It has been announced - Sam Elsbernd finally gets his chance at his alma mater.

I'm mostly familiar with Sam's work at Pendleton County the last few years, which were...well...not great.  PCHS separated from him, sadly, as we all know.  For those that know Sam well, can you share all of the reasons for optimism besides he went there and was an assistant there when they were good 15 years ago?

I hope like heck it works out, NKY Boys Hoops is better when Holmes is good!!

Elsbernd was an assistant on the Holmes team that won the state title in 2009. 

Congrats and good luck.  I think he will do well at Holmes…might take some time? 

7 minutes ago, The Double Deuce said:

I'm mostly familiar with Sam's work at Pendleton County the last few years, which were...well...not great.  PCHS separated from him, sadly, as we all know.  For those that know Sam well, can you share all of the reasons for optimism besides he went there and was an assistant there when they were good 15 years ago?

I hope like heck it works out, NKY Boys Hoops is better when Holmes is good!!

This!?!?

It is going to absolutely take some time for Sam to restore Holmes to contender status but I have some good reasons to be optimistic:

- He “gets” the program/community about as good as anyone can, something that was sorely missed the last few years.

- He has experienced both great failure and great success throughout his career and is built to keep the program moving forward during lean times.

- For a team which as many losses as Holmes as experienced the past two years, to get a coach with head coaching experience at two places alongside the amazing coaching trees he is a part of as an assistant while still being under 40 is just an absolute home run.

From Coach Elsbernd on Facebook today:

I’m going to try and keep this short, but I’m not sure if I can.

Honored. Humbled. Excited. You name it, I’m feeling it! 

Holmes High School and the City of Covington is a very special place to me. 
I would like to thank the selection committee for their recommendation that I become the next Head Boys Basketball Coach at my alma mater. 

I could also thank a million other people, but I want to take this time to say thank you to my family and friends, many of whom are Holmes graduates, for putting up with me all these years as I left home to chase goals I set for myself. I’ve been all around the world, but there is nowhere else I’d rather be than Covington, Kentucky and Holmes High School. It is a special place and I am very excited to return. 

Thank you to everyone who was involved in this, especially all my former coaches and teachers at Holmes, who made me want this opportunity one day. 

I can’t wait to meet the players and begin this journey with them, the school, and the entire city. 

Lastly, happy birthday to my nephew Asher (the little red head wearing #1 in red in the picture), who turns 8 today. To think we will always have this date in common is really special to me. 

Thank you to everyone who has reached out. Now, let’s get to work! 

#HomeSweetHolmes
#OnceABulldogAlwaysABulldog

Very happy for Sam, I know how bad he wanted back at Holmes, one thing I'm sure of, he will give 110 per cent for those players, wish him the best.

Congrats Coach Elsbernd!

In today's world/culture I think Holmes got the top guy available for Holmes and I wish Coach E nothing but the best. 

Holmes getting someone who wants to be there is a win...

I am happy for Sam as are the members of the Brossart Basketball Program who had the privilege of having Coach Elsbernd on our staff during his "transitional" year.  I too, know how bad that he wanted this job and I know that he will do his best to make it work.  Best of luck moving forward to Coach Sam and the Holmes Bulldogs. 

Congrats Sam.   It may be a struggle to start, but they have a man that loves that school and will work his butt off to get it back to where it was when he was on the staff in the past.

Congratulations! Always good to get one of your own to come home and judging by everything I have read hear it looks like this is WIN #1 for Holmes!  

Good Luck Coach!

Congrats to the new coach! Who all did they interview for this job?

9 minutes ago, sideline skipper said:

Who all did they interview for this job?

Good luck figuring that out, especially at this point.