April 3, 2025 • 21 mins
On this episode of The Landscape, Dave Bacon sits down with Spire Academy's Director of Men's Basketball & Head Men's Basketball Coach, Kevin Boyle to discuss coaching some of the NBA's best players as High Schoolers, the joy he finds coaching with his sons, his coaching journey and the challenges and triumphs along the way.
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hello everybody, and welcome to the Landscape on Rock Entertainment
Sports Network presented by Hospitality Staffing Solutions. I'm Dave Bacon
Spire Academy in Geneva, and we are pleased to be
joined by Kevin Boyle, one of the top high school
basketball coaches in the country. Montverd Academy kind of built
(00:35):
it into a national powerhouse. Now you're coming to Spire.
First of all, welcome to Northeast Ohio. What attracted you
to Spire.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Well, first of all, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Secondly, what attracted me to Aspire was just tremendous facilities
they have, the great leadership and plan they have in
this new landscape.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Of high school athletics.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You know, in my opinion, things trickled down from the
NBA to college to high school and now with nil
being available for kids at in the high school level,
with agents and with investors trying to be involved with
kids who are allowed to be involved with kids at
this age, it's just a you know, a changing field
that you need. You know, people that one are comfortable
(01:21):
in that field and two want to be you know,
grow to be leaders in that field.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So coach, you spent more than twenty years at Saint
Patrick's in New Jersey, fourteen years at mont Verd. You
don't move around a lot. Take me through kind of
the vision, aspire and what really intrigues you to make
you come here and try to do it again, build
it up.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Well, that is true. I don't move a lot.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I was, you know, actually twenty four years at Saint
Patrick's and you know, we had the good fortune of
having a number of good players, including Kyrie Irving for
a number of years there and Shahine Holloway, the coach
of Seaton Hall with my great player there. But we
had a bunch of good players there and then we
ended up going after twenty four years to Montford Academy,
(02:08):
and Montford was just a you know, school that was
a different school. Saint Pats is very much an inter
city school, low tuition. Montford was a sixty thousand dollars
year international boarding school, and there we.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Were able to take it to another level.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
When you know, Saint Patrick's was always a top ten,
top five team nationally, but with the dormitories and with
the with the institution support, we were able to you know,
win a of the last twelve national championship and attract
a lot of the good players you know throughout the country.
I mean this past year, we'll probably have four guys
from that team, Cooper Flag and Derek queen, As and
(02:43):
Newell and Liam McNeely that will probably be drafted in
the top fifteen from the same team a year ago in.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
High school basketball.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
And I think with the changing landscape, place like Spire,
I think is just really could be the leader because
the institut tutions like IMG, the four profit institutions that
have investors to answer to about their investment and how
the school's branding and how the enrollment's doing, need to
(03:12):
be a lot more invested in the growth of their
athletics and their academics and staying in the forefront there.
Then maybe non profit institutions have to do.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
When you go in and talk to a recruit, obviously
you you want talented basketball players. But what else do
you look for to to to bring in that you
think can succeed in your system with you as a
head coach.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Well, I think first of all, you gotta surround yourself
with a good au, a good environment. You know, when
the when the culture of the community is good, when
the culture of the academics is good, the culture of
the discipline's good. It makes that easier on you to
really get a guy to exceed his expectation as a
player and a person. So one of the things we
really look at. We definitely look at the play and
(04:00):
obviously he's got to have a certain talent level. Nobody's
winning championships without you know, really good players, outstanding players.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
But you know, if you have that type of culture,
you could.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Win a championship A and B.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
You can get guys, like I said a few times,
to exceed their expectations. And I think their families are
important too that you know, they're somebody obviously that they're
closest to and very influential on them. So you also
look at the families because you know, sometimes you can
get a guy or two that just needs a little
molding and you can really help him. But sometimes if
you get too many guys that are you know, not
(04:33):
yet ready for coaching or ready for you know, positive discipline,
you know, they can end up causing problems on a
team if they're not ready for that. I think all
kids are most basically good kids, but sometimes people are at
different times in their life, when they're ready to be
coached and mature enough to take hard coaching and discipline,
that's going to help the nature of their future.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Four time National Coach of the Year, you mentioned the
eight national championships all since twenty eleven. What do you
smile about as a head coach? I know, I know
you want win, But what puts a smile on your
face and is so satisfying about being a high school
basketball coach?
