As I often did in a previous life and in a previous journalism job, I would find myself on an early August afternoon in the Bridgeport High School football field house at Wayne Jamison Field talking with the coaches. Often, or rather in most cases, the discussion involved the standard questions on numbers and what to expect and the latest in insults everyone was hurling at one another.

 

One year, in the early 2000s as my memory escapes me, I sat at the old beat up metal desk used by former Coach Bruce Carey and talked to him about the latest addition to his coaching staff. Josh Nicewarner was just a few years removed from helping lead Bridgeport to its sixth state championship in 2000 and was still a student in college.

 

New assistant coaches showing up aren’t necessarily earth shattering. In football, there are several from varsity down to the middle school level that help out and there is occasional turnover. However, seeing Nicewarner was a bit different; and not because there was a sense that he didn’t have what it took. Rather, Nicewarner was part of Bridgeport football royalty. From his grandfather Sonny Nicewarner, to his father Phil and to brothers Jason and Ryan – and I’m sure others I’ve failed to mention – the family name was entrenched to the program.

 

With everyone gone except for Carey and myself, I asked him what he thought of his new coach. I asked him if he was just doing it to see if he thought Nicewarner was interested in coaching, just looking to do something he enjoyed, or looking for a place to spend his Friday nights.

 

Carey sat back in his chair and didn’t hesitate with his response. And for those that have been around Bruce Carey, he’s not one to throw out something if he doesn’t mean it.

 

His response was, and I paraphrase due to a lapse in memory here, “He’s in this for the long haul. He’ll not only be a head coach one day, but he’ll be a helluva head coach. He'll win and, I think, can make this even stronger.” Nicewarner would spend eight years as an assistant to Carey and proved be more than just a legacy name along the sidelines in rather quick fashion.

 

Flash forward roughly a dozen years. Bruce Carey is still coaching and folks in Bridgeport saw him yesterday on the opposing sidelines at Jamison Field coaching the Indians’ biggest rival in Robert C. Byrd. As most know, he never left Bridgeport because he didn’t like wearing the red and white. He left after major health issues nearly ended his life and he needed time off to recover. In his absence, as Carey himself once predicted, Nicewarner stepped in. And as he predicted, Nicewarner has turned out to be a “helluva coach.”

 

In his fifth year, Nicewarner has a somewhat mind-numbing record of 54-8 for a .871 winning percentage prior to Saturday's game. He reached 50 wins faster than anyone in BHS history, including Carey and the coach the field Nicewarner’s Indians’ play their home games on in Wayne Jamison of Wayne Jamison Field.

 

Carey knew it was coming in a very Nostradamus-type prediction. In fact, not counting yesterday’s Class AA quarterfinal game between Bridgeport and RCB where no one wanted to see the Indians lose more than Carey, the former coach said he’s pulled for Nicewarner to do well and to win.

 

“I know I get grief anytime I tell someone this, but since I’ve been back coaching, if we can’t win I hope Bridgeport wins. Maybe that makes me the oddball in Clarksburg, but you don’t spend that much time with people like Josh and (Assistant Coach) Jon Cole and not want them to do well,” said Carey. “I just (didn’t) want them to do well (yesterday). Next year, it will be the same way.”

 

Beyond the fact Carey still wishes his former team well when not facing the Eagles, what was it that he saw in Nicewarner that let him know from that very first day and then in the days that followed that he was headed for a great prep coaching career.

 

“It’s really pretty simple. He was willing to work and he was willing to learn. I’ve been around long enough to know that most coaches don’t want to do that extra stuff and learn those little things that can mean all the difference in the world when it comes to a game,” said Carey.

 

Carey said there’s something else that makes Nicewarner successful and will continue to make him successful for years to come.

 

“He knows what his strengths are as a coach and he knows his assistant’s strengths as well. He knows who to trust and who to listen to and that’s important,” said Carey. “He knows how to delegate and pull it all together. That’s what makes him successful.”

 

During my conversation with Carey last week, he let me know that “I’ve only had two young coaches in all my years, even going back to South Harrison that came aboard where I knew they had what it took so this isn’t just lip service.”

 

The other individual has a resume’ similar to that of Nicewarner. He’s new to Carey’s staff after playing one year of college football like Nicewarner. He was a two-way starter his senior years for the Eagles and helped lead RCB deep into the playoffs.

 

“For the first time since Josh, I’ve got another one that if he wants it he’ll be coaching one day. Teague Wagner is the same way in that he does a good job and learns quickly and stays on the fundamentals,” said Carey. “He reminded me of Josh in how he handled himself as a player and he reminds me of Josh as a young coach. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him anchoring the RCB coaching staff a few years from now playing against Josh.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo is one of several post-game handshakes between former colleagues and now opponents, while Nicewarner is shown heading out the tunnel for one of 60-plus games with BHS. In the bottom two photos, Carey is shown on the sidelines - first with RCB - and then in his final year with the Indians when he came back to coach the Indians to the Class AAA semifinals after a serious medical condition nearly left him paralyzed. Top three photos by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com, bottom photo courtesy of BHS Journalism Department.