Published: July 16, 2008 02:24 am            

Carlson tabbed HHS boys hoops coach

Hornet AD promotes top assistant to replace Anderson

Huntsville athletic director Mitchell Coey didn’t have to look far for a new varsity boys basketball coach. In fact, he didn’t even have to leave Paul Bohan Gym.

After spending the last four years as former head coach Doug Anderson’s top assistant, Larry Carlson will take over the Hornet program Coey announced Tuesday afternoon.

“Larry has been a part of a successful program under Doug Anderson and he helped build it up the past three or four years,” Coey said. “We are going to continue with that same process. Larry will tweak it to his philosophy, which is like Doug’s. I think with Larry, that the program will not skip a beat, and he deserves this opportunity. He has earned it.”

It’s a dream come true for Carlson, who has been a Huntsville ISD coach for eight years, getting his start at Mance Park Middle school in 2000. He has patiently worked his way up the ranks and now has a team to call his own.

“I feel real fortunate. First of all, coaching under Doug has helped me a whole lot,” Carlson said. “There aren’t a lot of young coaches that get the opportunity to coach under someone that can teach them something, and Doug pushed me along and helped me learn a lot of stuff. I feel like I’m ready for this job, and I’ve always wanted to be a head coach.”

Carlson said that he had a couple of offers to coach elsewhere this summer, but he couldn’t leave Huntsville. He’s a Hornet and wants things to stay that way.

“I actually had some opportunities to leave once or twice this summer, but my heart told me I had to stay here because my kids are Hornets, my wife wants me to be a Hornet and I don’t want to leave,” Carlson said. “I want to continue to help build up this athletic program instead of being one of the people on the ship out of here.”

Carlson takes over a program that Anderson helped turn into one of the top in the state in Class 4A, going 152-99 over the past eight seasons, including two years in 5A. The Hornets have won back-to-back District 18-4A championships and have made the playoffs three years in a row.

In 2007, Huntsville went 30-4 and advanced to the Region III semifinals before falling to Beaumont Ozen on a last-second shot.

This past season, the Hornets ran the table in 18-4A and came awfully close to knocking off No. 1 Houston Yates (a 63-62 loss) in the regional quarterfinals. Huntsville returns all but two players for this upcoming season.

“I’m pleased with this decision and I think our basketball program is going to continue to be successful,” Coey said. “We have a lot of returning kids, and we aren’t changing much. We are going to do the same things we have been doing. That program is not broke, so I’m not trying to fix it. Larry brings a lot to the table, he has been involved with it and will continue that process.”

Carlson said that he looks forward to the challenge that comes with taking over a program with a winning tradition.

“It doesn’t matter to me if we were in a winning situation or a losing situation because these are the kids I want,” Carlson said. “I know they work hard and will continue to work hard. There are expectations there. We have put it on ourselves. We have put pressure on ourselves by winning, and I want to keep putting pressure on ourselves by winning. To me, losing is not acceptable, so I fully expect this team to keep winning.”

Junior varsity head coach Jay Oliphant, who was also one of the leading candidates to replace Anderson, was promoted to be Carlson’s top assistant.

“None of the success that this program has had would have been possible without Jay,” Carlson added. “I look forward to working with him, and he is a valuable part of this program.”

        

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