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Well, obviously as a competitor, you know, you love being
in the highest level of high school, which most people
don't realize.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
You know, it's it's.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
You know, it's basically low to mid division one or
more talent. You know, the league were that we were
in last year. I think seven of the top fourteen
picks in the draft will be from our league, you know,
so you're playing against high level guys that are just
seventeen and eighteen years old at.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
That time, so it's very competitive.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
But I think the biggest thing is when you get older,
are you having an impact on the on the people
you're touching outside of basketball. The basketball part's important, but
are they growing up to be you know, good father's,
good husband, good good good people? And you you can
touch a lot more people that way and have a
lot more influence that way than you can with basketball.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Well mentioned you've been coaching high school thirty four years
now more. Yeah, what's the biggest change that you have
seen in the players?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Well, I think the biggest change is, you know, years ago,
when you had the fame of a Bobby Knight in
Indiana days, it would say, you know, dive through that
glass door, and they would say which glass door?
Speaker 4 (06:30):
You know?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Now, a lot of times in today's world, kids are
told to you know that you know, they obviously have
their rights, and they're helping a lot of these institutions
brand themselves as much as the institutions are helping them,
or at least there's a you know, a percentage there.
They're contributing to Ohio State's you know, football team or something.
So I think it's all important that you tell them,
(06:53):
you know, why it's good for them as well as
why it's good for the team.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
And a lot of times they're the same thing.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
It's good for them if you know, if you excel,
when you succeed, it's going to be good for the team.
Most of that stuff, it's good for both groups. And
I think now it's you know, to appreciate the player,
to let him know why you're coaching him hard, always
be respectful. But you can't tell me you want to
be a pro and not work hard. You can't tell
me you want to be a pro and not want
to be in the weight room. You don't want to
(07:20):
come back at seven eight thirty after practice and have
an hour and a half of skill six days a week.
And you know, because you're a little bit lazy or tired, well,
you know, then you're not going to be successful. And
if we let you do that, then we're failing you.
And you're going to come back in five years and
say you should have pushed me harder. You should have
made me run every sprint you know, or made me
run again, you know, those type of things. And we
have a guy Derek Queen is a good example. He's
(07:42):
at Maryland this year and he wasn't even in the
first or second round. I've seen the other day, you know,
going back two or three years ago, and I wouldn't
play him as sophomore year he was ranked high. I
wouldn't play him half his junior year and he would
never leave because he knew if he went home he'd
be lazy again, and he came in thirty pounds overweight.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
And you know, it was just a great person. And
he's you know, he's.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
The mini Joker of college basketball skill set wise, and
he's grown where he was six and some mock draft
the other day and a kid who grew up with
that a lot, and he's going to end up, you know,
probably making two hundred and fifty to four hundred.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Million dollars before he's done. And you know, he learned
to work hard.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
So you see a lot of satisfaction and a guy
like that that was a really good person, a really
good mom, that they're going to be able to have
a really nice life.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
And I know he's the type of guy that will
share that with his community.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
When we returned to the landscape presented by Hospitality Staffing Solutions,
coach Boyle tells us who are his biggest influences and
what made him want to be a coach. Who were
your biggest coaching influences. You've been doing it for so long,
what made you want to get in to coaching? And
(08:47):
whence the wing a coach?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Well, it's funny, my father was the head of an
electrical union in New Jersey for years.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
But he was also.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
A Saint Joseph Roselle Cathlogrammar School coach for years, and
you know, so wanting to be with your dad, I
always hung around the teams all the weekend games, and
you know, he had a good, really good mind for
the game. And then you know, I had a guy
in high school Steve Petrizzelli who you know, and Jerry Alaco,
(09:16):
two guys that are really good high school coaches that
you know, people don't know about because we were in
the town. They didn't have a lot of talent, but
they really helped.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Impact and influence on me.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
And then when I went to the college world, Bill Rafferty,
who's CBS Sports, you know, c doublea guy recruited me
and I was his last recruit. Maybe that's why you
got out of coaching, because he recruited me. But he
ended up, you know, going into the business world and
the television world before the season started and had.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Another good coach, Hatty Mahon.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Then PJ. Carlissol NBA coach. My sophomore year was at
Seaton Hall. Took Seaton Halls to the Final four, and
then I transferred because I was playing like twelve minutes a.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Game and just you know, lived in the gym.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
I used to practice like ten hours a day as
a as a kid, And I went to Saint Peter's
where a guy Bob White do ket who was a
terrific coach, and you know, just was you know, all
those guys were putting together a little from well, taking
a little bit for each of those guys, I think
help shape my coaching style and career.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Yeah, both your sons that coach with you, all of
them are coming, the entire families coming to Northeast Ohio
to live because you're taking the job here Aspire. What
do you like about having your sons coaching with you?
