Coach Profiles: Coach Schneider
All photos by Roberta Pratt.
Coach Jason Schneider is fresh off finishing his first year as head coach of the Hamilton boys’ basketball team though he is not new to the program, having been the assistant coach for nine years. Inheriting a successful program run by former head coach Andy Cerroni, Schneider is excited to continue the legacy from the past while shaping a new future for the program.
While basketball is his passion, he works primarily as a mechanical engineer by trade and co-owns a plumbing and food process piping company with his brother in Fond du Lac. In this business, they work with any piping that comes into contact with food, including sanitation, steam, and drain piping. This has led to work with Johnsonville Sausage, Grande Cheese, Gale Foods, U-Bubbler, and more.
Family is central to Coach Schneider, and he and his family all enjoy sports—watching and playing— together. He is married to Annie Schneider, who teaches Communication Arts at Hamilton High School and also is an assistant coach for Hamilton girls’ volleyball. The Schneiders live in the Hamilton district with their three children, Josie (seventh), AJ (sixth), and Eloise (third).
Read on to hear more from Coach Schneider!
1) Can you tell me more about your basketball history as an athlete? When did you start to play, what teams did you play on, positions, and at what levels?
When I was really young, I just loved basketball. I watched Michael Jordan when I was in diapers and followed college ball. And I really like college basketball the most. Basketball’s always been my favorite sport.
But being like a young kid, I played everything: football and baseball and soccer. And then when I got to high school, I mainly played basketball and baseball. And I just didn’t grow. So my basketball career actually ended after my sophomore year. And then I was really good at baseball. I thought about playing baseball in college and ended up not doing that and just did the mechanical engineering thing and got lucky to meet Bruce Pearl, the college basketball coach, when I was getting my engineering degree at UW-Milwaukee. So, I joined his staff as a manager and it just kind of snowballed from there where eventually I became a student assistant.
And then he got the job at Tennessee and I went with him. So I coached six years of division one basketball. And that’s where I met Annie [my wife]. She played college volleyball at Tennessee. And then came back to Wisconsin and I’ve done everything from junior Chargers coaching, boys and girls, to AAU high school. I’ve coached almost every grade level, [including] NBA guys and college guys. So basketball is kind of my hobby and my second life. It’s what I really love and enjoy.
2) When did you start coaching and what drew you to coaching?
My dad coached at St. Lawrence Seminary High School when I was four and five years old. So I was always in the gym as a young kid and my parents owned a bar that had a basketball court in it. That’s where I fell in love with basketball.
And my dad was a coach so I always kind of wanted to coach. Even when I was in high school and I was playing, I knew that someday I’d want to coach. And then after about three years of not playing and being more of an adult being 20/21 years old, that’s when I wanted to start coaching. And so I actually started helping out. I went to New Holstein High School and I helped out their summer league and their coach is the one that got me in contact with Pearl. So I'd say right around the age of 21 is where I really got into coaching.
3) What are the biggest differences between being an assistant coach and a head coach?
There's a lot. As an assistant coach you can micromanage, so you're letting the head coach kind of run the game and you're watching individual players or opponents and telling the coach, "Hey, they're doing this. We can exploit that." You have more probably individual relationships with the players as an assistant versus the head coach. For head coach, it's more of a macro where you have the whole program in mind and you’ve got to worry about freshman and JV and varsity and you have to worry about the whole team and you're kind of watching the game as a whole and you're not watching what this individual player is doing on that possession... it's more of the whole game and the managing of the whole organization.
4) Who are some of your mentors or coaches you model your style after?
My three biggest mentors are my grandpa, who taught me work ethic at a young age. He owned a tree service, so by the time I was 10, I was up every Saturday chopping wood, stacking wood, getting up at 6:00 a.m. He taught me how to rake properly and do all those little things properly and how hard work pays off.
And then obviously Bruce Pearl, who taught me everything I know about basketball, and that's kind of who I would say I model my coaching style after.
And then Coach Cerroni. When I came here, I thought I knew everything about basketball and the X's and O's, but high school is different from college. It's about the community and the families and he taught me how to run a program, so [my coaching style is] kind of a mesh of Pearl and Cerroni.
5) What's the best thing about being a coach?
I think it's the relationships with the kids. I get them when they're 14 and it's their most formative years. When they leave, they're 18 and now they're men and seeing their growth and then continuing those relationships after they leave here is fulfilling. We have a ton of players that come back that are in college now and see me and it's probably having those relationships after they leave here and building those relationships and being an important part in their life that is the best thing about being a coach.
6) What are the hardest things you encounter as a coach?
I think the hardest thing has been expectations with every player when you're not having a winning season. It's really easy when you're winning because everybody's happy. When you're having some losses and some setbacks, it's managing every single player's expectations. We have 16 kids on the roster. You can only play 10, right? Keeping everybody invested and buying into the roles, I would say, is the hardest part when you're having struggles.
7) How would you describe your coaching style?
I think I'm a player's coach and I like to let the kids make mistakes and try to be the best individual person they can be to help the team and to try and be more supportive than nitpicky and critiquing all the time. But I am kind of a Type A personality and "attention to detail" is something I say all the time. So, I try to tread lightly between the two of them—not being so nitpicky and trying to build them up and give them confidence.
8) What are some things the team might hear from you at halftime?
A lot of times at halftime it's about composure. We're a young team, so we're trying to build on the successes we had in the first half, then talking about things we need to adapt and do better for the second half. But one thing we always talk about is that defense and rebounding wins championships. We always say that. [In summary] I would say it's usually hustle, effort, and composure.
9) What are the best things about the basketball community (either here at Hamilton or in general)?
One thing that I really enjoy is I feel like the kids that play AAU get a very big world experience. They get to travel a lot and stay in hotels, but they also meet kids of other ethnic backgrounds and financial backgrounds. And so I feel like you get a very good depth of culture and the world as a basketball player. I think the best thing too is how to be a team player. For example, the wrestling meet is tonight, but that's one-on-one versus basketball. [In basketball] you can be the best player on the floor, but if your other four teammates don't help you, you're not going to win.
10) What plans do you have for the future of HHS basketball?
I plan on this being my last coaching position. So, I want to be here forever. Our goal is to compete for championships every year. The biggest thing is the boys taking away the work ethic and the culture that we have—how important that is in life, in your profession. I want to be known as a team that has high standards, competes every night, and wins championships.
Rapid fire Questions
Favorite NBA team: The Bucks
Predicted NBA Champions this year: Oklahoma City
Favorite college basketball team: So, that one's tricky because it was Tennessee, but they fired my coach. UWM didn't hire some people. I'm kind of without a college team right now, so I'll root for coaches. I like Bill Self, Mark Few at Gonzaga, Tom Izzo.
Predicted March Madness champions: UConn
GOAT NBA player: Nikola Jokic
GOAT college basketball coach: Coach K
Favorite play to call/run: The kids will laugh at this one. I would say, "Shake."
Best practice drill: Rebounding drills. War drill. War drill.
Favorite basketball shoes (brand/color/style): Jordans, the red and white
Best basketball memory: There's been a lot of good ones. My best memory was when we were at UWM and we made the Sweet 16 and beat Boston College in the second round of the NCAA tournament. That was unbelievable.
