The paperwork isn’t 100 percent complete, but when it is Sean Koeppen will be the new head boys basketball coach at Plain Dealing.
Koeppen, a veteran coach in the Bossier Parish school system, made the announcement in a Facebook post Tuesday night.
Koeppen will replace Trevor Barnard, who is expected to be a coach and teacher at Greenacres Middle School this fall once all the paperwork is complete, according to Plain Dealing principal Sandrina Isebaert.
Koeppen is the fourth boys head coach in the last four years at Plain Dealing.
Barnard replaced Norm Picou, who left after a season to take the head position at Haughton. Picou had replaced longtime head coach David Bryant, who moved to the front office after the 2016-17 school year.
Koeppen joins his wife, Jill, an assistant principal at Plain Dealing. Their daughter, Maggie, will be entering her sophomore year. Their 5-year-old son, Xander, will be going to kindergarten.
The Koeppens’ older daughter, Sarah, is a softball standout at Navarro Junior College. She was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region first team and All-America third team after her freshman season.
“The two things we like is he’s old school, and I think our kids need a little bit of that,” Isebaert said of Koeppen. “And he’s not going to go anywhere since the rest of his family is here. So we’re going to have some continuity because since coach Bryant left us, we can’t get anybody to stay for more than one year. He’s not looking at this as a stepping stone to go somewhere else.
“I think Sean is a no-nonsense person who always puts the kids first every time I’ve met him and talked to him and I think that’s a good thing. He’s not about himself. It’s about what’s best for the kids.”
Koeppen has spent the last seven years teaching and coaching football, basketball and softball at Benton Middle School.
Before that, he spent 11 years as an assistant boys basketball coach at Bossier. He also coached soccer and softball.
Koeppen started his teaching and coaching career at North DeSoto, where he spent a year helping at the high school while also coaching middle school teams. He then spent nine years at Rusheon Middle School before going to Bossier.
Koeppen is a 1985 graduate of Airline and an alumnus of Centenary College.
While he has experience coaching a variety of sports, basketball is his first love.
“I just really love the sport of basketball, the pace of it and having to make adjustments and everything,” he said. “I just like coaching basketball.”
Family also played an important role in his decision. He had an opportunity coach Sarah at Benton Middle in softball during her eighth-grade year and Bossier principal David Thrash encouraged him to make the move then.
Koeppen said Benton Middle principal Kyle Machen supports the move to Plain Dealing.
“I talked to him yesterday,” he said. “He said, ‘You need to do that; you’re going to be with your family and everything. That’s something you wanted to do.”
Koeppen met with his team for the first time Wednesday. The Lions are coming off a 16-10 season. They reached the second round of the Class 1A playoffs.
Plain Dealing enjoyed a tradition of success under Bryant. The Lions lose five seniors from last season’s squad, but Koeppen believes the potential is there to continue the success.
“It’s going to be a young team,” he said. ”I’m kind of hoping that would play in our benefit. People are going to think they’re down or whatever and hopefully we can surprise some people.”
The Lions are currently going through their summer routine. They are playing in the Bossier Summer League and have games on Thursday. Friday they are heading to a team camp at Northwestern State.