How unique is that and how important is important is
that to you?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Well, the most in my family, my daughter is a
very successful attorney in Florida, So I'm trying to get
her to come down here because my little granddaughter, Charlotte's
with her.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
So well that's the last move.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
But it's great to have my sons with me because one,
you know, obviously we hope to expand the number of
kids that participate in basketball here, and can we get
that to one hundred and fifty two hundred kids with
ten fifteen teams and really help a lot of kids
and help the you know, the school and you know,
you want to run those teams like Barger Knyry McDonald's
(11:01):
almost like franchises that everybody's teaching the same way and
you know, developing the kids the same way, and there's
a culture there and that's why it's important to have
you know, two of my sons who basically grow up
a basketball at me and you know, if I'm not
around in any gym or facility or workouts, you know,
it's the same message.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
So that's great.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
And my wife's been you know with me through through
all this and you know, so she's you know, always
a good uh supporter in camp and she runs a
lot of my camps and then she does a great
job with you know, supporting the teams.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
So it'll be good for us here to be able
to you know, get the kids off campus and.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Get them over the house, I mean up.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Coach Boyle talks about his plans and goals for Spire Academy,
this and more on the landscape presented by Hospitality Staffing Solutions.
Talking with Kevin Boyle, new head coach here at the
Spire Academy in Geneva. Your view of of how quickly
(11:56):
you can get this role in the way you want
to At Spire.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Well, I mean, you know, again it's Saint Patrick's. They
were one of the worst teams in New Jersey. When
we took over at about year three or year four,
we kind of got in the national pitcher and then
we kind of stayed there for about twenty five years
where we were usually somewhere from ranked somewhere from one
to seven most of the time. At Montford, you know,
the first year U S Montford was a little bit
(12:22):
further along we got there. They had a program that
would ka, you know, would sometimes be in the top twenty,
then they would be top fifty, top seventy, you know,
in and out a little bit. And you know, the
first year there we were able to get to the
national Championship game, and then year two, three and four
we won the national championship where we had Ben Simmons
and another Ohio Ohio state guy, D'Angel Russell, you know,
(12:43):
and Devin Williams was Ohio gout that played at West Virginia.
So we had a got a crew in there early,
and I think we'll have a team here next year
that will compete for the national championship.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
What keeps you going it, w y y.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
You've been doing it, You've had a lot of success.
You could l sit back and say, look what I built.
What what keeps you going?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
What?
Speaker 1 (13:04):
What wants to challenge to to do it again in
another place?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Well, One, I really love basketball. I love this age group.
You know, I think you could have an influence on them. Secondly,
I don't think my wife wants me home all the time,
you know.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
In third I don't. I don't.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I don't play golf, and I'm not you know, outside
of eating you out, I don't.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
There's not a lot else I do. Though.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I am excited that I'm moving to Mentor and there's
a Barnes and Noble there and they're almost clothes all
over the country, and that's probably the main reason I'm
moving here.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
And I've seen the Barnes and Noble. I could go
on the weekends coaching style.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
What are we going to see from your teams when
we come watching them?
Speaker 4 (13:45):
It'spire?
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Well hopefully, you know, I think one of the things
we're coaching you have to be able to adjust to
the personnel you have, and I think that's a real
difference in different levels of coaching. Most people have the
same style regardless, and you know, you want to keep
that if it's successful and can you recruit to that style.
But sometimes for whatever reason, if there's an injury or
you don't get the player personnel you want, you may
(14:08):
have to adjust a little bit.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
But usually the style that.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
We want to play is similar that you see Saint
John's right now and Patino picking up full court. Not
a lot of double teaming, but occasional double teams, but
really harassing you from baseline to baseline, trying to get
you out of being able. They're almost like putting pressure
on the quarterback in football, where you better have quick dumpoffs.
You're not running a long patterns because we're coming at you,
(14:32):
you know, and we're going to try to impose.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
Our will and our attitude and you know on you.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
And then offensively to be a combination of letting the guys,
teaching the guys how to play for out one end,
get out and transition, but also have probably twenty quick hitters,
you know, kind of NBA type quick hit actions to
go to different people at different times, but with you know,
hopefully being smart enough as a team coaches and players
that against better teams with scouting or great defense, a
(15:00):
lot of times your players get blown up, and do
you know how to play when a play gets blown up?
You know how to play with four out and four
out one end? And you know what concepts and do
you have his players and what teaching are you doing
and drilling so that looks really good even when you're
not in.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
The set play.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
When we come back, Kevin Boyle talks about the lasting
mark he wants to leave on his players that play
for him. The landscape presented by Hospitality Staffing Solutions returns
right after this. What do you want players to say
after they've gone through four or five years playing for you?
What do you want him to take away from playing
for Kevin Boyle?
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Well, I think one of the things we wanted to
take away is hopefully that we've pushed them to their limits,
but we were respectful to them. That it's okay to
coach people hard as long as you are respectful to them,
because you know they have a goal that's really hard.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
It's really hard to get to the NBA.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
It's really hard to be a major college star, European star,
so hopefully we're pushing him to get there and excel there.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
And we've had, you know, just so many of our guys.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
I think, you know, having them do that and having
good competition in the gym, like not being afraid of
that you can sit if you don't play well. You
know that we're gonna have ten eight or nine or
ten guys we're trying to bring in that could play.
