People will point to Bridgeport Coach Josh Nicewarner and say, with good reason, that he’s an excellent coach. After all, even if you’ve got a lot of talent it’s no easy feat to win three straight state championships in high school football and be in position to play for another at any level.

 

If winning  is the measuring stick, then by all means Josh Nicewarner isn’t just a good coach – he’s one of the all-time greats despite not even reaching double digits in number of years on the Indians’ sidelines.

 

In his seventh season and before Friday night’s game, Nicewarner had an overall record of 82-8-1 (.907 winning percentage). In the regular season, the numbers were better at 63-5-1 (.920) and the playoff mark was extremely impressive at 19-3 (.864). On top of that, BHS went into Friday’s game winning 38 straight games against Class AA foes and 53-straight games against Big 10 opponents.

 

Think about those numbers, but don’t ask Nicewarner about them. He always gives credit to his kids and considering the amount of work done by his players and the talent level he knows he’s had it’s the right thing to do – and it’s what quality coaches do. Trust me, Josh Nicewarner will be the first to tell you that the numbers he’s produced would not be possible without having good kids that buy into what he’s preaching.

 

Let’s toss those numbers as well as the talent on the rosters aside and rewind to Friday night. Fairmont Senior had just managed a 22-21 double overtime win against BHS and before the sweat could dry on a single player wearing and Indians’ uniform, if there was ever a twinge of doubt somewhere in my mind that Nicewarner wasn’t in the pantheon of great high school football coaches it is now long gone. I'll get to that shortly.

 

It’s easy to throw around the terms “great” and “fantastic” to a coach when things are going well. After all, coaches coach kids to get better and win and there’s been a whole lot of that to levels never seen for a program even as storied as Bridgeport.

 

Yet I’d be lying if I said that despite my faith in Nicewarner and his staff that I actually thought they would be in the ‘AA’ semifinal game at 12-0. Even with a depleted, but far from bare talent cupboard, replacing 18 starters against a punishing schedule was a daunting challenge. Yet there they were. On the brink and knocking on the door to get to 13-0 and back to Wheeling before the game, the season and their dreams ended.

 

My faith in BHS wasn’t different at that moment as the tidal wave of wins came to an end. Rather, my faith in what is ultimately Indians’ football was about to be even more solidified.

 

Friday, just prior to 10 p.m. and minutes after about as hard to swallow a loss was handed to them by Fairmont Senior, Nicewarner went off his usual post-game routine. And it was a thing of unscripted beauty and leadership.

 

After the traditional team meeting that follows every game on the field win or lose and the player-led prayer, Nicewarner gathered his seniors one last time. As myself and a horde of media stood by, Nicewarner talked away from everyone for several minutes to the group. What he said, I can’t tell you exactly. I could only hear bits and pieces of it despite being within five feet.

 

This was personal. It was for his seniors’ ears only. The tone was calm and direct. The players, many with tears in their eyes, were looking directly at their coach. Without knowing what was said, you knew it was about pride, accomplishment and lessons to carry forward.

 

As he was talking, something else was already in place. The underclassmen formed a line from near midfield toward the tunnel that leads on to the field. The last thing Nicewarner said was also one of the few things that was audibly clear. He told his seniors to let the underclassmen know they appreciated them.

 

In a moment of defeat, likely with his head as foggy as everyone else from the setback, Nicewarner’s last message to his seniors was perhaps the most important. It was time to pass the torch.

 

As the seniors departed, they waded through their teammates. They hugged. They cried. And eventually they got to the coaching staff where more hugs and tears awaited. At the end, there was Josh Nicewarner and this time it was one on one with each and every senior.

 

He embraced his players and gave each a personal message of what they meant to the team. He told them what they meant to him because it was those young men that had to buy in to what Josh Nicewarner was selling – and they bought in big time and had themselves a run to remember.

 

Some way, somehow, it was a beautiful ending to a situation that just moments earlier was a devastating one. Perhaps it didn’t lessen the sting, but it made it tolerable as each young man knew their coach appreciated their sacrifices to finish a season with average expectations by BHS standards into one just a point away from another visit to Wheeling.

 

The emotion was real and it’s why those with Bridgeport on their chest win more than they lose. It’s why those wearing the colors not only win because they’re talented, but because in so many cases they outwork, out hustle, out think and do what they need to do because they buy into the expectation of success that ends with a state title or, at worst, with the gratitude of your coach and a community. There are worse ways to end a playing career than that.

 

I always joke with people that don’t know Josh Nicewarner who ask me what I think of him. I tell them I like him because, well, he returns my phone calls. The truth is  I like him because he takes young kids and molds them into young men with integrity. There is no higher accomplishment for a coach – even more so than winning and state titles.

 

With the adversity of such a hard loss in his wake, no one would have blamed Nicewarner if he had opted to retreat to the locker room, complain to the media and call it a day. Instead, he proved the adage that adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it.

 

That character was on full display post game and it was the final lesson for his seniors and one the underclassmen can take to heart as the offseason is now at hand. That same character cemented Josh Nicewarner as a great coach in a moment of bitter defeat.

 

It also cemented why Bridgeport High School doesn’t just have a football team. They have a program.

 

Editor's Note: Photos by www.benqueenphotography.com.