TIM COGAN FILE
13: Seasons as Fairmont head coach.
217-39: Overall record.
6: GWOC titles.
4: Regional titles.
1: State title.
Tim Cogan resigned as head coach of the championship Fairmont High School girls basketball team on Thursday and within hours was named the head boys varsity coach at Carroll.
That capped an eventful 24 hours for Fairmont athletics, which started when Hank Bias announced his resignation as the varsity boys coach on Wednesday.
Cogan, a 1987 Carroll grad, said the opportunity to coach his children was among the deciding factors to switch schools. Two of his four children will be enrolled at Carroll this fall.
“Timing is of the essence,” he said. “Coming home is great.”
The Carroll boys position opened last month when longtime Patriots basketball coach Dennis Wahle, also a Carroll grad, said he would not be retained. Cogan was among 32 applicants who inquired about the position.
First Fairmont, then Carroll released announcements a couple of hours apart on Thursday afternoon. Fairmont’s was about Cogan resigning and Carroll’s was about his accepting the Patriots position.
Cogan said he expects to remain a physical education teacher at Fairmont.
Cogan guided the Firebirds for 13 seasons and built the best Division I program in area girls basketball history. Fairmont advanced to the state final four each of the last four seasons and played in the state championship the last three years. The Firebirds (27-1) won their first state title just last month.
“I had a great run (at Fairmont),” he said.
Carroll’s boys have had just one winning season in the last five. However, its girls program is among the state’s best. Under coach Rob Berry, the Patriots girls were the D-II state runner-up in 2011.
“Coaching is a challenge,” Cogan said. “As a coach, we all love a challenge. I’m going to give it my everything and try to get this program on the map.”
Fairmont athletic director Chris Weaver was philosophical about the departures. He indicated that there is no quick-fill timetable to find new coaches.
“I’ve been doing this long enough to always expect the unexpected,” he said. “If you’re in this business long enough, you know that the opportunities come and go. Coaching is a very transient business anymore. … But yes, it was a shock.”
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