And we're not promising Kyrie Irving in high school's gonna
start that you should start. But if you don't bring it,
then you won't start.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
It's up to you.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
You know, you determined it. In your case, you determined
it because you're good enough to be a starter. And
you know that's I think the you know, the message
we're trying to deliver to the kids of you know,
you know, really bringing every day, really play hard, and
that's about it.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
You've seen so many players develop into lottery picks in
the NBA. Is there a characteristic or a trait that
they all have in common? Obviously they have to be talented,
but is there something that you can see in a
young guy and say, this guy's going to kind of
take off.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Yeah, we've had, you know, the good fortune of I
think Cooper Flag will be the fourth guy that I've
coached will be the number one pick in the NBA draft.
I think, I don't know if it's eight or nine,
top three or four picks and a bunch of lottery picks.
And you know, most of those guys obviously had a
lot of God given talent, first of all, because you know,
(17:20):
nobody's making chicken salad at a chicken poop. And you know, secondly,
you know, I think they embraced working hard. Most of
those guys really hard, and they embraced coaching. You were
able to, you know again almost never yell at them.
A lot of times yell it to them, but be
demanding and explain to them again when you know, when
(17:40):
you don't r J Barrett, when you're not running hard
sprints on the track at Mont Verde, like, do you
realize every one of these forties is worth for you
twenty five thousand dollars because you have the ability to
make five hundred million, you know, so the difference between
your effort and your detail is you making seventy five
to seventy five million versus five hundred million, or having
(18:04):
a cup of coffee in the NBA and being a
G League guy or making twenty million. You know, So
Andrew Nemhart from the Pacers, you know, guys like that,
you know, who was the second round pick who I
had him for three years and you know, I was
trying to tell everybody he was a great pro professional
and finally, you know, the Pacers finally brought in and
he just got a sixty million, three year got contract
from like a great guy.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
And a great worker. You know.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So it's you know, that's you know, probably the biggest message.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
What are you most excited about coming to a new
opportunity and in this area?
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Well, I think it's again, I had a great experience
the people, John Hoptman, the head of my VERD and
Dave burnt Tavage, the head of the Academics. They were
terrific with me. We had a great run there and
they're going to still excel and do really well. But
you know, sometimes change is also just good. You've been
around a place a long time, it kind of re
(19:00):
energizes you, kind of get you you know, I was
always excited every season, but now I'm kind of super excited.
And you know, because like my son said in the
press conference that some people, you know, want you to
do good, and some people are tired of your team's
doing good, so they would hope you maybe slip up
a little bit and have some failure. So it's a
good challenge to see if we could take a third
school and make them, you know, as good as anybody
(19:22):
in the country.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
So we're looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Before I let you go, how important are academics you
touched on in the press conference. It takes through how
important they are to what you're doing here.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Well, I think again that was one of the good
things mister Bernard taviach at Mont Bird. You know, he
had a great system with us where you know, there
was never a kid when we had over one hundred
and sometimes one hundred and thirty kids in our basketball
academy that if somebody missed the homework, had any discipline
type of situation which was rare, or or was struggling
(19:53):
in grades, they had a color code that would come
to me to let me know somebody and it could
be even just working at seventy five for a kid
who's an eighty five student. So they had a really
good system to make sure the kids were involved in academics.
But to make sure the kids are the coaches were
involved in academics. And most of the kids are not
going to be professional players or European professional players. They're
(20:15):
gonna be hopefully they could be in basketball. They could
be the GM, they could be an announcer, they could
be you know, a scout or whatever the case may be.
They could be an athletic director, administrator in sports. There's
a lot of jobs that they could be successful with
and still you know, provide for their families and feel
good about themselves. So, you know, the academic pieces is important,
(20:36):
you know, and I think obviously a lot of these
one and done guys are in a different world, you know,
they're not Thedemics isn't important. But I think a lot
of people if they could be a doctor and make
twenty five million dollars a year and leave after one year,
they probably leave after one year, you know. So in
those cases that's a different story, but it's rare.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
Most of us.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
The education, the long term education and degree, if we
agree with it or not, it's part of getting a
lot of jobs in America aren't open if you don't
have that background, So it's important to get that for
multiple reasons, to grow yourself, to educate yourself, and to
also give yourself the opportunities for employment.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Kevin Boyle, new head coach ats Fire Academy, Welcome to
northeastow High.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
Thank you, thanks so much for your time.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
For sure can't wait to see you get this product
out on the court here in Geneva. Hi.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
That'll do it for this episode of the Landscape. Make
sure to tune back in for future episodes as we
bring you guests from across the land. You can find
us on Rock Entertainment, Sports Network, or wherever you get
your podcasts. Until next time, I'm Dave Bacon. Have a
good night.
