It was ‘always in the cards’ for new Argos boss Kindig
ARGOS — It will be his first head coaching assignment but far from the first stint in coaching for Nick Kindig who will take over the program at Argos High School this year.
“Watching my dad (Chris Kindig) coach when I was young I knew then it was going to be in my future,” he said. “It was always in the cards that I was going to end up coaching from fifth grade on.”
“I was raised in Mentone a Valley guy forever, went to Bethel, and then after that coached eighth-grade basketball for two years at Warsaw before I had my teaching degree and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do,” said Nick. “That’s when I went back and got my teaching degree, started teaching at Valley coaching at Valley and the last two years at Triton, coaching JV and teaching business and now on to Argos.”
The game was always part of his life from early on.
“Basketball from the start was always my thing,” said Nick. “My dad coached JV at Tippecanoe Valley when I was a couple of years old and then he took some time off. Once I got into Jr. High he started coaching eighth grade again. He was my coach when I got to eighth grade. Then he switched over and started coaching the girl’s program at Valley.”
Kindig’s Dad went on to set an example with over 200 wins in his 14 years.
Nick also has had the benefit of other great mentors in the coaching profession. Along with his father, Nick played his high school basketball for an Indiana legend Hall of Famer Bill Patrick.
“Winning sectional my senior at Valley was a great memory. That ended up being coach (Bill) Patrick’s last sectional at Valley. As an individual scoring a thousand points was a goal but the highlight was winning that sectional,” said Nick. “He (Patrick) wasn’t easy. He would tell you that. He made me into a player that I didn’t think I could be,” he said. “On the coaching side, he gave me a lot of the ideas and things we did in practice and how he coached the game. A lot of my coaching philosophies come
from him. He’s had a huge impact on me.”
After learning under Hall of Fame coach Mike Lightfoot at Bethel University, and then coaching with Patrick’s son Chad at Valley, he moved over to Triton with another legendary Indiana coach Jason Groves.
“I wanted to coach with him (Groves) to get another experience with an experienced successful coach,” said Kindig. “I learned a lot from Chad and Bill (Patrick) and Coach Lightfoot at Bethel and Coach Groves. Being around those guys every day you learn so much from them.”
Each is different, and each having an influence on the philosophy that Kindig will have as a head coach.
“With the Patricks, it was a lot of fundamentals and team-oriented drills,” he said. “In college, it was a lot of individual skill development, just you and a coach or a couple of guys and a coach working on your skills. With coach Groves, it’s very detail-oriented on the sets on the offense and defense.”
“I want to combine all that together,” said Kindig. “Every coach says we want to play fast and we want to do this and that but you always have to adjust to your personnel. Our guys are always going to be on the same page in what we are doing and execute on offense.”
“We did a lot of things with Coach Patrick defensively that I want to incorporate, trying to speed teams up and give them other looks. I think that’s important.”
But not surprising, given his coaching mentors, it’s defense that sets the stage.
“Defense wins tournament games,” said Kindig. “Scoring averages go down in the sectional. You have to be able to guard people and make people uncomfortable. Offense can help but it gets down to the end of the game you have to make stops to win the game.”
A lifelong area resident, Kindig is well aware of the tradition of the Argos basketball program.
“When I was looking at the job I heard nothing but great things about the program and the community,” he said. “I’ve seen firsthand how hard it is to beat them. While I was at Valley and at Triton. There is a lot of good talent there to win some games.”
“They started three freshmen last year so they have a year’s experience under their belt,” said Kindig. “They’ll have to take a big jump into their sophomore year but I’m really looking forward to working with those guys.”
“They’ve been successful. I think it will be a great place to coach.”
Kindig will take over as the program prepares for its first year in a new conference, that is an old conference to him after his time at Triton.
“Joining the new conference (HNAC) is going to be good for our program,” he said. “There are a lot of really good basketball programs in that conference. You have to be ready to go against them or you are going to lose.”