Will Coatie had done a great job as the girls basketball coach at Elkhart Central and it continued when Central and Memorial merged into one program.

He did such a good job that he was asked to move over from the girls team to take over a struggling boys program in 2023. Being a good soldier, that’s what he did.

After two seasons, Coatie is now out as the boys basketball coach at Elkhart, according to multiple sources.

The Lions were just 6-17 in the two years before Coatie took over and the struggles continued. In Coatie’s first season in 2023-2024, Elkhart won just three games. They won five games this past season but were more competitive in games and it appeared Coatie was starting to make strides within his program in terms of building it up the right way. That wasn’t enough for Coatie to receive a 3rd year.

Prior to taking over the boys team, Coatie served as a varsity girls basketball coach in Elkhart schools for 11 seasons.

He won just four total games in his first two seasons as head coach of the Elkhart Central girls team. By year five, the Blazers were above .500 and in year six, he led Elkhart Central its its only sectional title in school history in girls basketball. He finished his time at Central with four straight winning seasons. He was named NIC Coach of the Year multiple times during his time guiding Central.

When Central and Memorial merged in 2020, Coatie took over the unified program. He was the NIC Coach of the year in his final season with the Elkhart girls program in 2022-2023.