Simmons Superlatives: Best Coach

One of the hardest Simmons Superlatives to write is the Best Coach list for boys and girls sports. None of them like the praise – or, at the very least, they aren’t doing what they’re doing for praise.

If you try to shine light on one, they’ll start pointing to 2-3 more head coaches at their school or their assistants and say, “that’s the real star.” And almost all of them subscribe to Chris Sullens’ favorite motto for coaching success – You don’t win without good players.

Still, I think there’s definitely some coaches who stepped up and showed out during the 2024-25 school year. I did pair down the lists for coaches from five to three, mostly for my own sanity. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to write two 1,000-word stories a day for a week, but at some point you just run out of adjectives for success.

Let’s just get on with the list!

Danny Fish, WCHS basketball

It’s easy to recite Fish’s resume for a Simmons Superlative for Best Coach: He was District 9-4A coach of the year, guided the Pioneers to another district championship (his second in three seasons at WCHS) and presided over one of the longest winning streaks in recent school history this winter (13 straight victories from Dec. 20 – Jan. 31).

If you’re doing the quick math at home, Fish and the Pioneers didn’t lose a game for an entire month this year. And, for good measure, the winning streak also started when the Pioneers went and won the DTC Christmas Classic tournament in Gordonsville.

But really, I don’t even know if the victories or the accolades stood out as much to me as “The Brotherhood” mantra did in 2024-25. All coaches have their sayings or mantras that stick, but when you’re talking about building the culture of a program, it can’t just be a saying. It can’t just be talk.

You have to live it. It has to be present daily, in both words and action.

Fish lives and leads the Brotherhood when it comes to the Pioneers. As he’d probably say, “I’m not just the founder, I’m a client, too.” Or something a lot flashier and catchier; His sayings are always top notch.

Every single time there’s a chance to highlight it, Fish pushes the right buttons. Case in point --- actually, scratch that. I’ll save that story for the Best Moments coming Thursday.

Like his counterpart in the girls Best Coaches list, I think it says something about his leadership and the health of his program that so many kids want to be a part of it. He had over 70 guys show up last week to try to be Pioneers. Or, as Fish would say it, “to be part of the Brotherhood.”

Good leader. Better man. Warren County is lucky to have Fish.

Josh Harris, WCHS wrestling

Another coach of the year honor for Warren County (this one in District 7-AA), Harris did a more than capable job on the mat for the Pioneers in the winter. He guided six wrestlers (all mentioned in the Superlatives over the last week) to the state tournament, including his daughter and five standouts on the boys side (one of which, Jakoby Odineal, came back with a medal).

I don’t think Harris got the job in a fashion he would’ve liked, but we don’t have to go down that road too far. Instead, let’s just say that Warren County was fortunate Harris was already in the mix with the program and took the reins when somebody had to, pushing the Pioneers to a district title in his first season at the helm of the boys team (he was the girls coach the previous year).

When it comes to coaching, I don’t think it’s always necessary to have lived experience in the sport, but I don’t think it ever hurts. For wrestling, it may be more important than other team sports because you may have needed to feel that desperation - that second of sheer terror when the ref is checking for shoulders – to try to coach a kid out of it.

In the nicest way possible (because I think he could body-slam me through a table in 0.2 seconds if he wanted to), Harris just gives off old-school wrestler vibes. And I think the kids love that energy.

He’s passionate, but controlled on the sidelines. He’s able to get in the mix in practice and be hands on in explaining or showing moves. And, most of all, he feels every win or loss with them, giving them a shoulder to cry on or – in the case of his daughter when she clinched a medal – a giant hug in celebration.

Harris is the kind of winner you want around Warren County to grow the sport even more.

Jeremy Wilhelm, WCHS track

I couldn’t exactly figure out where to put Wilhelm this year. It would’ve been just as easy to push him to the girls list since he coached Emma Woodlee to the state tournament this spring as well, but ultimately I figured since Luke Saldana was a state runner-up, I’d side with Wilhelm on the boys list (bumping off fellow WCHS spring coaches Phillip King, who led the Pioneers to 17 wins, and Alex Cordova after he pushed the Pioneer soccer program to 10 wins and a No. 2 seed).

Wilhelm would be quick to share the praise for the coaching of the track team with the people who are there to help a ton: James Saldana and Kristen Van Vranken. And, for sure, they deserve plenty of credit, too.

But assistant coaches rarely get the Best Coach award, though maybe I’ll give it to myself in 2025-26 if I really just want to end these columns all together with a bang.

Wilhelm earns the nod because he’s pushed WCHS into a different trajectory on the track, even when he doesn’t even have a track to practice the Pioneers or Lady Pioneers on in the spring. More and more kids are coming out to participate and – in turn – more and more kids are qualifying for sectionals and state.

Don’t be shocked if Wilhelm has multiple state medalists next year or a state champion. The program is in great shape under his watchful eyes.