All of you Louis Orr haters out there can celebrate.
Orr will not return as head coach of the Bowling Green State University Falcons next year. His seven-year
run is over.
Did he deserve to be fired? I guess his sub-500 record speaks for itself.
Coaching success is measured on wins and losses, championships and tournament bids.
What you can’t measure is loyalty – to the school, program, coaches, players and their families. Louis
Orr was a father figure to many players who didn’t have one at home. He was there when nobody else
cared.
Our daughter, Megan Centers, served as the director of basketball operations (DOBO) for Bowling Green the
past five seasons. My wife, Jody, and I have followed the Falcons the last five years. I would bet we
have seen more Falcon games this season than anybody not connected with the team. From Tampa to Ann
Arbor and from Fort Wayne, Ind. to all points around the Mid-American Conference map, we didn’t miss
many games the last five seasons. And when we did, we were huddled around the radio to hear Todd
Walker’s entertaining call of the game.
We have seen Louis Orr and his family up close and personal for the last five years. He is a man of God
and he is not ashamed of it.
Was he a bad basketball coach? There were many nights when I had trouble sleeping after a game. Our seats
were right behind the bench, but I’m smart enough to know it’s a lot easier to coach from the stands. I
have been in the newspaper business 35 years and I was a sportswriter for the first 20 of those years. I
went to Michigan State University and covered the Spartans when Magic Johnson played there and won the
national championship. I have seen a lot of games and I think I know a lot about the game, but what I
tell everybody is this: I have never made a bad call or lost a game from the stands.
Louis Orr was different than most coaches in the MAC. He would have been happy to be here the rest of his
career. If you didn’t notice, the Mid-American Conference is a nomad league – for both coaches and
players. Most coaches come to win, pad their résumé and then move on. Just ask Dave Clawson. One good
year, a MAC championship and an appearance in a bowl game (which he skipped) and he’s off to Wake
Forest.
Look at the players who come and go – JUCOs and transfers are the key to success.
Check this out, written by Elton Alexander, the fine reporter from the Cleveland Plain Dealer who covers
the MAC:
Food for thought: What do Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Miami, Bowling Green, Kent State, Ball
State and Central Michigan have in common? (That’s the No. 1 team in the MAC, WMU, and the six bottom
feeders). They have the fewest number of transfers among their top seven players than any of the other
top five teams in the league. Toledo has four, Akron, Buffalo and Ohio University all have three.
What’s the formula for success in the MAC? Get a coach who can cherry-pick the scrap yard for JUCOs and
washouts from bigger Div. I programs and dump your players at the end of the bench to make room.
Coach Orr was loyal to his players – too loyal to some of them. And in the end, he was penalized for it.

So his coaching days are over at Bowling Green. I would expect his son, Chauncey, will finish his final
two years with the Falcons. That means Coach Orr will now be Mr. Orr sitting in the stands watching his
son and the rest of the Falcons play. There will be a new coach prowling the sidelines of The Stroh
Center next season. It will be the first time anybody but Orr has coached the home team for a men’s game
at The Stroh.
Orr will still be part of the community. He will be a fan. He will be a friend.
They say good guys finish last. Maybe this time, but there will be another race.
Good luck, Coach Orr, you’ll bounce back.
Joe Centers
Norwalk