2001 seems like a lifetime ago does it not?
As is the case every season, there are new faces at the helm of programs... 2001 was no different...
5 new coaches made their debut that fall in the Richmond Region including Patrick Kane at Hermitage.
In 8 seasons prior to Kane's arrival at Hermitage, the program had sustained 8 straight losing seasons averaging two wins a year!
Kane was no stranger to the region having played at Clover Hill and coached as an assistant at schools such as James River, LC Bird and Meadowbrook. He had even been head coach at Dinwiddie for the seasons of 1996 and 1997.
But when Kane arrived at Hermitage in 2001, no one knew what to expect. Hermitage was a dead program to be brutally honest and Kane had gone just 6-14 in two seasons at Dinwiddie.
So it was quite a surprise that season when the Panthers finished 7-2... the most wins for the program since 1991! Remember, that season was cut short by the sniper shootings. They nearly made the playoffs in his first season.
Missing out on the playoffs in 2001, they made up for it in 2002 going 10-0 in the regular season and making the playoffs. In his first six seasons at the helm, the Panthers went 51-11 but only making the playoffs in two of those seasons.
Since then?
Since 2007 the Panthers have gone 118-17!
Hermitage has made the playoffs every season since 2007...
Hermitage has double digit wins in 9 of the last 11 seasons...
Hermitage has not lost a district game since 2006...
Hermitage won region crowns in 2007, 2010 and 2011!
Hermitage reached the Class 6 Finals in 2010 falling to Battlefield!
Hermitage came within two points of returning to the Class 6 Finals in 2011, falling to Centreville 9-10.
Bottom line, Coach Kane turned this program around. In a region dominated by LC Bird, Thomas Dale, Varina and at the time Patrick Henry; Kane made the Panthers relevant. He then built it up season over season... an evolution if you will.
Now the Panthers are regarded as 1 of the top 5 if not top 3 programs in the region... That is why it comes as a shock to some that Coach Kane is stepping down after 17 seasons.
Should it though?
He has done everything short of a win a state title. He built a winner, he built a program. He beat the best of the best in the region. He contended for state titles. He had near perfect seasons. He coached some of the best defense. He coached some of the best players we have seen come through the region this century. He made players better.
What more is there to prove?
The better question is where does Coach Kane go from here? Only he knows that answer... Is he done coaching? Will he take a break? Will he go to another program and do what he did at Herm? Will he look to the college ranks? Or will he just go off into the sunset? All we can do at this point is speculate...
What we do know is that the region loses one of the most successful coaches in the history of the region.
With 175 wins, Coach Kane ranks 5th behind Coach Ray Long(Patrick Henry), Coach David Bedwell(Henrico & LC Bird), Coach Vic Williams(Thomas Dale) and Coach Roland Day(Petersburg) for most wins in the region.
Ponder that for a moment if you will... In the span of a year, 12 months we have lost two of the greatest coaches in the history of the region, Bedwell at LC Bird and now Kane at Hermitage.
Coach Kane touched countless lives from the players he coached such as Duane Brown, Fontel Mines, Derrick Green, Curtis Grant, Josh Vaughan, JuJu Clayton, Brendon Riddick to name a few... The coaches he has coached alongside... The fans who rallied behind the Panthers rise to prominence in the region. To the coaches he coached against.
Make no mistake about it, he is a legend in the region and he leaves some huge shoes to fill.
As we ponder what is next for Coach Kane, we also ponder, what is next for Hermitage? A down program when he took over, can the next guy sustain what Kane has built or does it slide like we have so programs do before... Only time will tell.
It will be odd however not to see that blue shirt or red tie next season along the sidelines of Hermitage. Coach Kane will be missed not just at Hermitage but throughout the region.
