ROCKLAND, Maine — The Oceanside varsity boys basketball team is looking for a new head coach as Larry Reed has resigned in the early stages of the team’s season.
Reed has coached the team for the past six years and was four games into his seventh year.
Excluding the pandemic-shortened, regionalized 2020-21 campaign, Reed coached the team to a 72-32 record in just over five seasons, including back-to-back Class B South regional championships.
Oceanside is currently 1-3 through four games.
“This morning, I accepted coach Larry Reed’s resignation from his role with our boys basketball program,” athletic director Troy Smith announced Monday on the school’s Facebook page. “Coach Reed dedicated 23 years of service to Oceanside basketball, making a lasting impact on countless student-athletes, families and the broader Oceanside community. We are grateful for his commitment, leadership, and the time he invested in our program.”
Trevor Reed has been tabbed as the school’s new varsity coach for the remainder of the season and will be assisted by Chad Blake.
Both Trevor Reed, unrelated to Larry Reed, and Blake have been varsity assistants to Larry Reed this season.
“I thought we’d get off to a better start this year and we didn’t,” the 55-year-old Reed said. “I feel the burden of that, and I think that’s my responsibility. And I think maybe it’s just time for a new voice.”
Reed was tabbed as the school’s new coach in March 2019 following the resignation of Matt Breen, who moved over to coach the school’s varsity girls program. Reed was previously Breen’s assistant coach at Oceanside and prior at Rockland District High School for 15 years.
Reed, a 1989 Rockland District High School graduate, cited continued outside parental pressure as the reason for his departure.
“The kids are never, ever the problem,” he said. “The kids are great. The kids understand ‘This is my role on the team, I’m going to show up to practice.’ Parents never get that. They want kids to be superstars in their freshman and sophomore years. They’re 15 years old and a lot of times playing against guys that are 18 years old. Their expectations are not realistic for what their kids are at that time.”
In the preseason, he characterized his Mariner team as “very young with lots of heart.”
Reed said he was subjected to personal attacks at the end of last season “that bothered me a lot, but I thought I would hang on for the benefit of the kids. I was really excited coming into the season.”
He said the situation escalated following the team’s 60-42 home loss against Leavitt of Turner Saturday when a group of parents continued to criticize him about playing time concerns.
Reed planned to resign following Saturday’s game, but was compelled by Smith to take the weekend to further consider his options.
“He said, ‘After this much time, you owe it to the program to take the weekend and really think about what you want to do,’” Reed said. “And I did take that time.”
He added Smith, principal Jesse Bartke and previous athletic directors and principals “have always been extremely supportive of me throughout my entire tenure.”
The 55-year-old Reed said he would be open to coach again at a lower capacity, but “I don’t want to be a [varsity] head coach anymore.”
“I’ve put in 23 ½ years. I have not done a disservice to the coaching ranks at Rockland and Oceanside. I’ve done my job. It’s time for something new.”
Reed is the third high school varsity coach to resign in the early stages of the season for various reasons, along with John Bapst’s Chris Bryant and Brewer’s Carl Parker.