By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC – Pending board approval on Monday, Dowagiac Union High School has announced that Bryan Henry will be the new varsity baseball coach.
Henry, who coached the Dowagiac junior varsity baseball team the past six seasons, replaces Andy Kruger, who resigned at the end of the season back in June.
Henry is a 1992 graduate of Dowagiac Union High School. Henry spent two and a half years at Grand Valley State University, a year at Lake Michigan College and finished up his education at Western Michigan University.
Henry played baseball at both Grand Valley and Lake Michigan College.
He has been a teacher in the Dowagiac Union School District for nine years.
He was an assistant varsity baseball coach under Pat Lyle for two years, including Dowagiac's district title team in 2001.
Henry has also coached freshmen and junior varsity boys' basketball at Dowagiac.
Henry became the junior varsity coach in 2002.
"Baseball is definitely a metaphor for life," Henry said of his coaching philosophy. "The main focus for coaching any sport is to teach and develop life skills for each and every member of the team. A baseball coach's success shouldn't be measured by wins and losses, but should relate to how successful a player's life ends up.
"Does this ex-player further his education at a college institution? Were the right skills implemented into practices to give individuals excellent opportunities to be successful and raise caring and close-knit families?" he added.
Henry said that success comes from hard work and that it won't happen overnight.
"Program-wide, it will be understood that successful baseball programs concentrate on the little things," he said. "Working game speed on fundamentals the proper way will result into success in the future. There are no short cuts in life. Baseball in Dowagiac will be a major commitment. This goes for players and coaches who want to be a part of something special."
Henry knows that he has a chance to build on a great tradition. The past three coaches (Dean Hagen, Lyle and Kruger) had tremendous success and won championships.
"I understand I have some big shoes to fill, but I'm extremely excited about what I consider my dream coaching job opportunity," he said. "I'm a Dowagiac guy who bleeds orange and black and am looking forward to the challenge.
Henry has a wife, Shelly, and a four and a half-month-old daughter, Haley.