Brent Liskai back in the grind as an assistant basketball coach

Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com

For 20 years, Brent Liskai was the head basketball coach at Gibsonburg.
But because of health problems, the Golden Bear legend had to resign from the job.
Now, after a year away from the game, Liskai is back coaching as an assistant with the Fostoria Redmen.
He talked about getting back to the grind and being part of a team.
“I really missed the day-to day-job of working with the players. I have always loved practice and having to sit out and take care of my health issues really brought those feelings to the surface,” said Liskai. “The relationships that are built through working together are really what got me interested in coaching again. I love the game and it has always been a big part of my life.”
Winners of nine of their last 10 games, Fostoria is in line to win a Northern Buckeye Conference title with a 17-4 record and a 10-3 mark in the league, which is tied with Genoa for first place.
The Redmen, seeded second in the Division II Liberty-Benton District, will host (5) Napoleon or (11) Lima Bath in a sectional final on Friday.
Fostoria is led by Machi Johnson, who leads the NBC in scoring with 22.6 points per game, and Jordan Ferguson is averaging 16.8 points and 11.2 rebounds, also tops in the conference.
“I am really enjoying being back in the game, although my role might be different. Basketball is basketball, and it has always been a big part of my life. I am enjoying working with this group a lot,” Liskai. “It is different in some ways to coaching in Gibsonburg, but kids are kids and this group wants to be pushed and wants to get better, so that makes it enjoyable. They have a lot of talent, but also a tremendous drive to get better. This team is very athletic and possesses a great will to win.”
Fostoria’s coach Thom Loomis and Liskai, who graduated from Gibsonburg in 1989, have a relationship that goes back for decades.
“I have known Thom since my days as a player but I was on the same staff with him under Jim Rutter at Fostoria in 1996,” Liskai said. “Coach Loomis was also the principal when I was hired for my first job as a head coach at Swanton in 2001-02 after I spent five years as an assistant coach at Fostoria from 1996-01.
Liskai talked about the differences between being an assistant coach and the head coach.
“My role is a pretty good deal, really. Coach Loomis gives me a ton of freedom to do whatever we feel the team needs at that time. Having been through a lot in my years as a head coach, sometimes he will bounce things off me, or just say, ‘Can you handle this?’ and of course my answer is yes. It truly is all about what we can do to make the players the best they can be as players and especially as people,” said Liskai. “I really haven’t noticed a whole lot of difference in my role — coaching is coaching and caring is caring, so we just try to do the best we can for the kids each and every day. The only big difference in being an assistant coach versus a head coach is sometimes I don’t have to do some of the things that wear coaches out. I can just go about my job each day and not have the all-day grind that head coaches carry with them.”
Liskai will always be known to people in the area for coaching Gibsonburg for 20 years, winning 235 games, a school record. In his tenure, the Bears won four sectional titles, two league championships and one district title in Liskai’s tenure.
“I was head coach for 20 seasons there until I had spine surgery in 2022. I still had tremendous love for the game but had to step away and have surgery and it has been a long road and I still battle pain daily,” he said. “But coaching basketball this season has been a blessing to my health and my family. The day-to-day work with the players and sharing my love for the game has been just what I needed.”