
After accepting a teaching position and the new head basketball coaching job at Roncalli High School early this month, Josh Erickson is excited to be back in town.
The former Jets student-athlete will take over the reins of the very successful program after the departure of state title-winning coach, Joe Garceau, for a teaching opportunity in Monona Grove.
During an interview with the 2014 Roncalli graduate Wednesday afternoon, Josh spoke to Seehafer News about serving under former Jets coach, Joe Rux the past two seasons at Brookfield East and this opportunity.
“Learning from Coach Rux as a player and then as a varsity assistant under him was like a master class in coaching and running a high school program,” he explained. “So, I felt like I was very well prepared and equipped to take on this opportunity when it became available and I’m very ready to go and confident.”
Athletic Director Nathan Kaderabek told us that the part of the interview process that caught his eye was “Just how prepared Josh was. I mean he came in ready to go and all the information he provided for us. Some of the qualities he talked about in terms of working with kids, giving them an equal opportunity and just being there for them I think is huge for us.”
Moving forward, Erickson doesn’t anticipate any major changes in the basketball program.
He said, “There will be tweaks and adjustments based on personnel, as I think every good coach knows. But, in terms of defensive and offensive strategy, you’ll see a very similar mindset and philosophy that’s been here for the past couple of decades.”
Josh, who is a 2018 Concordia University ‘grad, started his new teaching assignment in the Phy-Ed department at Roncalli Catholic Schools this week.
Coach Erickson told us that he’s going to meet with the players soon and tell them of his expectations, in advance of the first day of basketball practice on November 14th.