With two kids starting to hit the age where dad doesn’t want to miss out, Conner High School baseball coach Brad Arlinghaus has resigned from his position.
Arlinghaus has been the head coach in Hebron for 17 seasons, taking the program over in 2007.
“Coaching for that long is a difficult thing to do. Selfishly we’re disappointed, we don’t want to see him go. He’s an outstanding coach and person. His kids played hard for him. He’ll be hard to replace and is a good friend of mine,” Cougars athletic director Jim Hicks said.
Arlinghaus won 327 games in his tenure with a region championship and four district titles. He’s a five-time NKBCA Coach of the Year and has had 44 of his players go on to play in college.
Even with all the accolades, Arlinghaus or ‘Arlo” as they call him, is most proud of the relationships built with his coaches, players and administration over that time.
“It was a quick 17 years, not going to lie. At our banquet last night I joked when they hired me I couldn’t even balance my own checkbook at the time,” Arlinghaus said. “I’ve been blessed with talented and great kids. I just hope my lasting legacy is the close relationships I built. I still call my former players kids and some of them are in their 30’s and have kids of their own.”
Widely regarded as one of the top teams in the region year in, year out, the Cougars reached their pinnacle in 2014 with a 26-10 record and won the 9th Region tournament. They went on to reach the state quarterfinals, winning their first round state tournament game over Boyd County.
Outside of his primary job which is teaching AP European history at Conner, Arlinghaus primary focus will be dad.
“My five and seven-year-olds are getting involved in sports. My wife and mom are running them all over. Getting texts about their success and hearing about their first hits and school events missed started to weigh on me. I need to be a dad and that’s what’s most important,” Arlinghaus said.
Arlinghaus is a Covington Catholic grad and as he departs, so do 13 seniors. It’s a senior class that won 75 games over the last three seasons, essentially paving way for a new era of Cougar baseball.
“So many memorable things and kids. Conner is a program that is respected in the region and I hope that the program continues to grow,” Arlinghaus said.
While Arlinghaus is stepping away from the game, he still plans to have a birds-eye view of it.
“Joe Aylor (Ryle’s head coach), was my JV coach for a while so maybe I’ll help throw BP for him or others. I still hope to catch some games and be a part of it. I’ll just be doing a little more homework with my kids now,” Arlinghaus said.
Arlinghaus has five kids in total, three of them his stepsons who are 23, 19 and 15 years old.
Hicks said the job will be posted soon.
“Never thought this day would come, but we feel this position will be well sought after considering the success that Coach Arlinghaus helped build upon,” Hicks said.