Hello everybody, and welcome to the Landscape on Rock Entertainment
Sports Network presented by Hospitality Staffing Solutions. I'm Dave Bacon
Spire Academy in Geneva, and we are pleased to be
joined by Kevin Boyle, one of the top high school
basketball coaches in the country. Montverd Academy kind of built
(00:35):
it into a national powerhouse. Now you're coming to Spire.
First of all, welcome to Northeast Ohio. What attracted you
to Spire.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Well, first of all, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Secondly, what attracted me to Aspire was just tremendous facilities
they have, the great leadership and plan they have in
this new landscape.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Of high school athletics.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You know, in my opinion, things trickled down from the
NBA to college to high school and now with nil
being available for kids at in the high school level,
with agents and with investors trying to be involved with
kids who are allowed to be involved with kids at
this age, it's just a you know, a changing field
that you need. You know, people that one are comfortable
(01:21):
in that field and two want to be you know,
grow to be leaders in that field.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So coach, you spent more than twenty years at Saint
Patrick's in New Jersey, fourteen years at mont Verd. You
don't move around a lot. Take me through kind of
the vision, aspire and what really intrigues you to make
you come here and try to do it again, build
it up.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Well, that is true. I don't move a lot.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I was, you know, actually twenty four years at Saint
Patrick's and you know, we had the good fortune of
having a number of good players, including Kyrie Irving for
a number of years there and Shahine Holloway, the coach
of Seaton Hall with my great player there. But we
had a bunch of good players there and then we
ended up going after twenty four years to Montford Academy,
(02:08):
and Montford was just a you know, school that was
a different school. Saint Pats is very much an inter
city school, low tuition. Montford was a sixty thousand dollars
year international boarding school, and there we.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Were able to take it to another level.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
When you know, Saint Patrick's was always a top ten,
top five team nationally, but with the dormitories and with
the with the institution support, we were able to you know,
win a of the last twelve national championship and attract
a lot of the good players you know throughout the country.
I mean this past year, we'll probably have four guys
from that team, Cooper Flag and Derek queen, As and
(02:43):
Newell and Liam McNeely that will probably be drafted in
the top fifteen from the same team a year ago in.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
High school basketball.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
And I think with the changing landscape, place like Spire,
I think is just really could be the leader because
the institut tutions like IMG, the four profit institutions that
have investors to answer to about their investment and how
the school's branding and how the enrollment's doing, need to
(03:12):
be a lot more invested in the growth of their
athletics and their academics and staying in the forefront there.
Then maybe non profit institutions have to do.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
When you go in and talk to a recruit, obviously
you you want talented basketball players. But what else do
you look for to to to bring in that you
think can succeed in your system with you as a
head coach.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Well, I think first of all, you gotta surround yourself
with a good au, a good environment. You know, when
the when the culture of the community is good, when
the culture of the academics is good, the culture of
the discipline's good. It makes that easier on you to
really get a guy to exceed his expectation as a
player and a person. So one of the things we
really look at. We definitely look at the play and
(04:00):
obviously he's got to have a certain talent level. Nobody's
winning championships without you know, really good players, outstanding players.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
But you know, if you have that type of culture,
you could.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Win a championship A and B.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
You can get guys, like I said a few times,
to exceed their expectations. And I think their families are
important too that you know, they're somebody obviously that they're
closest to and very influential on them. So you also
look at the families because you know, sometimes you can
get a guy or two that just needs a little
molding and you can really help him. But sometimes if
you get too many guys that are you know, not
(04:33):
yet ready for coaching or ready for you know, positive discipline,
you know, they can end up causing problems on a
team if they're not ready for that. I think all
kids are most basically good kids, but sometimes people are at
different times in their life, when they're ready to be
coached and mature enough to take hard coaching and discipline,
that's going to help the nature of their future.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Four time National Coach of the Year, you mentioned the
eight national championships all since twenty eleven. What do you
smile about as a head coach? I know, I know
you want win, But what puts a smile on your
face and is so satisfying about being a high school
basketball coach?
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Well, obviously as a competitor, you know, you love being
in the highest level of high school, which most people
don't realize.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
You know, it's it's.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
You know, it's basically low to mid division one or
more talent. You know, the league were that we were
in last year. I think seven of the top fourteen
picks in the draft will be from our league, you know,
so you're playing against high level guys that are just
seventeen and eighteen years old at.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
That time, so it's very competitive.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
But I think the biggest thing is when you get older,
are you having an impact on the on the people
you're touching outside of basketball. The basketball part's important, but
are they growing up to be you know, good father's,
good husband, good good good people? And you you can
touch a lot more people that way and have a
lot more influence that way than you can with basketball.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Well mentioned you've been coaching high school thirty four years
now more. Yeah, what's the biggest change that you have
seen in the players?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Well, I think the biggest change is, you know, years ago,
when you had the fame of a Bobby Knight in
Indiana days, it would say, you know, dive through that
glass door, and they would say which glass door?
