HUDSONVILLE, Mich. — There is something special about the Glass name in Hudsonville.
Jack Glass was a legendary football wrestling coach of the Eagles for over 40 years. He will be inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in June.
His son, Casey, decided to follow in his dad's footsteps as a coach.
"My dad has been one of the biggest impacts of my life," Casey Glass said.
Casey coached a different sport. He has been the girls basketball head coach at Hudsonville for 15 years but decided to step down to be closer to his wife Maureen and their three kids Avery, Kylie and Colson.
"I have always preached that it is faith, family and basketball, my job," Glass said. "Those two things come after those two other things. My family is there and I am going to do that for my family. It is the right thing. It is the right time and it feels good. Obviously, it is always hard to walk away but walking away to be there for my family makes it an easy decision."
Glass had the honor of coaching Avery this season. He wants to watch Kylie and Colson from the bleachers as the proud and "hopefully" quiet dad until his youngest graduates from high school.
"I am going to be all in as a Dad and somebody else can be all in on the team," Glass said. "The best part about it for me is that I am still working here."
The 43-year-old will remain at the school as the assistant athletic director. He does not want to leave a place that has meant so much to his career.
"What I learned right away is that we have an amazing community," Glass said. "From the day I started to now, the people here are what make it so much fun to coach. Our parents do an amazing job of raising their kids the right way."
The 1999 Hudsonville High School graduate went 228-126 in his decade-and-a-half leading the Eagles girls basketball program. He even helped the program win its first state championship in 2021.
"I would be lying if I said it wasn't just an amazing experience," Glass said. "I think what made it more amazing was the kids. The way the community bought into everything. It was probably one of the most difficult times coming out of covid not knowing if we were going to have a season. We will probably be the only team to win a state championship in April."
However, winning a state championship never seemed like a possibility.
"I never envisioned having a state championship on the wall," Glass said. "God has different plans for everybody and that was in the cards for us. I am proud to be a part of it and a coach for these kids here."
Glass credits his success to the 2013-14 season when Hudsonville finished with a 2-19 record. He took a step back that season to figure out what he values most. He says life lessons and treating each other as family was higher on the list than wins. Glass believes that helped the culture become what it is today.
"We have really focused on that over the course of the past 10, 11 years," Glass said. "I think that has led to a lot of success on the court, but also off the court."
Glass said in six years after Colson is done with high school, he would consider getting back into coaching. But for now, he just wants to focus on being "dad."
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