Edwards’ first head coaching job could create family feud

Clarence Edwards realizes that on two nights this winter the conversation around his dinner table could be very interesting. Edwards hopes he’s not the one who will eating crow.
The 47-year-old Edwards, who was recently hired as head coach of the Fort Cherry High School girls basketball program, is well aware that the Rangers’ games against Class 2A Section 3 rival Chartiers-Houston will be for bragging rights in his household.
That’s because Edwards’ daughters, Zamierah and Zalayah, play for Chartiers-Houston.
“When I got the job at Fort Cherry, my daughters were excited for me,” Edwards said. “They have been behind me. They were saying they always wanted me to be a head coach. Then it was like, ‘Hey, wait, we have to play you.’ Then they started trash-talking. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere.”
Edwards knows a little about the rivalry Fort Cherry and Chartiers-Houston have had on the basketball court, only from the boys side. He spent the past eight years as an assistant under Eugene Briggs with the C-H boys team. During that time, the Bucs had some memorable games against Fort Cherry.
Briggs left Chartiers-Houston this offseason to become the boys varsity coach at Fort Cherry, and Edwards expected to follow him.
“I told him I’d never leave his side unless I got a head coaching job,” Edwards explained.
This will be Edwards’ first head coaching job in the high school ranks, though he has been coaching for 21 years, getting his start in the Brownson House youth leagues and working his way up the ranks.
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Edwards said about becoming a head coach. “I did apply at a couple of schools but got turned down.”
Edwards finally has his chance, and it will be a homecoming of sorts. He is a Fort Cherry graduate. And from watching his daughters play, he knows a little about the Rangers and the section they play in. He says the future looks bright for Fort Cherry girls basketball.
“Definitely. There are some freshmen who I have seen play at the Brownson House, and two in particular have the potential to start,” Edwards said. “That’s how good they are. They also have four or five kids in eighth grade who can play.
“The previous coaches have done well with the program. They kept the girls active in basketball and there is a lot of talent coming up.”
Edwards said Briggs did well helping groom him for a head coaching job.
“He has been great to me. He’s been a major influence,” Edwards said. “He’s an encyclopedia of basketball. It will be good to have him in the same gym as me. I love bouncing ideas off him.”
Fort Cherry had a 6-15 record last season and was 4-8 in section play. The Rangers lost twice to Chartiers-Houston.