After leading the Crestwood Red Devils to back-to-back Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division championships, Josh Jakacki stepped down from the program. He will now return to Kenston to lead a resurgent boys basketball program.
After leading the Crestwood Red Devils to back-to-back Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division championships, Josh Jakacki stepped down from the program. He will now return to Kenston to lead a resurgent boys basketball program.
It was his second stint at Crestwood, with this upcoming season soon to be his second stint with the Bombers, and in 24 years of coaching, he’s learned a lot to build into the 2025-2026 season.
“In my first stint at Crestwood, I was an immature coach, still trying to learn the ropes and realize what my true calling was,” Jakacki said. “I had to realize that it was more about relationships than wins. Leaving for Kenston the first time was an opportunity for me to grow outside of my comfort zone and show people that I could win outside of that community. Having that opportunity to win, and have fantastic players and staff to grow under that Kenston umbrella.”
He continued, “What I know now as a 25-year experienced head coach is to remain humble, to always put the kids first, and build a culture that’s sustainable, and when that happens, winning happens organically. I’m still someone who likes to learn, and I like to put myself in uncomfortable positions because I feel like you don’t grow unless you feel that discomfort. These are young, exuberant, and ultra-talented kids who are ready to work and are hungry for something special.”
Jakacki has been a program-changing coach in his tenure at Crestwood and Kenston to this point, having won nine conference championships between the Red Devils’ time in the Portage Trail conference and CVC, and the Bombers when they were a member of the CVC as well, to go along with his nine conference coach-of-the-year wins.
Kenston went 2-21 in the 2023-2024 season, and won 11 games this past season, with Jakacki coming in the help make another program take that next step.
“It’s really difficult in a public setting to win consistently every years, and as someone who prides himself in doing things the right way, that small step was a humbling experience to go from 1-22 to having 19, and 18 win seasons doesn’t happen without that year of growth for our players, and myself,” Jakacki said. “We had to dig deeper, use the resources we had, and quite frankly, I needed to be better for those kids. Doing that self-reflection has made me a better coach, and I plan on utilizing that same sort of inward-outward thinking with the collaboration of the staff in building something that we think can be sustainable with these kids.
A Red Devil Then Bomber (Repeat)
Jakacki, a Crestwood alum, is also deeply rooted in the lore of the Kenston Bombers, making Bainbridge a second home for him and his family.
“The story is cool. My wife went to Kenston, I graduated from Crestwood, and having the opportunity to parallel those two things together has not been unique, but also a fantastic family experience. We are a family that’s all in, no matter what we do,” Jakacki said. “We are driven to ensure that our family understands that (family) comes first. We consider ourself to be very servant, we want to help others, and doing so sometimes means putting our hearts on our sleeve, and find ourselves doing things that are somewhat unnatural whether that’s some of our players living with us, or providing some extra support for families, or whatever that may look like.
A cherry on top of the family approach for the Jakacki family is the opportunity for his sons, Mason and Trent, who are both Crestwood graduates, to join the staff and help lead at the varsity level, all the way down to the youth programs.
Mason, who led the 7th and 8th grade Red Devils’ programs last season, and Trent, a 1,000 point scorer and a two-time all-NCAC selection with the Hiram Terriers, will bring some deep experience with both of them being 1,000 point scorers for Crestwood in their time on the roster.
“Yeah, they both have strengths from a different angle, and they’re both very relatable, and have had success on and off the court,” coach Jakacki said of his sons. “They aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty when working with the team, being transparent, and putting the kids in positions to be successful. The biggest thing for us is that they care about people, care about the kids, and the relatability is what’s most important. Everything’s coming full circle, and having them be a part of it makes it that much more special.”
The decision to step down at Crestwood and then return to Kenston is two unrelated events, but for coach Jakacki to go from one place to another, the feels like home can make for a smooth transition.
“I try to control the things that I can control, but also understand that it’s God’s plan and his timing,” Jakacki said. “Having the comfort of both places, and for myself and staff to be comfortable in our skin, is important because we’re not perfect. We’re going to make mistakes, make decisions people don’t like, but we have strong enough soldiers that we can bear any weight that they throw at us.”
This Bombers team boasts a flurry of talented underclassmen, with two of the top scorers from last year’s team about to be juniors, setting up for a potential breakout season with the new coach.
“We recognize to talent that’s in the building,” Jakacki said. “At the high school level, there are several kids who are ready to contribute on any given night. We’re excited to get the process started, and getting to know them as people, building that rapport and trust in those relationships with them. The basketball element will be easy. It’s just putting them in spots where they’re comfortable, understanding what their strengths are, and making sure that we take advantage of that.”
Coach Jakacki enters this upcoming winter boasting a 323-205 record as a coach, produced the winningest season in Kenston history at 20-4 in 2011-2012, the second-winningest coach, while also being the winningest Crestwood coach of all time and is top five in the Portage County all time coaches wins list, that goes along with his 16 career Coach of the Year awards.
With that pedigree in mind, one of Kenston’s returning players likes the sound of Jakacki leading the program.
“It’s great,” said Kenston’s soon-to-be junior Jackson Alotta, who averaged 6.7 points per game as a sophomore, about the hiring. “We made a big jump from my freshman to sophomore year, and with the right coaching, we can be great. I’ve known Coach Jakacki for a long time, and I know that he’ll bring great things to this program. I think everyone on our team is super excited.”
The Bombers are fresh off an 11-12 season, the program’s most wins since the 2021-2022 season, which has them in a similar situation to the years leading up to the back-to-back league titles for Crestwood these past two seasons.
“We’ve been trying to build this program up for a while, ever since 2022,” Alotta said. “Ever since that (2022) class graduated, it was time to restart for us. We went 2-21 two years in a row, then had this past season. I think (the hire) is going to help us make that leap. Everyone trusts in Coach Jakacki, and we’re very excited for the future.”
Not just the players are excited, but also Kenston Athletic Director Reid Guarnieri.
“I was excited because I had gotten to know him, because he works as one of our game managers. That was the first time I got to know him, at all,” Guarnieri said. “We’ve shared our basketball histories, so getting to talk basketball, and even seeing him coach at Crestwood a couple of times, and knowing that he was again interested in coaching at Kenston is a testament to where the athletic program is. There’s a good young group of players in the boys basketball program, and knowing that somebody with 300 wins and his pedigree, both as a coach and standout in high school and college, it was very exciting to know he was going to be interested in coming back here.”
Guarnieri has the utmost confidence in the present and future of the boys’ basketball program with Jakacki at the helm.
“He has a pattern of developing programs. We’re not looking for someone to come in here and work with a talented group of lettermen and then leave,” Guarnieri said. “It’s not a stepping stone thing for us, and it wasn’t that way for Josh when he presented himself. When we got on the same page about his coming back, he was excited about the whole top-to-bottom reformulation of the success of the entire program.”
