Published: November 06, 2009 01:05 am      

The 'Z' Team

Dragon coach saves spot on staff for brother

Jeff Zimmerman knew before he even had the job.

He had a plan to be a varsity volleyball coach somewhere, at some time.

He also knew who the first spot on his coaching staff would go to — his brother Todd.

“It was the plan all along,” said Zimmerman, the third-year head coach at Silver Creek High School who has helped guide the Dragons to their first-ever state finals berth this season. “I said at the start, when I got a job he was coming with me.”

Coaching side-by-side isn’t something new to the Zimmerman clan. The duo has worked together at both the youth and club levels and the pair served on the coaching staff at Clarksville under then-coach Scott Bostock.

Jeff Zimmerman moved on as an assistant at New Albany under head coach John Breeding until 2007 — advancing to two state finals with the Bulldogs — before accepting the coaching spot at Silver Creek.

He quickly offered Todd a spot on the bench next to him.

“We just got into volleyball together at the same time,” said Todd Zimmerman. “We started playing in competitive leagues and both sort of got into it. Jeff’s really wanted to be a head coach and I’ve split time between volleyball and basketball. But when he asked me to come (to Silver Creek) I knew would.”

Now, the program is headed someplace that the Dragons never have seen before, the state finals round in Muncie. Silver Creek faces No. 2 Indianapolis Brebeuf at approxiamately 11 a.m. in the semis at Muncie Central High School with the winner advancing to play in the state championship at 6 p.m. in Ball State’s Worthen Arena.

“It’s been memorable,” said Jeff Zimmerman. “When we came here, we said getting a team to state is something we feel like we can accomplish, maybe not in three years but we knew we stood a chance.

“We like the kids that were in the program and the parents really have bought into the things we felt we needed to make the program a success — like playing club volleyball and training committing to an offseason program.”

The test facing Creek is a daunting one. The Braves are ranked nationally in two polls and have suffered just one loss all season.

“Well when you get to state you know it’s a different level,” Jeff Zimmerman said. “It’s not supposed to be easy. We’ve played well, we haven’t lost a game in 14 straight matches and I don’t think in my wildest imagination we would go through five games this postseason without a loss yet. We’ve just gotta go up there and see what happens.”

And regardless of the outcome, the Zimmermans don’t anticipate this being their final trip to this level.

“We’re here for the long haul I think,” Jeff Zimmerman said. “We want to build this program and make it a contender and I think we have the foundation in place to do just that.”