Randolph basketball coach retires
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Stefan Hard/Times Argus file |
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By Pete Hartt Times Argus Staff - Published: December 2, 2008
RANDOLPH – Last Thursday, for the first time in more than three decades, Bruce Viens did something different on Thanksgiving.
He stayed home … all day.
"To tell you the truth, I was kind of bored," Viens said.
Not surprising, since for at least the past 32 years Viens has coached basketball on Thanksgiving and not coaching will likely take a little adjustment.
"I've only been down to practice once," Viens admitted .
The Randolph Galloping Ghosts boys basketball practices are being run this year by Jeremy Rilling, a former Ghost player who played for Viens from 1994 to 1998. Another Randolph grad, Mike Hildenbrand, is coaching the junior varsity team, and it is the presence of the pair that may make Viens' retirement a little easier ... but still an adjustment.
Viens went to school at Rice High School in Burlington, playing three sports. He then went to college and started coaching with Dick Jarvis at the long-gone Sacred Heart High School in Newport in 1971. Five years later he took over the reins at Randolph and since then the reins he has held have guided a lot of Galloping Ghosts, including boys and girls varsity soccer, junior varsity baseball and a host of junior high school programs. He also spent 30 years as the Randolph athletic director, the only job he didn't give up over the summer.
"When my wife and I decided to stop teaching we just wanted to be able to do some different things," Viens said. "We thought we would like to travel, and I have a son that is an assistant coach at Babson. At some point I knew if I kept coaching we wouldn't ever get to that stuff."
What Randolph has lost with Viens' decision is one of the most respected coaches in the state, 377 victories (against 308 losses), a state championship winner (in 1996) and, perhaps most importantly, a regular and valued rival of equally long-tenured U-32 coach Dan Gandin.
"We have been butting heads a long time," Viens said of Gandin. "Two guys stand out (that I have coached against). Lenny Drew (former Montpelier coach) and I spent a lot of time together and got to be very good friends, and I really enjoy coaching against Dan. There are not many secrets between us any more. And I also really liked coaching against Dave Nelson."
At first glance, Viens looks more like his social studies teaching alter ego than a basketball coach. He's not all that tall, and he almost seems too calm. The coaching Viens is a fiery competitor and a demanding leader.
It would be impossible for Viens to pick out a favorite team, or player, or game. But it's easy for him to pick out the highlight of his career.
"It's the contacts you make, the people you get to know," he said. "The coaches in our league have all been great guys. They know if you have a down year, and you know they are not going to really put it to you."
At age 61, Viens could always come back to coaching at some point. However, he has no plans to do so at this point. Later this month he'll travel to an athletic directors convention in San Diego and in January he'll visit Florida, two trips that would have been out of the question prior to this winter.
And if Viens proves to be as good at retiring as he has been at coaching, last Thursday's boredom problem will be quickly corrected.
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