Ackermann ready to go the distance at Baldwin
After 19 seasons, Jeff Ackermann has some wear and tear on those coaching tires. And it’s literally mileage that made Ackermann think he needed a change.
Ackermann was named the new boys basketball coach at Baldwin High School Wednesday night. His hiring was approved by the Baldwin school board.
Ackermann, 46, is not some retread coach who is spinning his wheels at different schools. True, he has been a head coach for almost two decades, but this is a guy who has won five WPIAL championships and one PIAA title in his career. The question is why would Ackermann leave a top program at Pine-Richland, where he won two WPIAL titles and 126 games in six seasons, to come to a program like Baldwin? Over the past 35 seasons, the “win” has often been missing from Baldwin because the Highlanders have won one playoff game in that time.
Ackermann knows many might be scratching their heads at his job change. So what exactly made him do it? Ackermann said it was his family — and his car.
Ackermann was spending too much time in his car for his liking.
Ackermann lives in South Fayette with his wife, Jill, and three children, ages 2, 6 and 8. The drive from his house to Pine-Richland is 32 miles. The drive to Baldwin is 15 miles.
“At Pine-Richland, I had a job that I thoroughly enjoyed, where the kids and the parents were great, the administration totally left me alone and supported us, and the boosters were super supportive,” Ackermann said. “PineRichland exceeded every
expectation I had for the place.
“Am I crazy to walk away from Pine-Richland? Well, the drive [to and from PineRichland] kind of wears you down after six years of doing it. Depending on things that go on like traffic, it could take around 38 minutes or more than an hour. I understand the drive to Baldwin. It’s not like I can go 60 miles an hour. There are red lights, but it is still so much better for me and my family.”
Ackermann was 126-35 at Pine-Richland. Before becoming the Rams’ coach in 2014, Ackermann spent 13 seasons as Moon’s coach, where he was 224-116 with three WPIAL titles. But the school opened his position after the 2013-14 season.
It was only two years ago that Ackermann thought about giving up coaching, after his son, Bryson, contracted acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a polio-like illness that left him unable to walk for a while. Bryson was 6 at the time and he is now walking and attended school again.
“I can’t thank Pine-Richland enough for supporting me when Bryson was sick,” said Ackermann, who has a 350-151 career record.
“He’s not 100% yet, but he’s amazing now compared to then.”
Ackermann didn’t seek out the Baldwin job. He said Baldwin’s administrators called him a few weeks ago to see if he would be interested in the open position. Ackermann had thought about possibly getting a coaching job closer to his home (he also teaches at Chartiers Valley High School). He knew about Baldwin’s lack of tradition, but the more he investigated the job, the more intrigued he became. He had three interviews for Baldwin before accepting the job.
Baldwin was 14-29 the past two seasons under Eugene Wilson.
“I watched some of Baldwin’s games on Hudl [video],” Ackermann said. “I feel like they have some talent. It might be weird to say that because they haven’t been that successful in quite some time. But I looked at their team roster, and they have 19 of 20 guys back from this year’s team. They have some talent, some size, a bunch of young guards and young players. If I can find the right combination, I believe we’re going to win. I wouldn’t have taken the job if I didn’t think we were going to win.”