NEDERLAND — There is bad news out of Nederland for the rest of the District 22-5A teams. Larry Neumann is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Neumann cannot see him retiring and has not put a timetable on when he might leave the only job he has had since 1993.
He heads into 2016 with 182 career victories. The Bulldogs have won at least a share of the last five district championships.
There is little left to prove but Neumann is not thinking about life after football yet.
“I like to golf but I am not a golfer,” Neumann said. “I like to fish but I am not a fisher. Coaching is a lifestyle for me and that lifestyle would change so much if I retired. Not only is it a job you get paid for, but it’s a hobby. It is your friends and it is the trials and tribulations of daily life that even when they are tough, they are fun. I know I would miss it.”
Neumann has no bucket list for his life to check off and he has no plans to move once he does retire.
“I feel fulfilled doing what I do,” Neumann said. “It is much more than being a football coach and athletic director. It is the interaction with young people you see every day and the people you work with who value the same things as you.”
So how many years will Neumann stick around?
“There is no time set,” Neumann said. “I know what my retirement looks like. You have to consider those things. I don’t know a number of how many more years I will keep going.”
Neumann did make sure to point out he is not the oldest coach around. It was a playful joke thrown at West Orange-Stark coach Cornel Thompson, a friend of Neumann’s. Thompson is 68 and Neumann is 64.
“I hope Cornel Thompson never retires,” Neumann joked. “I would then be the oldest coach in the area. I have told him that. I told [former WOS coach] Dan Hooks the same thing and Dan retired. Thank goodness they gave the job to Cornel because he is the oldest. I don’t want Cornel to go before me because then the finger gets pointed at me.”
Neumann took over in 1993 and his first team went 6-5 with a first-round loss to Silsbee in the bi-district round.
The Bulldogs then missed the playoffs in 1994 and 1995, and now Nederland has reached the postseason in 18 of the last 19 years. The only miss was in 2007 when Nederland finished with a 7-3 record. Neumann and his teams have made the playoffs for the last eight years.
Nederland from 1997 through 2006 won 10 straight bi-district games.
The Bulldogs had a 29-game district winning streak come to a halt in 2014. It is still not one of the best memories Neumann takes away from his storied career.
“There were two years that we started 1-4,” Neumann said. “A couple of those games we were beaten badly, soundly. You wonder if you can dig yourself out of the hole to accomplish anything. You are looking at 1-9. Both those teams made the playoffs. When someone asks me to reflect on the positive things, those teams pop in my mind.
“The players were not the most significant players we ever had here, but the wheels could have come completely off those years. I just remember the experience of going from 1-4 to beginning to win. 1-4 is a bad feeling.”
Nederland starts its season Friday, Aug. 26, with a road game against the defending Class 4A Division II state champion West Orange-Stark Mustangs.
At least Neumann knows for at least one night, he will not be the oldest coach on the field.
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Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe