OLNEY TIGER BASKETBALL FACING CHANGES 
By Randy Olson - AreaSports.net 

When a high school basketball program says goodbye to a coaching legend, it can be a very difficult situation to find someone who can step into those big shoes and move the program forward.  Ironically, the Olney (Richland County) Tigers basketball program finds itself in that same situation for the second time. Before we explain what we mean, let's look at history.  

Back in 1985 when the Ron Herrin era ended at Olney, he finished as the winningest basketball coach in the history of the school.  Herrin had accumulated 400 wins at the helm of the Tigers over a 25-year span in Olney from 1961 to 1985. The Gymnasium at the school still bears his name, known publicly as the "Ron Herrin Gym."  Ron was the older brother of Coach Rich Herrin, who was the long-time basketball coach at Benton High School, and later guided the SIU Salukis in Carbondale, where his brother Ron also served for some time on his staff until Ron passed away from a brain aneurysm in 1997.

The school board that was in place at Olney (East Richland High School) back in the late 80's and early 90's tried repeatedly to find a coaching replacement for legendary coach Ron Herrin, but nobody could fill that void.  In fact, the Tigers basketball program went the other direction, the wrong direction  They suffered through 13 years of difficult basketball from 1986 to 1998, despite the efforts of four different Head Coaches that they had hired.  The accumulated record of the four different Tiger basketball coaches during that thirteen-year span was a dismal 121-224 overall.  Unfortunately, each coach had a losing record during their individual stints.  The legend and mystique of Ron Herrin was now more than a decade removed, and Olney Tiger basketball was suddenly at a low point.

Enter Rob Flanagan, a young 31-year-old coach, who already had eight years of Varsity Coaching experience under his belt, spending four years at Cisne High School and four years at Carterville High School.  Despite his youth, Flanagan had already been putting together a respectable resume.  He was a winner at both of his first two stops, accumulating a positive record of 61-45 at Cisne, in addition to a winning record of 60-44 at Carterville.  In the 1998-1999 school year, Rob Flanagan was offered the job at Olney, he accepted and embraced the opportunity.

"I just love basketball, I love the game, I love the teaching of it, and I enjoy the relationships that are built as a result of basketball," said Flanagan.  "I knew that taking over the job at Olney was going to be a challenge, but I enjoy working hard, setting goals, and facing challenges, as I have faced difficult challenges head-on my entire life."  Indeed he has.  Flanagan is a 1985 graduate of Mt Vernon High School.  He played basketball for the Rams, and went on to play at Rend Lake College, but getting to that point was not an easy road for him at all.  

"I was diagnosed with Scoliosis in March of my 8th grade year while attending McClellan Grade School," said Flanagan.  "I had a spinal fusion and was in a body cast from my neck to my hips for 9 months, so I missed my freshman year of basketball.  It was pure hell."  Having to work so hard to get back in shape and be able to play basketball again was a major challenge that Flanagan overcame, which ultimately helped to shape his character and motivation later in life when he first decided to enter the world of coaching.

"I got into coaching because I didn't feel like I was done or satisfied with basketball after I was done playing," said Flanagan.  "I love the game of basketball and the competition.  I love the satisfaction of working hard with a group of guys and succeeding."  As he took the reins of the Olney Tigers basketball program 27 years ago, few people could imagine the kind of numbers he would put up and the level of success he would achieve at Olney during his tenure.

Flanagan acknowledged that the challenge was monumental at Olney coming in as a young coach, and trying to turn around a once-proud program that was suddenly languishing as a loser for thirteen years when he took over in 1998-1999.  "I'm a big history buff and the history of the game is important to me," said Flanagan.  "When I began at Olney, I felt like I needed to embrace that history and use it as a tool if we were going to turn things around, so I put a framed photo of Ron Herrin on my desk, rolled up my sleeves and we went to work."

While the first two years were a struggle to kick-start the work ethic and rebuild the culture at Olney into a winning culture again, it didn't take long for his determination and hard work to begin paying off.  Flanagan reeled off twelve straight winning seasons early in his tenure, won a Sectional and reached the Sweet-16 in 2004, and enjoyed a pinnacle year in 2008, when he took the Tigers to the Class 2A State Tournament and brought home a Third Place Trophy.  This was a milestone that even Ron Herrin was never able to accomplish in his twenty-five years at Olney.  It was clear to many fans that perhaps Coach Flanagan might be on his way to becoming a coaching legend too, with the program at a peak.

