Ryan Koerdt isn't wasting time getting acclimated to Pope County.
Less than 24 hours after being named the girls basketball coach at Russellville, he was set to interview candidates to fill assistant coaching positions. For Koerdt, it's just another day at the office, albeit a new one.
"It feels amazing," said Koerdt, who made coaching stops at Emerson, Mountain Home and Sheridan before coaching the White County Central boys basketball team for the past seven seasons. "I can't tell you how excited I am. It's a little bittersweet, though, because I'm leaving kids behind at a place like White County, where I developed strong relationships. That's a hard thing to do, but like I told them, we always have to put our families first.
"This puts me closer to my parents, too, so it's just an overall great move that we're ready for."
Koerdt, 43, has racked up 359 victories and earned conference coach of the year honors nine times during his career. He led White County Central to four consecutive state tournament appearances, including the program's first in 2017. The Bears also won at least 23 games each season under Koerdt while capturing conference titles over the past four.
This season, the Bears were 25-12 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Class 2A state tournament before losing to Marianna 45-43. White County Central finished ranked No. 6 in Class 2A by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Koerdt will be presented with a different challenge at Russellville, where he's taking over for Sherry White, who was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
She announced her retirement in April after winning five state championships and nearly 600 games over a 38-year career. She'd spent the last five seasons with the Lady Cyclones.
"I just want to pick up where she left off," Koerdt said. "Coach White is a legend and had been doing it for 38 years, so those are big shoes to fill. We just want to bring a winning culture year in and year out. Russellville went to the finals in 2016, then kind of dipped down a little.
"But in [5A-West] against Vilonia, Little Rock Christian, Alma, Beebe, Greenwood and now with Mountain Home coming in, dipping down means you're still a really good team in the state. We've got a good young core, and I think we can really improve fast if the girls are willing to work."
Koerdt also will get a chance to coach his daughter Jaidyn, who averaged 18.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2 steals per game as a sophomore during the 2019-20 season at White County Central.
"It's unique going from coaching boys to girls," said Russellville Athletic Director Johnny Johnson, who coached Koerdt for two years when he played at the University of the Ozarks from 1999-2001. "But having a chance to coach his daughter is big for Ryan. There's a lot of coaches who always want a chance to coach their kids, and I think that was important for him to be able to coach his daughter her last two years of high school. I think they'll both enjoy that."
Sports on 05/16/2020