New perspective: Glenwood coach Blakeman recharged after two-year hiatus

It turns out that Todd Blakeman really missed screaming at the top of his lungs while pacing a sideline and grimacing with every missed assignment and agonizing over every possession of the basketball for his Chatham Glenwood Titans. Maybe not as much those things, but here’s what Blakeman really did miss, and why it brought him back to the Titans basketball head coaching job after two years in the wilderness:

It's that esprit de corps that only comes from participating in a team event. It’s that buzz of seeing the plays you worked on all night being executed to perfection by people a quarter your age. Most of all, as was evident after Saturday night’s 48-34 victory for the Titans over Sacred Heart-Griffin at Jim Belz Gymnasium, it’s those few minutes of true camaraderie in a closed-door locker room, where males of all ages can yell and hug and exhort and just let their inner selves out for a few minutes before going back out to polite society.

“I really missed it,” Blakeman, 53, said just outside of the loud, victorious locker room. “When you’re out for two years, you get a little different perspective. Outside looking in, things just don’t mean as much to you. You see things a little differently. I see things clearer. I don’t take anything for granted anymore.”

It wasn’t so much of a midlife crisis that prompted Blakeman to resign as Glenwood boys basketball coach suddenly in 2021, after 15 years, two Central State Eight Conference titles and a 270-200 record. Blakeman, who still taught social studies at the school, describes it more as just kind of a “tired” thing.

He thought a quieter life of just teaching and fishing would be a better way to go at his stage. No more sleepless nights after a tough loss. No more gripes from parents about their kid’s playing time. No more of the office politics and bureaucratic red tape that is starting to take over high school sports more and more these days.

But the more of the supposed “good life” kept going by, the more Blakeman came to realize that his best life had been left behind.

“I love the team. I’m a team guy. I try to tell my kids, ‘I’ve got your back, I just want you to have mine,’” said Blakeman, a 1989 draft pick of the Minnesota Twins whose pro baseball career never advanced past Single-A. “When I walked away, it wasn’t really that I wanted to walk away. I just didn’t like things the way they were going on at the time. I just didn’t feel right. I thought it was time to step away. Maybe charge my battery a little, I don’t know.”

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When the Glenwood boys basketball job came open again after the Ball-Chatham school board dismissed coach Kody Kirkpatrick’s contract renewal in a 4-3 vote, Blakeman let it be known he wanted another shot. Blakeman was reinstated in a unanimous school board vote.

“Our whole basketball group, yeah, we were hyped,” said 6-foot-5 junior Cameron Appenzeller, who provided the chef’s kiss to Saturday’s victory over SHG with a thunderous lefty dunk late in the game. “I love him as a coach. He pushes us. It’s nice to have a coach who pushes you, but who you know you’ll do anything for. It works out perfect.”

The Titans aren’t perfect yet, with three losses. But they’ve won seven games and are 3-0 in the CS8. They’ve got some serious height with Appenzeller, 6-7 freshman center Mason Neumann and 6-4 juniors Jonathan Helm and Matt Held.

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Blakeman said he has had to teach his players — only one of whom (senior Jack Detro) had played for him before — his systems and way of doing things. It’s not like he just picked up where he left off with a bunch of familiar players.

But that’s been the fun part, the part Blakeman didn’t know he’d miss as much as he did. He’s got six years left as a social studies teacher before he can take retirement with full benefits.

“I told them when I took the job, ‘You’ve got me for six,’” Blakeman said. “I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s further away again than what I thought it was. And I’m happy about that.”

Adrian Dater is a freelance writer for The State Journal-Register. He can be reached through the sports department at sports@sj-r.com.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Welcome back Blakeman: After two-year break, Glenwood hoops has its man again