Brad Seiss guides a Central football practice in 2012. Seiss has accepted the coaching job at Merrillville after three seasons at Central.
Brad Seiss found an offer he couldn’t pass up.
The Central football coach verbally accepted the same position at Merrillville. The school district will hold a board meeting Tuesday and vote on his approval, and Seiss said he will likely officially resign from Central on Wednesday morning. After accepting the position, Seiss elected to tell his players before they heard it from another source.
Seiss cited Merrillville’s football standing and tradition as big factors in the move. The Pirates play in Class 6A. They are coming off a 6-6 season, but it was Merrillville’s first non-winning season since 2002. The Pirates have won five sectional titles and three regionals since the 2007 season, and their location in the northwestern part of the state also puts them in a football hotbed. When Seiss sought advice from his coaching mentors, he said they encouraged him to pursue the opportunity.
“Merrillville has had a great tradition, really throughout the history of their school,” Seiss said. “They play in a great league, have great facilities, great resources. They’re a really good football school historically. I think what I like the most about it is it’s just a bigger version of what we have here at Muncie Central.”
Central played in Class 4A during Seiss‘ tenure and will move up to Class 5A in the fall due to increased enrollment after consolidation with Southside.
Seiss, a former Ball State football player, coached Central for three seasons. He came to Central after serving as an assistant coach at Ida S. Baker High School in Cape Coral, Fla. Seiss went 13-17 in three seasons leading the Bearcats, his best season coming in 2013 when he posted a 6-4 mark. He said he will look back fondly on his time coaching at Central, and said he hoped to squash any perception that his departure was related to the consolidation or consolidation-related issues, describing his players as ‘awesome.’
“The decision was really hard because (of) all the good people that I’ve gotten to know in the three years,” Seiss said. “Whether it’s been staff or players, or just people in the community, neighbors. I really like Muncie, and it’s been a great place for us for three years. And that’s probably the hardest thing, is physically having to move and do that. But like I said, the opportunity was such a good one that it was too tough to pass up.”
Seiss said he believes his successor will step into a good job and that he considers the talent level of the Bearcats‘ returning players to be strong.
“We’re ready to take off,” Seiss said. “I think there’s a lot of talent coming back, the kids have worked really hard, there’s really good leadership from everyone. We got through what was probably a pretty tough year of just bringing the two programs together. Now I think there’s more normalcy for the kids, and things are in place to be really good.”
Central athletic director Suzanne Crump said the school hopes to move quickly in the search for Seiss‘ successor, but said the process can’t officially begin until Seiss turns in his resignation. She said she will be looking for an experienced coach who works well with the players and with the team’s feeder program.
“(Seiss) did a great job this past season with the merge, and I just think all in all, he was a very positive influence on our football program and our players at Muncie Central,” Crump said.
Contact prep sports reporter Sam Wilson at (765) 213-5807. Follow him on Twitter @SamWilsonTSP.