By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Brad Carr will resume his boys basketball coaching career at the high school where it all began for him.
Carr, a 1987 graduate of Holmes High School, was named head coach of the Bulldogs on Monday. This is the first time that a Holmes graduate and former player has been hired for that position.
Brad Carr
“It has been a dream of mine – to coach where I played,’’ Carr said. “I always believed it would be a great opportunity to give back to the community and it would allow me to pay back all the people who gave me so much and helped me along my journey.’’
Carr, 48, was an assistant coach at Holmes and Simon Kenton before getting his first head coaching job at Scott from 2004-2016. In 12 seasons, his teams compiled a 187-174 record and 10 of them qualified for the 10th Region tournament. Scott was regional runner-up in 2013 and 2015.
Carr resigned as Scott’s head coach after the 2015-16 season and is now assistant principal at Holmes Middle School.
“I really wasn’t looking for a (coaching) job,” he said. “I was very happy with what I was doing at the middle school with being assistant principal. As luck would have it, this job opened up and I was in the right place at the right time.”
Carr is replacing Mike Listerman, who retired from coaching after spending the last four seasons at Holmes. His teams compiled a 60-53 record, including this year’s 12-15 mark.
“We are pleased to have Brad as our new coach,’’ said Holmes principal Scott Hornblower. “It was a very competitive process as we had several great candidates. We look forward to Brad developing and moving the program forward.’’
Holmes had five seniors in the starting lineup for most of last season. Carr knows he will be rebuilding his first team around players with limited varsity experience.
“But as you know and I know, Holmes always has a lot of talent, and sometimes those kids just need to be given an opportunity,” he said. “So, with a fresh look and a different coach, all these kids will be given an opportunity to play and show me what they have.”
While Carr was head coach at Scott, his teams used an up-tempo style of play that was once a trademark of the successful teams at Holmes. The Bulldogs have won more 9th Region championships than any other team, but the last one was in 2013.
“I’d like to play very similar to how we played at Scott,” Carr said. “We got up and down the floor and played fast-pace. But I’m going to adapt my style (of coaching) according to those kids, and not make them adapt to me. We’re going to come up with something that makes them successful and the program successful.”
Carr found out he got the Holmes coaching job on the same day that his mother, Wanda, was celebrating her 92nd birthday. He said that was a good omen and plans to help his players become great students as well as great athletes.
“I want them to use basketball as a way to become successful,’’ he said. “Basketball teaches them self-discipline, teamwork and how to be selfless. As a result, that will make them better husbands, fathers, citizens and human beings.”