Speaker 4 (06:30):
You know?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Now, a lot of times in today's world, kids are
told to you know that you know, they obviously have
their rights, and they're helping a lot of these institutions
brand themselves as much as the institutions are helping them,
or at least there's a you know, a percentage there.
They're contributing to Ohio State's you know, football team or something.
So I think it's all important that you tell them,
(06:53):
you know, why it's good for them as well as
why it's good for the team.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
And a lot of times they're the same thing.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
It's good for them if you know, if you excel,
when you succeed, it's going to be good for the team.
Most of that stuff, it's good for both groups. And
I think now it's you know, to appreciate the player,
to let him know why you're coaching him hard, always
be respectful. But you can't tell me you want to
be a pro and not work hard. You can't tell
me you want to be a pro and not want
to be in the weight room. You don't want to
(07:20):
come back at seven eight thirty after practice and have
an hour and a half of skill six days a week.
And you know, because you're a little bit lazy or tired, well,
you know, then you're not going to be successful. And
if we let you do that, then we're failing you.
And you're going to come back in five years and
say you should have pushed me harder. You should have
made me run every sprint you know, or made me
run again, you know, those type of things. And we
have a guy Derek Queen is a good example. He's
(07:42):
at Maryland this year and he wasn't even in the
first or second round. I've seen the other day, you know,
going back two or three years ago, and I wouldn't
play him as sophomore year he was ranked high. I
wouldn't play him half his junior year and he would
never leave because he knew if he went home he'd
be lazy again, and he came in thirty pounds overweight.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
And you know, it was just a great person. And
he's you know, he's.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
The mini Joker of college basketball skill set wise, and
he's grown where he was six and some mock draft
the other day and a kid who grew up with
that a lot, and he's going to end up, you know,
probably making two hundred and fifty to four hundred.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Million dollars before he's done. And you know, he learned
to work hard.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
So you see a lot of satisfaction and a guy
like that that was a really good person, a really
good mom, that they're going to be able to have
a really nice life.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
And I know he's the type of guy that will
share that with his community.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
When we returned to the landscape presented by Hospitality Staffing Solutions,
coach Boyle tells us who are his biggest influences and
what made him want to be a coach. Who were
your biggest coaching influences. You've been doing it for so long,
what made you want to get in to coaching? And
(08:47):
whence the wing a coach?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Well, it's funny, my father was the head of an
electrical union in New Jersey for years.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
But he was also.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
A Saint Joseph Roselle Cathlogrammar School coach for years, and
you know, so wanting to be with your dad, I
always hung around the teams all the weekend games, and
you know, he had a good, really good mind for
the game. And then you know, I had a guy
in high school Steve Petrizzelli who you know, and Jerry Alaco,
(09:16):
two guys that are really good high school coaches that
you know, people don't know about because we were in
the town. They didn't have a lot of talent, but
they really helped.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Impact and influence on me.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
And then when I went to the college world, Bill Rafferty,
who's CBS Sports, you know, c doublea guy recruited me
and I was his last recruit. Maybe that's why you
got out of coaching, because he recruited me. But he
ended up, you know, going into the business world and
the television world before the season started and had.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Another good coach, Hatty Mahon.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Then PJ. Carlissol NBA coach. My sophomore year was at
Seaton Hall. Took Seaton Halls to the Final four, and
then I transferred because I was playing like twelve minutes a.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Game and just you know, lived in the gym.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
I used to practice like ten hours a day as
a as a kid, And I went to Saint Peter's
where a guy Bob White do ket who was a
terrific coach, and you know, just was you know, all
those guys were putting together a little from well, taking
a little bit for each of those guys, I think
help shape my coaching style and career.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Yeah, both your sons that coach with you, all of
them are coming, the entire families coming to Northeast Ohio
to live because you're taking the job here Aspire. What
do you like about having your sons coaching with you?
