Triad coach enjoys taking young roster back to the basics

Now in his 21st season as a head coach at Triad High School, Paul Bassler is going back to teaching this season.

And he is loving every minute of it.

One year after leading the Knights to an 8-2 season, Bassler has one of his most inexperienced teams in years with just 11 seniors on the Knights’ 2018 roster.

“We had a big group of 26 seniors last year who graduated and we’re very thin in the senior class with only 11 seniors on our roster. Because of that we’re doing a lot of teaching and I’m loving it. I’m earning my paycheck this year instead of standing and watching other guys,’’ Baasler said. “Not many of these kids have played so we’ll have to be patient here the first couple of weeks.

The Knights open their season at Mattoon on Friday then host Collinsville in week two.

The Knights do have some talent returning. Running back Devin Towns gained over 400 yards and averaged almost five yards per carry while Luke Foreman (239 yards) and Amaziah Lusk (145 yards) also return in the backfield.

Senior Evan Anderson is one of two starting offensive linemen who will return while Logan Wongler is one of two players competing for the starting job at quarterback.

This story was originally published August 23, 2018 at 2:42 PM.