our camps," Richards said. "We haven't had a lot of transfers in. We're also in a school district that feeds into Moeller and St. X. Sometimes it's hard to keep our kids at our own place."
Since stepping away last Friday, he's been overwhelmed by texts and emails from former players and friends. Some have asked him why stop when he's one win away from an exclusive club among Ohio coaches?
"I said, 'Look at it this way, I'm probably the only idiot that goes out with 399!' " Richards said with a chuckle.
Richards recently moved near the Grizzly Golf and Social Lodge near Kings Island. He's a few holes away, but still in Mason where he married his high school sweetheart and where all three of his children were Comets.
"I'm there forever," Richards said.
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