If familiarity really does breed success, expect the trio of Evan Fras, Mark McBride and Ben Bachmann to all thrive in their new roles as area high school athletic directors.
Fras will take over July 1 as the new AD at Mishawaka High School. McBride is now the New Prairie High School AD, taking over back in May for Bachmann, who left to take over as the AD at Michigan City High School.
All three know their schools and areas very well.
Fras, who has spent the last year as the Dean of Athletics at NorthWood High School in Nappanee, is a 2014 MHS graduate. McBride served as the assistant AD to Bachmann and has been around the New Prairie athletics scene for going on three decades. Bachmann, who was at New Prairie the past seven years, is a Michigan City native.
“This is a full circle moment for me,” said Fras in a recent interview. “It was hard to leave such good people at NorthWood, but this was too hard for me to pass up with the history and the relationships I have with people at Mishawaka High School.
“I’m just excited to get going there. I’m ready to put my nose to the grindstone and bring stability and consistency to Mishawaka. I’m big on accountability and ready to lead with passion and integrity at a school that I know so well.”
Fras, 29, played football under coach Bart Curtis at MHS. He then coached on Curtis’ staff at Warsaw prior to coming to NorthWood.
“AJ (NorthWood AD AJ Risedorph) was a great mentor to me,” said Fras.
Fras was at Warsaw High School prior to coming to NorthWood. He served as an event host, sports coordinator and assisted in fundraising while there. He also was an assistant coach for both football and track for the Tigers.
Fras cited people such as Curtis, Jerome Calderone and Jim Aldrich as those who have been “great supporters” of his throughout his time in athletics and athletic administration.
Fras, who attended Indiana University, wants all sports to prosper for his alma mater.
“I want to find ways for the kids to be successful in all of our sports at Mishawaka,” Fras said. “I want us to be great in everything. It’s about the culture, the respect for the Mishawaka athletics tradition and the impact we can make on our community.
“This is not about me. It’s about the futures on our kids.”
McBride very familiar with Cougars
McBride, who has taught and coached in the New Prairie school’s system, has had a good transition into his new role.
“It’s a lot different from being the assistant, but the transition has been very smooth,” McBride said. “I already knew a lot about game management stuff and things like hiring officials.
“But I was so busy with multiple events that I was not at the school board meeting on the night they approved my hiring. And I did not know how much time the AD spent on phone calls and emails.”
Such is the life of a high school athletic director for sure.
McBride, a 1993 Triton High School graduate, has been at New Prairie since 1997. He has taught third or fifth grade for the past 26 years and also coached at the elementary, middle school and JV level. All three of his children are NP graduates and two of them played athletics.
“For the most part, we have been competitive in the NIC and in the state tournament in a lot of our sports here,” McBride said. “I would like to see us become even more competitive in all of them.
“But that will take some time and the effort of everyone, including administrators, coaches and the student athletes. But it starts with our head coaches. They are the faces of our programs.”
The Cougars have enjoyed recent success as the baseball team won a state title in 2024, the softball program won a state title in 2023, and the football program has been a force in the state tournament for the past decade plus with semi-state championships in both 2014 and 2022. New Prairie will have a new football coach this fall in Ryan O’Shea and a new boys basketball coach this coming season in former Penn High School and Bethel star Drew Lutz.
“I’m excited to see the growth in all of our sports, including boys basketball with Drew taking over,” noted McBride.
Bachmann focused on feeder systems
Bachmann, who attended Michigan City Elston High School, is focused on continuity and the feeder systems as he tries to make his mark for the Wolves.
“The transition here has been good,” Bachmann said. “It’s been a lot of busy work with double checking schedules and on officials and putting faces with names.
“The vertical leadership and the vision is in place here. The biggest thing for us is to get our middle school athletics in alignment with our high school sports. That feeder system is so important.”
Bachmann is big on consistency throughout the program in order to achieve long lasting results.
“The key for sustained success is for things to be aligned from top to bottom,” Bachmann said. “You have to have that continuity for programs to succeed.
“It starts with coaches who have that big picture in mind. You have to develop things at more than just the varsity level to be successful.”
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: New South Bend-area athletic directors bringing familiarity to their roles
Reporting by Scott Davidson, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
