SOUTH BEND — For more than 20 years, Tom and Jackie Sanchez have been coaching football and volleyball at South Bend High School.
This fall, the couple will be in the stands after stepping down from their coaching positions recently, ending two of the longest standing tenures at their sports on the Twin Harbors.
For both, it will be a new experience this fall away from the sidelines. Throughout their careers, both coaches have been working during the fall and spending time together was a part of the reason for both leaving their coaching posts.
“I am looking forward to spending time with my husband,” Jackie said. “With both of us coaching every fall of our entire marriage, it will be nice to see each other after work, to go together to watch (daughter) Jessica play volleyball and we can decide what we want our Friday nights to look like.”
“If someone would have told me I would have been coaching at South Bend for 24 years, I would have told them they were nuts,” Tom said. “It is going to be strange to be on the sidelines in the fall and I’m going to have more time to spend with Jackie.”
They will both still be around South Bend on campus — Tom will continue as the athletic director and high school physical education/history/social studies teacher and Jackie will continue as a high school and middle school math teacher.
In football, Tom piloted the Indians for 24 seasons to a 105-130 record, including a 2010 state 2B championship. He noted that he’s had a rather unique football coaching path at South Bend — a rough patch to start and finish, with a pretty good run in the middle.
“I’ve probably experienced more as a football coach in the state than most coaches,” Tom added. “Football has been such a big part of what I’ve done for a long time.
“I’ll miss the instructional part of practice,” he said. “To me, that was so much fun to be able to impliment what you want to do, teach your beliefs and core values. And, of course, Friday nights. There isn’t anything else like it. I grew up a football junkie. My Dad (Bud) was a coach. I remember that since I was 4 years old. That is something that will take a bit of getting used to.”
In volleyball, Jackie coached the Indians for 20 seasons to a 274-112 record, including a 2002 state B runner-up finish. South Bend qualified for the state tournament 12 times and was a District IV B power program throughout her time on the sidelines. She also coached middle school basketball as well.
“I am going to miss my players the most,” Jackie said. “I love coaching, and I love the kids. Having a relationship with students outside of my math classroom has been awesome! I really love, and will miss, teaching the fundamentals and techniques of the game. I will miss strategizing how to get the most out of our serve-receive rotations. I will especially miss the celebrating and excitement of those big plays or those huge wins in an exciting match.”
When asked for their favorite memories, both coaches talked about their players and experiences.
“I loved the feeling at each district tournament when our team qualified for the state tournament,” Jackie said. “The sheer joy on the kids’ face was awesome. The times we placed at state were so exciting and playing in the state championship match was just so cool. Other favorite memories are just special moments shared between different players and myself — when you coach, your players become like your own kids.”