How unique is that and how important is important is
that to you?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Well, the most in my family, my daughter is a
very successful attorney in Florida, So I'm trying to get
her to come down here because my little granddaughter, Charlotte's
with her.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
So well that's the last move.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
But it's great to have my sons with me because one,
you know, obviously we hope to expand the number of
kids that participate in basketball here, and can we get
that to one hundred and fifty two hundred kids with
ten fifteen teams and really help a lot of kids
and help the you know, the school and you know,
you want to run those teams like Barger Knyry McDonald's
(11:01):
almost like franchises that everybody's teaching the same way and
you know, developing the kids the same way, and there's
a culture there and that's why it's important to have
you know, two of my sons who basically grow up
a basketball at me and you know, if I'm not
around in any gym or facility or workouts, you know,
it's the same message.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
So that's great.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
And my wife's been you know with me through through
all this and you know, so she's you know, always
a good uh supporter in camp and she runs a
lot of my camps and then she does a great
job with you know, supporting the teams.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
So it'll be good for us here to be able
to you know, get the kids off campus and.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Get them over the house, I mean up.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Coach Boyle talks about his plans and goals for Spire Academy,
this and more on the landscape presented by Hospitality Staffing Solutions.
Talking with Kevin Boyle, new head coach here at the
Spire Academy in Geneva. Your view of of how quickly
(11:56):
you can get this role in the way you want
to At Spire.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Well, I mean, you know, again it's Saint Patrick's. They
were one of the worst teams in New Jersey. When
we took over at about year three or year four,
we kind of got in the national pitcher and then
we kind of stayed there for about twenty five years
where we were usually somewhere from ranked somewhere from one
to seven most of the time. At Montford, you know,
the first year U S Montford was a little bit
(12:22):
further along we got there. They had a program that
would ka, you know, would sometimes be in the top twenty,
then they would be top fifty, top seventy, you know,
in and out a little bit. And you know, the
first year there we were able to get to the
national Championship game, and then year two, three and four
we won the national championship where we had Ben Simmons
and another Ohio Ohio state guy, D'Angel Russell, you know,
(12:43):
and Devin Williams was Ohio gout that played at West Virginia.
So we had a got a crew in there early,
and I think we'll have a team here next year
that will compete for the national championship.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
What keeps you going it, w y y.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
You've been doing it, You've had a lot of success.
You could l sit back and say, look what I built.
What what keeps you going?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
What?
Speaker 1 (13:04):
What wants to challenge to to do it again in
another place?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Well, One, I really love basketball. I love this age group.
You know, I think you could have an influence on them. Secondly,
I don't think my wife wants me home all the time,
you know.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
In third I don't. I don't.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I don't play golf, and I'm not you know, outside
of eating you out, I don't.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
There's not a lot else I do. Though.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I am excited that I'm moving to Mentor and there's
a Barnes and Noble there and they're almost clothes all
over the country, and that's probably the main reason I'm
moving here.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
And I've seen the Barnes and Noble. I could go
on the weekends coaching style.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
What are we going to see from your teams when
we come watching them?
Speaker 4 (13:45):
It'spire?
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Well hopefully, you know, I think one of the things
we're coaching you have to be able to adjust to
the personnel you have, and I think that's a real
difference in different levels of coaching. Most people have the
same style regardless, and you know, you want to keep
that if it's successful and can you recruit to that style.
But sometimes for whatever reason, if there's an injury or
you don't get the player personnel you want, you may
(14:08):
have to adjust a little bit.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
But usually the style that.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
We want to play is similar that you see Saint
John's right now and Patino picking up full court. Not
a lot of double teaming, but occasional double teams, but
really harassing you from baseline to baseline, trying to get
you out of being able. They're almost like putting pressure
on the quarterback in football, where you better have quick dumpoffs.
You're not running a long patterns because we're coming at you,
(14:32):
you know, and we're going to try to impose.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
Our will and our attitude and you know on you.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
And then offensively to be a combination of letting the guys,
teaching the guys how to play for out one end,
get out and transition, but also have probably twenty quick hitters,
you know, kind of NBA type quick hit actions to
go to different people at different times, but with you know,
hopefully being smart enough as a team coaches and players
that against better teams with scouting or great defense, a
(15:00):
lot of times your players get blown up, and do
you know how to play when a play gets blown up?
You know how to play with four out and four
out one end? And you know what concepts and do
you have his players and what teaching are you doing
and drilling so that looks really good even when you're
not in.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
The set play.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
When we come back, Kevin Boyle talks about the lasting
mark he wants to leave on his players that play
for him. The landscape presented by Hospitality Staffing Solutions returns
right after this. What do you want players to say
after they've gone through four or five years playing for you?
What do you want him to take away from playing
for Kevin Boyle?
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Well, I think one of the things we wanted to
take away is hopefully that we've pushed them to their limits,
but we were respectful to them. That it's okay to
coach people hard as long as you are respectful to them,
because you know they have a goal that's really hard.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
It's really hard to get to the NBA.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
It's really hard to be a major college star, European star,
so hopefully we're pushing him to get there and excel there.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
And we've had, you know, just so many of our guys.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
I think, you know, having them do that and having
good competition in the gym, like not being afraid of
that you can sit if you don't play well. You
know that we're gonna have ten eight or nine or
ten guys we're trying to bring in that could play.
