04-03-2025
Doug Bontrager retires as Father Ryan boys basketball coach after 37 seasons and over 600 wins
Father Ryan boys basketball coach Doug Bontrager has stepped down after 37 seasons and more than 600 wins, the school announced Tuesday.
Bontrager's teams reached eight TSSAA basketball state semifinals, winning Division II state titles in 1999 and 2002 and earning three state runner-up finishes.
Bontrager, a 1981 Father Ryan graduate, finished with a 603-471 overall record after the Irish went 21-9 this past season. Father Ryan won the Division II-AA Middle Region title for the first time since 2009, advancing to the state quarterfinals.
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'Basketball is a true team sport, and I am filled with gratitude for each player, administrator, and fan who has been a part of this journey,' Bontrager said in a statement. 'I am extremely grateful for all the assistant coaches who have worked beside me these last 37 years. The success of our program is a direct result of their hard work and dedication.'
Bontrager will remain at Father Ryan as a teacher.
'Every coach knew that if they were playing a team coached by Doug Bontrager, they would be facing an organized, well-prepared, defensive team,' said Father Ryan President Paul Davis '81, a classmate of Bontrager and former freshman basketball coach. 'Beyond the game, when it comes to teaching young men the principles of integrity and character, you cannot find a better role model than Coach Bontrager. We thank him for his dedication to helping decades of Father Ryan students reach their spiritual, academic, and personal potentials.'
Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@ and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Doug Bontrager retires as Father Ryan basketball coach after 37 seasons
