Rickman resigns coaching position at CCHS

Daniel Rickman knew the day would come when he would give up his coaching responsibilities. 

The long-time Cumberland County High School bowling coach, besides being responsible for the girls and boys’ teams, also has a full slate of classes to teach.

And over a decade of working through all those responsibilities finally took their toll. Rickman, who teaches career and technical education, announced earlier this week that he is resigning his position as bowling coach  

“I have been teaching at CCHS for 13 years, and I have been coaching bowling for the past 11 years,” Rickman said. “Eleven years is a long time to coach. Plus, at the school I do a lot of different things like digital media, photography, yearbook. I missed a lot of things because of bowling.”

Rickman came on to replace former coach Craig Taylor. He said the athletic director at the time, Jon Hall, “encouraged” him to take the position.

“Coach Rickman told us he was retiring a couple of months ago,” said Alex Smith, a senior on the team. “I didn’t really think much about it. I know a lot of the players will be sad he’s not coming back.”

“I didn’t have much experience in bowling when I took over, so I just talked to and worked with people that had a lot of experience,” Rickman said. 

“I worked with them as much as I could, and I asked a lot of questions.

“Coaching a sport you’re not really familiar with is not that difficult,” the coach continued. “Everything has a system, and once you figure all that out, you’re going to be OK. It really comes down to where you put your best six bowlers for the match, and everything just goes from there.”

He said he also did a lot of research in the game, looking to pick up the finer details of bowling – the approach, the release, lane conditions.

“It was difficult in the early years with the program, but we figured it out,” said Rickman, who said he’s not completely given up on coaching. “In the early years we had success, but it was like we were just one player from getting over the top. We had a lot of good kids and I am very fortunate for that.”

He read a book by former NFL great Herm Edwards entitled, “You Play to Win the Game.” 

Rickman said it helped him develop a coaching style geared more to treating players like adults instead of yelling at them for a mistake.

Cumberland County won its first district crown in 2021. 

Since then, the Jets have also captured the top spot in the district in each of the past two seasons. 

They went to the sectional tournament just a couple of weeks ago.

A search for Rickman’s replacement has already been started.  

The former coach said the top candidate is a former player, but would not give his name.

Smith said he has a message for Rickman before he leaves.

“Thank you for always believing in us,” he said, “and telling us to never give up.”