Reaching the IHSA State Tournament in 2008 was especially important to Rob for some personal reasons.  "My dad was dying of lung cancer at that time," said Flanagan.  "It was so important to me to get to Peoria so he could see me coach at the State Tournament before he was gone.  So thankful to have done that, my dad passed away in May, a few months after our run to Peoria."

I mentioned earlier that basketball history was important to Flanagan.  After restoring the winning culture at Olney and having several years of triumph on the court, Rob decided that a major renovation needed to be done to educate the public and inform the younger kids coming up what it meant to put on a Tiger uniform.  So he made it a mission to raise $30,000 to build the best high school locker room in the state, and remodel the lobby to feature all of the history of the basketball program.  This required a relentless number of hours organizing and reorganizing old pictures and memorabilia.  "I used the line: Building a future from a historic past," said Flanagan.  I want people to love the game and appreciate it as much as I do, so we have built something very special here at Olney."

Summer basketball camps have always been an important activity to Coach Flanagan.  He understands that to build a program and maintain it, a lot of things begin at the lower levels.  "We try to teach the kids the fundamentals of basketball, but we also want them to understand how to make hard work fun," said Flanagan.  "I also want them to understand the history, and learn from the achievements of the past."  Coach Flanagan often brings other coaches and former players into his camps to use as motivation, even former college players who enjoyed success through hard work.

Despite winning a lot of games and trophies, coaching at Olney has not been easy.  Due to their enrollment size, they are among the smallest 3A schools in the State.  While that enrollment sometimes teetered close to 2A, as it did in 2008 when the Tigers made their State Tournament run, they have almost always fought that battle of being in a "geographical desert" where the ability to play other 3A schools is limited by travel in the regular season.  Olney took in the students from the dissolved Noble High School in 2014-2015, technically changing their name from Olney-East Richland High School to simply, Richland County High School, yet everyone still refers to them as Olney.  The added enrollment numbers from students who would have once been in the Noble school district padded the enrollment total which will likely keep Olney at 3A, unless the IHSA lowers the enrollment cutoff significantly.

While the enrollment issue creates a concern each year at postseason time, it has not limited nor diminished the amount of success that Olney has enjoyed under Flanagan for the past twenty-seven years.  According to the IHSA and local statistician guru, Justin Hatten, The Tigers are five-time Champions of the Lawrence County Capital Classic Tournament at Thanksgiving time.  Flanagan led the Tigers to five Championship trophies at the Duster-Thomas Hoops Classic in Pinckneyville, including three in a row from 2021 to 2023.  Olney also claimed First Place on five occasions at the Carmi Invitational Tournament.  Flanagan has enjoyed ten seasons with 20 or more wins, and put together a total of twenty winning seasons for Tigers basketball, more than any other coach in program history. That is impressive. 

In addition, Flanagan has seen the Tigers compete in three different athletic conferences during his tenure.  This includes the North Egypt Conference, the Apollo Conference, and the Little Illini Conference, which they are currently a member of.  "I am proud to say that we competed at a high level in all three conferences," said Flanagan.  "We enjoyed winning multiple Championships in each conference that we were a member of at the time."   

But the bulk of the teams in those three conferences are 2A, which doesn't necessarily prepare the Tigers for the rigors of 3A basketball come postseason time.  The best example of this occurred a few years ago in 2022 when Olney entered the postseason undefeated at 26-0.  The Tigers were again 3A and actually hosted a Regional.  After winning their first game of the Regional, they faced a very good and athletic Marion Wildcat team and lost, ending their remarkable season, at 27-1.  Had their enrollment been a little smaller to play in 2A, like it was in 2008, who knows how far that 2022 team would have gone that year.  Olney has also lost another 3A Regional Championship to Marion, and a 3A Championship to Mt Vernon, all by just a few points, under Flanagan, which shows just how close they have come to winning a 3A Regional, despite the difference in enrollment, speed, and athleticism. 

Olney has never been afraid to travel, and they often do to play 3A schools such as Mattoon, Charleston, Effingham, Salem, and Taylorville.  But anyone who follows 3A basketball closely, understands that there are different tiers of competition and athleticism in 3A.   The teams that Olney plays due to their geographic location is not in the same competitive tier as the Carbondale, Marion, Mt Vernon, Centralia, Triad and East St Louis teams who are winning 3A Regionals and Sectionals.  Despite all of the geography limitations, which is beyond their control, Flanagan has raised the bar very high at Olney by almost any metric that you look at.

