06/03/09 - "Hibbs acepts head position in York"

http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/articles/2009/06/03/sports/doc4a26654864150561283228.txt

BY Adam Michael - - - Times Sports Writer
Published: Wedesday, June 3, 2009 8:07 AM EDT

Hours after Tim Hibbs resigned from his position as head coach of the Biglerville High School football team Monday, he was named as the new head coach at William Penn in York.
William Penn athletic director Chaz Green announced the move following an emergency York City school board meeting, Monday evening.
“We saw all the experience he had, at the community college level, a Northern University assistant and with Gettysburg College,” Green said. “He had great references from former players.”Green also sited a passionate interview as a strong point for Hibbs, who was one of “eight or nine” candidates.
“He seemed like he had chills in his spine, anticipating working with the kids,” Green said.
As the head coach of the Canners for the last five years after replacing Tom Waranavage prior to the 2004 season, the 38-year-old Hibbs finished his career with the Canners with a 24-27 record. That record included a 7-4 slate in 2008 that included a share of the YAIAA-3 championship, marking the first time Biglerville captured a division title in 37 years.
The Canners followed up the regular season title with their first-ever District 3 playoff appearance, a 42-14 loss at Lancaster Catholic.Now replacing Matt Ortega, the popular and successful former head coach at York, Hibbs will hope to extend the success of a program that went 20-4 over the last two seasons, and 37-18 over the course of five seasons.
“It’s tough to leave Biglerville obviously,” Hibbs said. “It’s a place that’s been very good to me and it’s my alma mater. I was joking around today that Upper Adams is the place where I will be buried. I just hope it’s not in the next couple of days.”
Hibbs said Monday’s resignation followed by the news breaking Tuesday, was emotional.
“It’s tough because you grow an attachment to (the kids),” Hibbs said. “We don’t have kids and we always said our kids are our players and students at the school. Most of my time there is spent teaching. It’s hard to leave some of the students, too."
“I reiterated they needed to continue down the path that we’ve got them on," Hibbs continued. "Talking to the players, they started to understand and they knew why we were doing it. Every conversation ended today with a smile and a handshake.”
When Ortega left for Coatesville High School earlier this spring, Hibbs threw his name in the hat.
The same reasons he was so appreciated at Biglerville were also logical sticking points for those that selected him for his new coaching job in York.
Hibbs graduated from high school at Biglerville, but his football track record extends well beyond Canner Nation.
Hibbs earned a spot on the Temple University football team following high school before an injury in his senior year forced him into a role as undergraduate assistant with the Owls.
The Biglerville native has since made stops at Fort Scott Junior College in Kansas, Southern Illinois University, Gettysburg College, Ohio Northern University and has served in positions including defensive coordinator, strength coach, linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.
Green said Hibbs’ certification as a strength and lifting coach also boosted his resume. The coach’s widely popular and effective Speed, Agility, Quickness program at Biglerville has helped all athletic programs become more competitive.
“I don’t care what level you are at or what sport you play, strength and conditioning has to be the spine of what you’re doing,” Hibbs said. “You can offshoot and change things here or there, but you have to have a formal program that everyone tailors to their needs, but has as a consistent philosophy.”
While at Biglerville, Hibbs created a program for at-risk students and also has experience with alternative education programs.
Moving from a small-town Class AA school to the urban Class AAAA William Penn will provide initial cultural challenges. There is also a stark contrast in demographics; at Biglerville, 93.6 percent of its students are white according to the most recent census. In a 2008 report of William Penn’s 1,480 students, 714 were black and 521 were hispanic while only 220 were white.Hibbs, a white coach, is confident his previous experiences will help him earn his new players’ trust.
Among his many experiences, he learned a lot from Ted Ginn Sr., while helping out at Glennville High School in Cleveland where he worked with Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr.
“I remember picking up kids from the airport that had a shopping bag full of stuff,” Hibbs said of some of his toughest cases. “The kids in York are like kids from everywhere. They’re faced with the same problems and have similar things to overcome. They live in a different environment, but the parents want their kids to be successful the same way people want their kids here to be successful."
“We’re all people and I can communicate with people," said Hibbs. "You have to communicate, build respect, show you love and care for them and in return they’ll do what we need them to do. That’s the philosophy I’ve had here and the philosophy I’ve always used. That’s the philosophy I’ll take with me there.”
Hibbs believes that passing along good values to kids who are working hard to succeed will be one of the most important parts of his job.
“When you’re brought up on Upper Adams values like I’ve been, you’ve got a chance to succeed in anything you do regardless of where you’ve been,” Hibbs said. “Because of some of the mentors in Upper Adams, I’ve been able to pass that on and gotten a personal feeling of satisfaction.”
Hibbs said that things haven’t progressed far enough to comment on his future coaching staff. He met with Green on Tuesday to begin laying out plans. Most importantly, he hoped to set up a meeting with his new team.
His wife, Stephanie Hibbs, will remain as a teacher in Biglerville and Hibbs said he will “pursue a faculty position at York High.”
“My wife is still going to teach at Biglerville and I’m not moving,” Hibbs said. “I’m just going to become Biglerville’s No. 1 fan instead of being a part of it.”
When reached Monday, the former Canner coach did not want to reveal his new position with York in part because of professional courtesy, and also in an effort to avoid a media frenzy prior to the Biglerville High School graduation ceremonies later today.“
The focus needs to be on the class of 2009, not me,” Hibbs said. “The only reason I teach is my belief in getting these kids graduated. Coaching is just an extension of the classroom. Without commencement, nothing I do really means anything.”
One of the Canners who will graduate today, Parker Showers, said it was sad to see his coach leave, but he was hopeful he’d have continued success at William Penn.
“What he’s done for our program, I can’t imagine what he could do for York High,” Showers said.
Adam Michael can be reached at amichael@gburgtimes.com.