Jared Shetzer earned the Hustle Trophy playing basketball as a Clyde freshman 24 years ago.
His attitude hasn't changed as he takes the helm for Fliers varsity boys basketball. Superintendent Lucas Messer was an assistant coach for Shetzer’s team in high school.
“I was undersized, I wasn’t the most athletic,” he said. “I was 5-6, 130 pounds. I wanted that award. I won it the first few weeks and I didn’t want to give it up. I still have that in the basement; the kids play with it. I’ll probably bring that back.”
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Shetzer wants to see 80 shots per game on offense and constant harassment on defense. Think Paul Westhead and Loyola Marymount, because Shetzer does.
“We’re going to be the brotherhood, we’re all in this together,” he said. “Be your brother's keeper. On the floor, people will have to be prepared. We’ll play fast. You hear that all the time, fast. Sometimes coaches overthink.
"We’re going to pressure and take 70 shots and play lots of kids. It’s a hard way to play. It’s a fun way to play. Disciplined chaos.”
Shetzer was varsity boys head coach at Bay Village for nine years. It advanced to state in 2016, a regional final in 2018 and played in a district final five straight years. He was coach of the year four times.
“Somebody took an opportunity on me,” he said. “I learned around great people who believe in me.”
Coaching at state his third season provided Shetzer new perspective on character, family, faith and relationships early in his career.
“The journey is so much better than the end, win or lose,” he said. “I realized (the journey) was different. In the end, win or lose it’s the same conversation with the team. You don’t remember all the teams when you’re young, you remember the friends.
“Ultimately, if you don’t enjoy the day to day, you can take the end out. Even if you win, you try to win again. You try to be the same guy, winning or losing. That perspective is important.”
Shetzer was an assistant for Ryan Fretz at Clyde the past two years.
“When the opportunity came open, I had that long conversation with my wife,” he said. “Is this doable? All that came together. It wasn’t planned, it just worked out. When I moved back, I didn’t know I’d be in this position.
“We came back for family, so our kids were with grandparents and aunts and uncles. It’s exciting to be home with the kids and family.”
Shetzer learned to catalog practice time from Fretz so you can easily shift to spend more time on weak areas.
“His car would be at the middle school on a Sunday,” he said. “It takes 21 days to create a good habit. So, you better do it 21 days in a row. Ryan’s practice plans had categories. Ryan is phenomenal with organization, Xs and Os.
“His attention to detail is better than I’ve seen. He cares and he spends time making sure he and the kids are prepared.”
Shetzer wants the Fliers to behave like a family on the court.
“We can hit reset a little bit,” he said. “The style of play will bring the best out of the kids. They can play fast and make choices. I give kids freedom, but discipline comes first. It comes down to how much they play for each other and we can have a lot of success.
“Everybody knows Brayden Olson and Brennan Wilson, but we have role players and a strong senior class. The kids back have to learn the system and how hard we play.”
Shetzer, who graduated from Clyde in 2003, played basketball for the Fliers until sophomore year. He played for Victory Christian Fellowship Church in Fremont his final two years.
“We care about developing a winning culture and teaching life lessons through sports,” he said. “They’ll be fathers and husbands and workers. The impact I want to have is bigger than basketball. I want to help them be successful and have an impact on their lives.
"On the floor, I want them to have fun and learn to handle adversity and how to be successful. It’s a double goal, winning and life lessons. The kids should have three goals. Make themselves better, make the team better and make the game better.”
mhorn@gannett.com
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