New Bishop Guertin boys basketball coach reacts to a play during Friday night's game vs. Londonderry at the Colligadome. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Will Horne stopped a Bishop Guertin High School boys basketball preseason practice in its tracks.

That’s not easy for a coach whose constantly in motion, but it was important as he had a stern directive about cutting to the hoop, and was pretty clear about it.

He later in the practice talked about the history of a non-Celtic NBA franchise to a group of kids that likely weren’t even born at the time, a lesson in change and perseverance.

And he did with the abundance of energy he’s always been known for on the bench.

These are the moments Horne’s been waiting several years for. He’d been on the Cardinals bench for eight years as an assistant, first for Jim Migneault, Matt Regan and then as the right hand man for John Fisher.

His time has finally come.

“This is year nine,” he said. “Honestly, to take a step, you don’t realize how big one seat up is. But it’s been fun, it’s been exciting, it’s been challenging. Eight years, where I still feel I have the energy. You don’t know until actually taking the helm. But the kids have been great, they’ve really bought into being in the gym together, putting in the work in the off season, and falling in love with the work, not necessarily (just) the results.”

Horne is a Nashua North alum, was a so-called “practice player” at the University of New Hampshire, and then eventually got into coaching at a Nashua school he used to compete against.

“I just fell in love with the school, fell in love with the kids, it’s a really great culture and tradition,” he said. “It’s a great close-knit group, a great situation for my family, obviously my sister’s here now too (trainer Sarah Horne).

“Just the way the school’s treated me made me really, really want to stay.”

That’s because he has had other opportunities to leave. But Fisher took him aside and basically told him to stick it out, he’d groom him for the job, and when Fisher announced he was done last March, the school immediately named Horne as his replacement. And like the Cardinal girls, a host of seniors graduated, creating basically a whole new team from a year ago.

He works at a staffing firm at Andover, Mass., but he’s worked at Pelham High School as well as the Greater Nashua Boys & Girls Club.

“I’ve worked with kids for a long time,” he said. “Last year I made the jump to the private sector.”

How did Horne arrive at BG? Actually, former Cards girls coach Brad Kreick, whom he had known through family, had asked him to join his staff some nine years ago when Kreick, like Horne today, had been promoted to head man.

But Horne had other ideas.

“What about the boys (assistant’s) job? Can you get me into there?” Horne said. “That’s exactly how the conversation went So he made the call to Jimmy (Migneault) for me. Jimmy had a need for a freshman coach.”

So Horne began coaching the BG freshman team, then the next year, after Migneault left, he moved up to the JV job. Then eventually the varsity assistant’s role.

Horne said that mentorship was important in his life, and at UNH he saw the dynamics of the player-coach relationship at a Division I college program.

“Just seeing that relationship, that mentorship aspect, what you get from that was something I’ve always wanted,” he said. “I’ve had an opportunity early in my career to work with kids, get that mentorship feeling. Using it through basketball, it’s a great way, a great way to teach kids and mold them into young men.”

When he first started coaching, Horne had to rein in his expectations.

“You have high expectations, and you learn that people are learning,” he said with a chuckle. “So honestly, it was just taking ownership, trying to teach kids, trying to learn (about) kids. That was the biggest thing that keeps bringing me back. As soon as I got into coaching, I couldn’t put it down.”

And now he’s learning the difference. He didn’t realize it all the day he was named, but after a month, Horne knew he wasn’t just a coach on the bench any more.

“Once you start to realize all the moving parts of summer league, summer workouts, and here, it’s who’s coming to the school, right?” he said. “Who’s actually coming to the school? What athletes? There were a lot of moving parts and a huge learning curve.

“I really tip my cap to my mentors, Brad Kreick being a big one, and John Fisher, I can’t say enough how much of a mentor he’s been to me. Even now, the drop of a a hat, any questions I have. All the things you don’t think about – uniforms, fund raising, all the things … As an assistant coach, my job was just to focus on basketball. Make relationships with the kids, find out where they fit into the scheme of our basketball, now it’s all the other stuff. Coach, what are we doing for senior night? Tryouts? And we have a whole new coaching staff as well. Getting a staff, getting everybody on page, it’s been fun, but it’s been different.”

New Bishop Guertin boys basketball coach Will Horne explains some things to his players during a recent practice. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

New Bishop Guertin boys basketball coach Will Horne explains some things to his players during a recent practice. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Thus it helped that Horne was a sponge when he was one seat over on the bench.

“Honestly, it was one of those situations where what didn’t I learn,” he said. “I feel like everybody has their own style. So just taking bits and pieces of each one of those coaches. To be honest, I was blesed to have worked with championship pedigree. Jimmy Migneault won a state championship at the this level. Matt Regan won a state championship at the high school level (at Pelham). Coach Fisher, I was on his staff when we won a championship at this level.

“So just kind of learning and taking in their approach to the game, their approach to game planning. It’s been great. Really great. I’m appreciative of getting that school of coaching from those three.”

Being on the bench when the Cards won the title in 2021 “was awesome. That’s a feeling we’ll never get back. It was a weird year, the sectional. The kids put the work in for it. That year was great for me to look back and see that this is what a championship team looks like, what practice is like, smells like. Definitely blessed to get that experience, take it with the kids I have now and just kind of run with it.”

Horne knew that Fisher was grooming him.

“Fisher was pretty open with me, we had a strong relationship,” Horne said. “I was open with him. I definitely had some opportunities to put my name in the hat for some other jobs. But we definitely had a strong trust in each other that he was going to put me in the right position that when it was my time, I was going to be here. I’m definitely appreciative of that.

“You want the varsity job, but to me it was more important than that. I really wanted to be in the right situation for me, and to me this is the best situation for me. These are the right type of kids that I’m looking to coach, and help take to the next level.”

Of course, every coach develops a style. Horne had one as an assistant, or at least began to develop one. What in essence is it?

“To be honest, my parents instilled in me work ethic,” he said. “They’re the hardest workers I know. So honestly, my team, our program is going to be the same way, know for our work ethic. And our love and our trust for each other. We’re going to have fun and trust each other, and (have) that work ethic.

“If you’re looking for style, you’re going to see a bunch of kids that never back down and love each other’s success.”

Including their head coach’s.