After resigning as the boys baseball coach following his staggering 53rd season this past spring, it was unsure whether or not Jack Campbell would continue his tenure as the girls basketball coach. Despite this, Coach Campbell started the winter season the same as any other. However, halfway through the season, it seemed as though Campbell took more of a passenger seat approach in terms of coaching. After the Trojans’ hard-fought loss to Valparaiso in sectionals, Campbell announced his resignation as the coach of the girls basketball team.
Before taking over as head coach in 1988, he was assistant coach of the Trojans for 12 years. So, even though he was head coach for 36 years, he was actually coaching for 48 years. To put that into perspective, when Campbell started assistant coaching girls basketball, the NBA and ABA merged that fall, JoJo White led the Boston Celtics to an NBA championship, and Michael Jordan was just 13 years old. Over his almost half a century of service to the girls basketball program, Campbell racked up some outstanding numbers. Throughout his career, he won 455 games while head coaching the Trojans.
Not only did Campbell rack up wins over his career, but he made sure that all of the student-athletes that he coached were not only good athletes but good people.
“He understood the whole purpose behind what student-led athletics is about. It wasn’t just about the wins and losses, but it was more about the relationships that he fostered with those he coached. He helped them grow not only as athletes but individuals as a whole,” said Assistant Athletic Director Tommy Berry.
As a community, we can not thank Coach Campbell enough for his contributions to high school athletics, and we wish him well in his retirement. If you see him around town, make sure to give Coach Campbell a ‘thank you’ as a reminder of the impact that he had on our little town.