Four years ago, Flanagan gave advance notice to the high school board and administration of his intentions to retire from teaching after four years, which takes effect with the conclusion of this school year in 2025.  Therefore after 27-years at Olney, Rob Flanagan now steps aside as the winningest coach in Tigers basketball history with 477 wins (598 total wins in his coaching career).  "I love to coach, and I still want to coach.  I love the game, and I want to stay around it," said Flanagan.  "Basketball has been a huge part of my life since I could bounce a ball.  The gym is just a special place to me."

Flanagan has been recognized by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association as the District 20 "Coach of the Year" on seven different occasions.  More impressive than that, the IBCA inducted Flanagan into their Hall of Fame in 2019, and as mentioned, he is the winningest coach in the history of Olney Tigers basketball.  Having broadcast many Olney Tigers games through the years, I have always enjoyed watching how Flanagan interacts with his players and the officials, as well as the manner in which he makes adjustments, as needed.

When asked what he is most proud of when he reflects upon his career up to this point, he had plenty to say.  "Basketball is about building relationships and I am proud of those relationships, which include relationships with the players, tons of other coaches, the officials, the media, and many great assistant coaches that I have had along the way," said Flanagan.  "Naturally I am proud that we have won a lot of basketball games, but this is hard work.  It's not easy, and you aren't always going to be liked.  If you want to be liked, sell ice cream."

Other members of the Flanagan family also embrace the game of basketball.  Coach Flanagan's son Braden, not only played for Rob at Olney, but he just completed a four-year basketball career at Franklin College in Indiana, where they earned a berth in the Division III NCAA Tournament this year and won their first game.  His two nephews, Luke Cooper and Kyle Cooper are involved in the game as a coach, and a player respectively.  Luke is the Head Coach at Woodlawn, while his brother Kyle plays for Waltonville.  The Coopers are sons of Coach Flanagan's sister, Jodi, and her husband, Ian.  "I am really proud of Braden, Luke, and Kyle and their relationship with the game," said Flanagan.  "Each is unique and followed a different path.  I always tell my sister that Mom and Dad would be proud."

Speaking of family, there are three ladies who have been extremely special and supportive of Rob during his coaching career.  They include his wife, Kristy, and his daughters Hailey and Kaitlyn.  Not only have they been cheerleaders and great ambassadors for the basketball team, but they have also been there for Rob in the ups and downs that come with coaching. "You cannot begin to understand how much their support means to me,” said Flanagan.

Rob Flanagan is now essentially a Free Agent Coach, who is just two wins shy of 600 wins for his career.  Since retirement is approaching, his teaching duties are over at the end of this school year, so he is available for another coaching opportunity and any school that is interested would not have to find him a teaching position. "I still have the fire and the passion, I love the game, and I love to compete," said Flanagan.  "We all coach for the memories, and I think there might still be some memories out there to make.  If the right situation comes along that makes sense to me and my wife, I'll be ready."

If you talk to other well-established coaches in southern Illinois about Rob Flanagan, you will hear glowing remarks about his character, his work ethic, and his ability to win.  The best example of this took place at McKendree University where Flanagan took his team for a summer camp, several years ago, before Covid.  Coach Rich Herrin (Ron’s brother) was there observing the camp.  “We went thru the handshake line, and I was getting ready to go over and talk to my team,” said Flanagan.  “I felt a hand squeezing my shoulder like Coach Herrin would always do. He pulled me in close and said to me ‘You know … my brother Ron would be really proud of what you’ve done with the basketball program at Olney.’  To me, that was the ultimate compliment.”

Now the Olney (Richland County) high school has come full circle. The current 2025 school board at Olney finds itself in the same difficult situation that the 1985 school board was in.  How do you replace a basketball coaching icon who has won so many games and done so much for your program over the past twenty-seven years?  It will certainly be a huge challenge to fill the shoes of Coach Rob Flanagan. Whatever they do, perhaps they should consider adding his name to the floor in the gym, and call it Rob Flanagan Court, inside the Ron Herrin gymnasium.  Think about it.  Two Olney coaching legends revered with high esteem within the same building.  Sounds like a good idea to me.