And we're not promising Kyrie Irving in high school's gonna
start that you should start. But if you don't bring it,
then you won't start.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
It's up to you.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
You know, you determined it. In your case, you determined
it because you're good enough to be a starter. And
you know that's I think the you know, the message
we're trying to deliver to the kids of you know,
you know, really bringing every day, really play hard, and
that's about it.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
You've seen so many players develop into lottery picks in
the NBA. Is there a characteristic or a trait that
they all have in common? Obviously they have to be talented,
but is there something that you can see in a
young guy and say, this guy's going to kind of
take off.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Yeah, we've had, you know, the good fortune of I
think Cooper Flag will be the fourth guy that I've
coached will be the number one pick in the NBA draft.
I think, I don't know if it's eight or nine,
top three or four picks and a bunch of lottery picks.
And you know, most of those guys obviously had a
lot of God given talent, first of all, because you know,
(17:20):
nobody's making chicken salad at a chicken poop. And you know, secondly,
you know, I think they embraced working hard. Most of
those guys really hard, and they embraced coaching. You were
able to, you know again almost never yell at them.
A lot of times yell it to them, but be
demanding and explain to them again when you know, when
(17:40):
you don't r J Barrett, when you're not running hard
sprints on the track at Mont Verde, like, do you
realize every one of these forties is worth for you
twenty five thousand dollars because you have the ability to
make five hundred million, you know, so the difference between
your effort and your detail is you making seventy five
to seventy five million versus five hundred million, or having
(18:04):
a cup of coffee in the NBA and being a
G League guy or making twenty million. You know, So
Andrew Nemhart from the Pacers, you know, guys like that,
you know, who was the second round pick who I
had him for three years and you know, I was
trying to tell everybody he was a great pro professional
and finally, you know, the Pacers finally brought in and
he just got a sixty million, three year got contract
from like a great guy.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
And a great worker. You know.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So it's you know, that's you know, probably the biggest message.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
What are you most excited about coming to a new
opportunity and in this area?
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Well, I think it's again, I had a great experience
the people, John Hoptman, the head of my VERD and
Dave burnt Tavage, the head of the Academics. They were
terrific with me. We had a great run there and
they're going to still excel and do really well. But
you know, sometimes change is also just good. You've been
around a place a long time, it kind of re
(19:00):
energizes you, kind of get you you know, I was
always excited every season, but now I'm kind of super excited.
And you know, because like my son said in the
press conference that some people, you know, want you to
do good, and some people are tired of your team's
doing good, so they would hope you maybe slip up
a little bit and have some failure. So it's a
good challenge to see if we could take a third
school and make them, you know, as good as anybody
(19:22):
in the country.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
So we're looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Before I let you go, how important are academics you
touched on in the press conference. It takes through how
important they are to what you're doing here.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Well, I think again that was one of the good
things mister Bernard taviach at Mont Bird. You know, he
had a great system with us where you know, there
was never a kid when we had over one hundred
and sometimes one hundred and thirty kids in our basketball
academy that if somebody missed the homework, had any discipline
type of situation which was rare, or or was struggling
(19:53):
in grades, they had a color code that would come
to me to let me know somebody and it could
be even just working at seventy five for a kid
who's an eighty five student. So they had a really
good system to make sure the kids were involved in academics.
But to make sure the kids are the coaches were
involved in academics. And most of the kids are not
going to be professional players or European professional players. They're
(20:15):
gonna be hopefully they could be in basketball. They could
be the GM, they could be an announcer, they could
be you know, a scout or whatever the case may be.
They could be an athletic director, administrator in sports. There's
a lot of jobs that they could be successful with
and still you know, provide for their families and feel
good about themselves. So, you know, the academic pieces is important,
(20:36):
you know, and I think obviously a lot of these
one and done guys are in a different world, you know,
they're not Thedemics isn't important. But I think a lot
of people if they could be a doctor and make
twenty five million dollars a year and leave after one year,
they probably leave after one year, you know. So in
those cases that's a different story, but it's rare.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
Most of us.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
The education, the long term education and degree, if we
agree with it or not, it's part of getting a
lot of jobs in America aren't open if you don't
have that background, So it's important to get that for
multiple reasons, to grow yourself, to educate yourself, and to
also give yourself the opportunities for employment.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Kevin Boyle, new head coach ats Fire Academy, Welcome to
northeastow High.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
Thank you, thanks so much for your time.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
For sure can't wait to see you get this product
out on the court here in Geneva. Hi.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
That'll do it for this episode of the Landscape. Make
sure to tune back in for future episodes as we
bring you guests from across the land. You can find
us on Rock Entertainment, Sports Network, or wherever you get
your podcasts. Until next time, I'm Dave Bacon. Have a
good night.
Host
Serena Winters
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