PERRYSBURG – The average fan of Perrysburg’s boys basketball team has probably noticed an improvement
from last year’s team.
Those fans have seen the Yellow Jackets average 67.9 points per game, while allowing just 48.8 points per
game en route to a 17-1 record to start the year.
The sixth-ranked ‘Jackets, chasing their first league title since 2010, are 10-1 in the Northern Lakes
League, 2¬? games ahead of Springfield (7-3).
But what fans might not have noticed is the addition of assistant coach Jamie Kachmarik and what he has
brought to the team.
Kachmarik joined the staff after spending the last 16 years as an assistant coach at the Division I
level.
Most recently, Kachmarik was the associate head coach at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington
before returning home to Northwest Ohio following the 2012-13 season.
"He’s a good influence during games, and frankly he’s a good sounding board for me," said
Perrysburg head coach Dave Boyce.
"It’s just refreshing to have somebody come in with no prior association to our program, and with a
boat load of experience, to take a look and make a lot of really sound tweaks," Boyce said.
A 1993 graduate of Rossford High School, Kachmarik became of childhood friend of Jay Larranaga, now an
assistant with the Boston Celtics.
Larranaga and Kachmarik both attended Bowling Green State University where Larranaga played for his
father, Jim. Jim Larranaga is currently the head coach at the University of Miami (Fla.).
With the connection to the Larranagas, Kachmarik secured a job as what he described as Jim Larranaga’s
"gopher," for three years.
"I was whatever he needed," Kachmarik said. "I did all the little odds and ends
stuff."
Following the 1997 season, Kachmarik was set to graduate and Jim Larranaga had accepted the coaching job
at George Mason University, but not before making a phone call to Jim O’Brien, who had just been hired
as the head coach at Ohio State.
In August of 1997, Kachmarik was hired as the video coordinator at Ohio State, jump starting his career
in college basketball.
Since Kachmarik’s first job, he has worked as an assistant for Rick Boyages at the College of William and
Mary, and Buzz Peterson at Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina and UNCW. He also worked under Cliff
Ellis at Coastal Carolina when Peterson took a job with the Charlotte Bobcats.
"I’ve been with a lot of guys who have been a great players coach, and that’s kind of something I’ve
tried to help these guys with a little bit," Kachmarik said.
"Coach O’Brien was a great players coach. The guy is just confident. … The kids loved him because he
was a big players coach. Coach Larranaga is the same way," he said.
Confidence has played a key role in Perrysburg’s success this season. And the correlation between
confidence and success is no coincidence.
"Those teams were just really close-knit teams, a lot just like here," Kachmarik said of BG’s
teams during his time there. "These guys are close, they’re good friends. That’s the one thing
about coach Larranaga. He always had team things. There would be some practices where he would bring a
whiffle ball bat out and they would play whiffle ball instead of practice. It just kept those guys
loose.
It’s just those team building things that he put in and it shows how much confidence plays a role,"
Kachmarik said. "If the kids are confident and they’re confident in everything that’s going on,
that’s the biggest thing. Of all the programs, all the coaches I’ve been with, that’s the biggest
thing."
As far as the future, Kachmarik said that if the right situation came along he would entertain the
possibility of coaching in college again. But as for right now he is not openly searching.
"The reason I made this decision is because I have a young family. … My daughter is four and this
was her fourth move.
"I’ve seen a lot of coaches where it tore up their family," he said. "I’m a Polish guy
from Rossford, so you’re a family. That was the big thing."
Along with his coaching position at Perrysburg, Kachmarik is working for www.studentathleteworld.com, a
recruiting service for student-athletes. He is also working as an observer of officials for the Big Ten
Conference and the Mid-American Conference, as well as sitting on the selection committee for the
Collegeinsider Postseason Tournament.