Tom Triggs retakes hoops helm at Suburban
Trojans also officially name Matt Marshall athletic director
Tom Triggs needed a break from coaching in 2012 when he ended his 14-year run at the helm of the York Suburban boys’ basketball program.
Now after a four-year break, Triggs is back with the Trojans after the school board approved his hiring on Monday to fill its vacant head coaching position. Triggs, a 1979 graduate and a current teacher at Suburban, takes over the head coaching seat after Dustin Boeckel resigned March 21.
“Knowing some of the kids in an academic setting, I just thought it was an opportunity to coach those kids on the court. And be able to be with them in the school environment as well,” Triggs said. “I’m excited. I think it’s a great opportunity for me to see if what worked before can work again.”
As one of three people to have coached the Suburban boys’ basketball program, Triggs is no stranger to the community. His first term as head coach ran from the 1998-99 season through the 2011-12 campaign. The Trojans went 218-120 during that time and won the program’s only District 3 Class AAA championship.
He also led York Suburban to nine consecutive league and district playoff appearances, and his teams qualified for the state playoffs during four of his last six seasons.
While Triggs hasn’t been a head coach since 2012, he did serve as an assistant at West York the past two seasons. His time with the Bulldogs helped him inch his way back into basketball and it helped Triggs come to an important realization.
“I just thought it would be a good fit and a good way to reintroduce myself at the varsity level,” Triggs said about the experience. “I thoroughly enjoyed myself at West York. … And it just got me thinking again if the right opportunity (to coach) would arise I would be interested.”
Triggs anticipates that there will be an adjustment period once he takes over. The Trojans are coming off a 6-16 season and the players will have to get used to a different style the veteran basketball coach brings back to York Suburban.
“I think we have to walk before we run,” Triggs said. “The system that I run, defensively especially, is going to be a lot different than what the kids are used to. Hopefully with their commitment in the gym we’re going to get back to the types of defenses that we used when I was the head coach.”
Still, Triggs is optimistic with the team he inherits once the new basketball season arrives. “I think we have a pretty good nucleus coming back,” he said.
Triggs was not the only hire approved by the school board on Monday. They also approved the hiring of new athletic director Matt Marshall, who served as an assistant coordinator for the football team last season.
The two new Suburban hires have yet to talk now that they are colleagues, but Triggs is familiar with Marshall.
“I’ve met Matt in the past,” Triggs said. “I know his father Brian very well being a teacher at Suburban. Matt has been around the high school a good bit… I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Matt a number of times the last few years. He seems like a great guy and well organized.
“I’m kind of anxious to work with him as well to see what he brings to the table.”